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Behind every successful exit is a mix of preparation, persistence, and hard-earned lessons—something a past TechExits podcast explored through the experiences of three founders who navigated the M&A process firsthand.
As part of Women’s History Month, the conversation offered an opportunity to highlight the perspectives of women leaders who have successfully built and exited technology companies. March is a time to recognize the growing impact of women across the technology sector. From building innovative platforms to leading high-growth companies, women founders and executives are playing an increasingly visible role in shaping the future of technology and entrepreneurship.
Last year, WFS hosted a TechExits podcast, “Women in Tech: Navigating M&A as a Female CEO” bringing together three technology leaders to share their experiences navigating the M&A process: Courtney Caldwell, co-founder of ShearShare; Suhayya Abu-Hakima, an AI entrepreneur with two successful exits; and Aušra Čiuplienė, CEO of fintech platform Viena sąskaita. Their conversation offered a candid look at what it takes to build, scale, and ultimately sell a company.
One of the first themes that emerged from the discussion was how unpredictable the path to an exit can be.
For Caldwell, the original vision for ShearShare was to build toward an IPO. But as the company gained traction and strategic buyers began approaching them, the conversation gradually shifted.
“We knew that we were going to be on the NASDAQ,” Caldwell explained. “Then we started getting inbound interest from strategic buyers. At first we thought we were too early. But in a post-COVID world where funding became harder to secure, we began taking those conversations more seriously.”
The panel also highlighted how demanding the M&A process can be once negotiations begin. Many founders underestimate the scale of diligence and the level of scrutiny involved.
Suhayya Abu-Hakima, who has completed two technology exits, described the diligence phase as one of the most intensive parts of the process.
“The diligence was huge,” she said. “There were hundreds and hundreds of documents, and on the buyer’s side there were teams of lawyers reviewing every aspect of the business.”
At the same time, founders must continue running the company. Customers still expect results, teams need leadership, and the business must keep performing while negotiations unfold. Aušra Čiuplienė brought another perspective to the conversation. Unlike many founders who build their companies from the beginning, she joined Viena sąskaita with the explicit objective of helping prepare the business for a transaction. Even so, the process still required balancing the demands of the deal with the day-to-day responsibility of running the company.
“You have to run the core business while the M&A process is happening,” she explained. “You never know at which step a potential buyer might walk away, so the company still needs to grow and perform.”
Despite their different paths to exit, the panelists shared a common takeaway: preparation matters. Abu-Hakima summarized the lesson succinctly during the discussion: “From the first day you open your business, you should build to exit.”
That mindset doesn’t mean founders must plan to sell immediately. Instead, it means building companies with the discipline, documentation, and operational structure that buyers expect when evaluating acquisition opportunities.
For founders and CEOs, the panel served as a reminder that successful exits rarely happen overnight. They are the result of years of building value, navigating challenges, and recognizing opportunities when they arise.
For a deeper look at the experiences shared by these founders, watch the full TechExits podcast, “Women in TechExits” where they discuss their journeys, challenges, and lessons learned in greater detail.