13 December 2011 by Simone Brummelhuis

Yasmine Mustafa, female entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of 123LinkIt, just sold her company and she gives you her 15 tips for entrepreneurs.

I’m elated to announce one of my dreams has come true this past month. NetLine, the #1 B2B content syndication network, has acquired 123LinkIt. The deal officially closed on November 18, 2011.

In her blog she wrote:

A Bank Trip To Remember; I just came back from TD Bank and I’m sitting in front of my computer at work wondering why I wasn’t reveling in what just transpired. The day started simply enough. I woke up at 6am, caught the 7am train, and arrived at work around 8:30am. I created a to-do list for the day and made a mental note to run to the bank during lunchtime. I had received my check from the 123LinkIt acquisition on the 28th and I had yet to deposit it into my account.

So time for the The Next Women for a short interview:

Why the acquisition?

We had been talking about a potential partnership for months. They wanted to use our technology and it kind of snowballed from there, especially since we make a nice addition to their existing monetization tools.

How did you go about it?

Good question. My adviser (David Fortino) who’s the VP of Audience Development at Netline approached me about white labeling our software. My advisers and I ran the numbers and we liked the model so we started developing it.

I brought on a CTO to help but things didn’t end up working out and we were behind schedule. We candidly explained the situation to Dave and we brought up the idea of using their resources (they’re a 50+ employees, 10M/yearly revenue Company) and then we discussed the possibility of an acquisition. We went back and forth for a month and then started the due diligence process.

Was it always in the plan to Sell the Company?

Sure, eventually. My goal was to build a growing Company. At the beginning of this year, my PhilaDev advisers (they’re a startup accelerator located in Philadelphia that sounds similar to Astia.org) and I looked at our competitive landscape and we determined there were three major players. Myself and two other well-funded competitors. To differentiate ourselves, we decided we needed to either raise money or get acquired. We put together a strategy to do just that and while there were a few hiccups along the way, things worked out.

Who helped you?

So many people and organizations. I bootstrapped the Company and did not raise VC or angel money. This means I was limited on resources so I had to work smart with what I had.

My board of advisers – these are experienced entrepreneurs, technologists and affiliate marketers who have been there and done that. They include:
Skip Shuda – Founder of PhillyMarketingLabs (and my former partner at my previous Company)
Anthony Gold – CEO of HealthyHumans
CH Low – CTO of Medimedia Information Technology
Donna McCarthy – Affiliate Marketer
Scott Jangro – Affiliate Marketer and Co-Founder of MechMedia & the upcoming Shareist

I also signed with a startup accelerator called PhilaDev that provided strategic guidance, business development assistance, legal resources and son.

Temple University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute accepted me as their Incubator Company and they provided me with free office space, CEO coaching and much more.

I utilized interns to help with marketing, financials and even some development.

What’s next, staying or moving on?

I’m staying on with NetLine to help integrate our technology to their platform. My role is Product Marketing Manager and I’ll also be recruiting partners to RevResponse, their B2B publisher network.

What was the hardest part of the negotiation?

The negotiation wasn’t as tough as the due diligence process. I had to put a lot of stuff together. It turned out my books were a mess because I had switched bookkeepers and things weren’t being put in the proper accounts. I had to find every contract I’ve ever signed with a contractor and supply them, even go back to some and make them sign another. I supplied my code and pretty much everything you could think of.

Any tips for entrepreneurs?

1. Build a strong advisory board of related industry experts and create relationships with them. See if there are ways you can work together once you have traction.
2. If you’re a non-techie building a tech company, learn to code (even if it’s a little bit) or at least understand how things work and the terminology.
3. Pay attention to your books, even do them yourselves from time to time.
4. Allocate one full day of strategy once a month to scan your competitive landscape. This will enable you to see where they’re going, prevent you from being surprised when they make a big move and resync with your priorities.
5. I’m not sure I would ever start another Company without a co-founder. Find someone that complements your skillsets. If you’re a non-techie, get a techie and vice versa.
6. Bootstrapping and scrapping along is okay, but growing faster is nicer. Find the balance between the two and consciously think through where you’re going to draw the line.
7. Don’t be afraid to barter. Bootstrapping helped me develop negotiation skills I didn’t know I had.
8. Ask for help. I can’t think of one person who turned me down when I asked for their advice/guidance on something. At the same time, execute and don’t try to please everyone. Be mindful of your own strategies and why you’re choosing to go down a certain path.
9. Your product doesn’t have to be perfect. Sell ASAP.
10. If you’re having trouble getting started, go to the biggest people in your market, find the level right below them and see if you can work out a deal where you can give your service away for free in return for free exposure. This won’t work with everyone but if it does, it’s a great first in.
11. Get interns and give them big shoes to fill. Not only are you helping them add a great experience to their resume but you’re utilizing free help that can come along and help you focus on working on more important intiatives.
12. Be mindful of the difference of working in the business and ON the business. There are times you can’t help do the tactical things that need to be done.
13. Don’t lose sight of your overall vision of the Company. It’s easy to get lost in day to day activities and look up a couple of months later and realize you’re no longer aligned with the longer-term plan of the Company.
14. Always have an end in mind. Set milestones with intent. Think about how it plays with the overall strategy of the Company.
15. Develop relationships with your competitors. Get to know them, approach the CEO at a conference and see if you can have coffee. You never know where they will go.

[okay, this is getting too long ]

Any investors you had, who are happy now?

No investors.

What else is on the agenda?

I’m involved with two organizations to help women get into entrepreneurship/technology, GirlDevelopIt.com and TechGirlz.org. One of the things I find lacking is the number of women role models and mentors. The more exposure they receive, the more of an impact they have in helping others get into the field.