Exit Strategy The Succession: Fill & Download for Free

Question: When asked if he had an exit strategy for a hypothetical war with Iran, Trump has stated he doesn't do exit strategies. Does he not understand what an exit strategy is or does he plan an indefinite occupation of Iran?Several things:Donald Trump has a disturbing habit of answering questions without taking time to reflect upon what he was asked - He clearly did not take the time to process what he was asked in that instance, and simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind, which was a defensive statement that didn’t make very much sense.Donald Trump is almost certainly experiencing cognitive issues - The media has been extremely kind to Donald Trump, as a case could be made that he could be asked at EVERY press conference if his mental state is sound. Instead, they are simply reporting what he says, regardless of how incongruous seems and unsound it makes him appear to be.Donald Trump has no “plan” for how to handle Iran - He’s alienated the allies that we would need to make any move against Iran viable. He doesn’t read his daily intelligence briefings. He doesn’t have a Secretary of Defense. He has a Secretary of State whose diplomatic skills are laughable. And he has essentially trashed the agreement which was the only thing governing Iran’s actions. He has no means to control the situation, and no ability to formulate another one. He was indeed correct when he said that he “doesn’t do exit strategies”, as that would require him to have a plan in the first place.He may indeed not understand how “exit strategies” work - If you review Donald Trump’s past business record, it’s clear that he has never planned for a successful withdrawal from any of his projects. He runs them until they either fail, or he’s forced to leave due to lawsuits or bankruptcies. Even The Apprentice television series, which was the crown jewel of his empire, failed when Trump decided that disparaging the new host was a sound business strategy. So when he was asked what his “exit strategy” from Iran might be, Donald Trump may not have understood the concept.

It is a bad idea to be solely focused about selling your company down the line and especially so when you haven’t even started it. The reason being that, if all you're focused on is selling your company, then it is likely that you will either burn out quite fast or not be 100% invested into the company. Why go the extra mile if you know that down the line you won’t even be a part of it?However, having an “exit strategy” (thinking about selling your company, i.e. your exit) is something that you should consider. Some investors, founders or stakeholders are only interested in the exit strategy. Hence, being able to talk about a future possibility of an exit strategy is something that can be useful. Be aware that at times this can be a double edge sword. Reason being that some people want to see that entrepreneurs are running a startup because they have a passion for it and have the belief that they can grow the startup to the next Facebook or Google, whereas others are interested in an exit strategy.To recap, if your only desire is to make money by selling your company down the line, then it's likely that you will burn out and that the startup will not be as successful. On the other hand, thinking about an exit strategy is completely fine. At the end of the day, it really depends on you and your personality. Hope this helps you!

Investment banking doesn't come close to some of the best-performing hedge funds and private equity managers. Look into the likes of Paul Tudor Jones, Ray Dalio of Bridgewater, Two Sigma Investments, Renaissance Technologies, etc.Venture Capitalists (the successful ones) probably top the list, along with select private equity managers such as Howard Marks of Oaktree, Henry Kravis of KKR (which the book and movie, Barbarians at the Gate, was written about).A day doesn't pass where the financial news wires discuss “the demise of the hedge fund model” or humans vs. robots, etc. But hedge funds who were successful in the past owe that success to a large extent on their managing philosophy, one that consistently across the board emphasizes adaption to changing environments. Now they're moving into data sciences, using alternative or unstructured data from satellites (looking over the cars going in and out of several regional Wal-Mart locations every quarter, or the satellite imagery giving precise data about crop quality ahead of the USDA crop report to trade advantageously in the futures market, smartphone data on purchasing patterns, scraping the web, the list goes on). And so does the cycle.And the cycle will repeat, VC investors will accumulate billions on good calls in early-stage startups, but eventually liquidity will tighten and IPO market and market for secondary sales would dry up, favoring the private equity investor buying up start-ups on the cheap that can't make it to the IPO stage.Long story short, it varies with the cycle and the strategy within each category. There are also hybrid private equity / hedge funds.In any case, the successful hedge fund managers like Stan Druckenmiller, Carl Icahn, George Soros (see the book “More Money than God”), Steve Cohen (depicted as Bobby Axelrod in the showtime series “Billions”), the list goes on.The same is true for successful VC investors, Andreesen Horowitz, Peter Thiel, etc. but their insane returns are less well-known due to the fact that they don't trade in public markets (with the exception of IPO exits).Investment bankers don't typically amass the billions in personal wealth you’d see in the PE/VC or hedge fund realm, unless you are Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman CEO for years/decades) or Jamie Dimon (JPM CEO).Forgive any misspelled names. Long story short, regardless of the subsector, the successful and consistent performers all make a pretty penny.