Building great companies is more than just knowing when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em… The truth is, if you focus on your entrance more than your exit, you won’t have to find an “out”…it will find you. But startups still need to have a solid exit strategy in place so they are ready for the rebound. Even more important, they need to be prepared for every side of an exit – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Last Thursday, Dealmaker LA’s Strategy Series focused on “Exits in 2010″ (hosted by the team at Rustic Canyon Partners) where we heard insight from those who bought, sold and negotiated startup acquisition in the past few years about what it takes to line up your company for a potential acquisition.

Thanks to the team at TechZulu for creating a great “highlight reel” (BELOW).

You can also sit back and check out the FULL VERSION here.

Speakers:

* Brett Brewer, President of Adknowledge and co-founder of Intermix Media
* David Travers, Principal, Rustic Canyon Partners
* Shawn Colo, Co-Founder & Head of M&A, Demand Media
* Jason Kay, Monkey Gods (Former COO, Flektor – Acquired by FOX Interactive)
* Michael J. Montgomery, President, Montgomery & Co., LLC

Who Was in the Audience?
A huge thanks to everyone who attended. Some of the folks who mixed n’ mingled with us that night:

* Brian and Kristina with hot LA web-fashion startup, Handbago
* Ben Satterfield from 23 Divide (who’s doing some cool stuff with Level 26 (a digi-novel)
* William Quigley, Clearstone Venture Partners
* Will Pate, CitrusByte
* Will Marks, VP Business Development, E! Entertainment / Comcast
* Reuben Katz, Co-Founder, deca
…and many more!

Here are the photos:

Thanks again to our sponsors: CoreObjects, Manatt Phelps and Phillips LLP, Microsoft BizSpark, Clearstone Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Rustic Canyon Partners, Mailroom Fund, Media Temple and Techzulu.

Next up, school will be in session October 6 with our first WORKSHOP funding boot-camp for startups. Think VCs should be throwing term sheets at you? Think again… The Workshop is your chance to get your hands on actual cap charts and term sheets. Ask questions, get answers. REGISTER.