Shows / The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Lucas and Luna examine the mechanics of startup liquidity events—IPOs, SPAC mergers, direct listings, and acquisitions—through the lens of recent filings, valuation history, and founder outcomes. Each episode starts with a specific deal: the pricing decision at an IPO roadshow, the negotiation dynamics of a term sheet, or the lockup expiration that defines a founder's final payout. They track the numbers that matter: share dilution, insider participation, valuation step-ups, and the real…
Episodes
The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity EventsHow Founders Use SPAC Warrants to Keep Upside After Going Public
In episode 50 of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the mechanics of SPAC warrants — the often-overlooked instruments that let founders and…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Direct Listings Are Replacing Traditional IPOs for Founders
Lucas and Luna break down why more founders are choosing direct listings over traditional IPOs, using the recent high-profile example of a company that saved…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How SpaceX IPO Changed the Exit Playbook Forever
SpaceX just went public at $135 per share and immediately surged 30 percent. On this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down what the…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How SpaceX Priced Its IPO at 135 Dollars Per Share
Lucas and Luna break down the mechanics behind SpaceX's $135 IPO price, the largest in history. They explore how the price was set, what it means for…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How SpaceXs 135 Dollar IPO Price Reshapes the Exit Playbook
SpaceX officially priced its IPO shares at $135 this week, in what is now the largest initial public offering in history. But for founders watching from the…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Lockup Expirations Create the Real IPO Window
When a company goes public, the celebration is just the beginning. For founders and early investors, the real clock starts ticking when the lockup period…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Use Tender Offers for Early Liquidity
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine tender offers—a tool that lets founders and early employees sell shares before an IPO or…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Why Lockup Expirations Are the Real IPO Clock
Most people think an IPO is the finish line. But for founders, the real race starts when the lockup expires. Lucas and Luna break down how lockup agreements —…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Reverse Mergers to Go Public Faster
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the rising trend of reverse mergers as an alternative to traditional IPOs. With 2026 seeing…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Earnout Structures Reshape Founder Exit Payouts
In Episode 41 of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down why earnouts have become a critical tool in M&A deals for tech startups. Using the recent…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Mercor and Zepto Reveal the New IPO Valuation Games
Episode 40 dives into two very different IPO filings from the same week: Zepto, the Indian quick-commerce giant that grew 170% year-over-year but lost $180…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Use Rolling Closes to Stay Flexible
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how rolling closes are becoming a strategic tool for founders navigating uncertain markets…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Use Earnouts to Bridge Exit Value Gaps
When a startup gets acquired, the headline number isn't always what founders walk away with. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the earnout — a…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Escrow to Guarantee Exit Payouts
In episode 37 of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a quiet but crucial trend in M&A: escrow structures that protect founders from…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How OpenAI Lockdown Mode Could Reshape Founder Exit Timelines
Episode 36 of The Startup Exit Podcast examines how OpenAI's newly announced Lockdown Mode might affect the timing and structure of founder exits. Lucas…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Stay Bonuses to Prevent Talent Flight Before M&A
When a company sells, key engineers and executives often jump ship before the deal closes, destroying value for the acquirer. In this episode, Lucas and Luna…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Rolling Closes to Avoid Down Rounds
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the rise of rolling closes — a financing strategy where startups raise capital…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Supabase Doubled to 10 Billion in 8 Months
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna unpack Supabase's stunning valuation jump from $5 billion to $10 billion in just eight months…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Fund Game Show Signals a New Exit Playbook
Lucas and Luna unpack the unexpected news that Founders Fund is launching a startup game show featuring Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey. They explore what this…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Secondary Markets for Early Liquidity
In this episode, we explore the rise of secondary markets for startup equity, where founders and early employees can cash out before an IPO or acquisition…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Benchmark Raised Its First Growth Fund After 30 Years of VC
For thirty years, Benchmark Capital was the purest bet on early-stage venture: nothing but seed and Series A, nothing but the first check into companies like…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Use Secondary Sales to Cash Out Before IPOs
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a growing trend among startup founders: cashing out part of their equity through secondary…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Cyera Is Chasing a 12 Billion Valuation at 80x Revenue
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the case of Cyera, the cloud data security startup that is reportedly targeting a $12…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Why Founders Are Choosing Direct Listings Over IPOs
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the rising trend of direct listings as an alternative to traditional IPOs. They break down…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Mach Industries Hit 1.8 Billion in Defense Tech
Lucas and Luna dive into defense tech darling Mach Industries, which just hit a $1.8 billion valuation in under four years — a 4x jump in the past year alone…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How SpaceX Water Access Became an IPO Risk Factor
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into a surprising regulatory hurdle that could delay SpaceX's long-awaited IPO: water…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Use Secondary Sales to De-Risk Before Exits
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how startup founders are increasingly using secondary stock sales to de-risk their personal finances years before a…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Why Founders Are Cashing Out Via Secondaries Before Acquisitions
This episode of The Startup Exit Podcast explores the growing trend of founders selling secondary shares before an acquisition or IPO. Lucas and Luna use the…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Revenue-Based Financing to Exit Early
This episode of The Startup Exit Podcast explores a quiet but growing trend: founders using revenue-based financing to create early liquidity without selling…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Ghost Angels Is Reinventing the Scout Model for AI Startups
A group of Snap alumni just launched Ghost Angels, a new kind of venture fund that doesn't write its own checks. Instead, it gives dozens of former Snap…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Direct Listings to Skip the IPO
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore why a growing number of tech founders are choosing direct listings over traditional IPOs as their primary exit…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Groq Raised 650 Million Without an Acquihire
When Nvidia spent $20 billion acquiring a team it couldn't hire, the AI chip world took notice. But Groq, the startup that builds custom inference chips…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Glean Hit 300M in Revenue by Selling AI Cost Cutting
Glean, the AI-powered enterprise search company, just crossed $300 million in annual recurring revenue. But here's the twist: its biggest selling point is…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How AI Startup Anthropic Reached a Trillion-Dollar Valuation
Anthropic just raised $65 billion at a valuation approaching $1 trillion, setting up what could be the biggest AI IPO in history. Lucas and Luna break down how…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How the Spotify Model of Direct Listing Reshaped Founder Exits
When Spotify went public via a direct listing in 2018, it was seen as a rebellion against the traditional IPO. But eight years later, the 'Spotify…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How AI Coding Startup Cognition Hit 25 Billion Pre-Money
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down the headline-making $1 billion raise by AI coding startup Cognition Labs at a $25…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How DuckDuckGo Gained 30 Percent as Users Fled Google AI
DuckDuckGo installs jumped 30% in recent weeks as users push back against Google's forced AI Search results. Lucas and Luna explore what this means for…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How OpenRouter Doubled Valuation in a Year Without VC
OpenRouter just raised at a $1.3 billion valuation, more than doubling in a year — but they did it without traditional VC. Lucas and Luna break down the…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Founders Are Using Tender Offers to Cash Out Before an IPO
Episode 12 dives into the mechanics and strategic uses of tender offers — a liquidity tool that lets startup employees and early investors sell shares before…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
The ClickUp Layoffs What Startup Growth Really Costs
When ClickUp, once the poster child for hypergrowth in the productivity space, laid off a significant chunk of its workforce in May 2026, it sent a signal far…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How Private Secondaries Became a Liquidity Lifeline for Founders
In this episode of The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine the booming private secondary market. With more startups staying private longer, founders…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
How RIVN and ARKG Signal a Shift in Growth Investing
Lucas and Luna examine the surprising recent rally in Rivian and ARK Genomic Revolution ETF, arguing that the market is rotating back toward long-duration…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
The IPO That Wasn't How Stripe Became a Liquidity Machine
Stripe has become the defining counterexample to the traditional IPO narrative. While founders and VCs obsess over public listings, Stripe has quietly built a…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Deep Fission Nuclear SPAC Returns What Founders Should Know
Nuclear startup Deep Fission announced it's going public via SPAC for a second time after a prior deal collapsed. Lucas and Luna examine the unusual…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Why VCs Are Buying Secondary Shares Before the IPO
Episode 6 of The Startup Exit Podcast: Lucas and Luna unpack the booming market for secondary-share sales — where investors buy stock from early employees and…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Spotify AI Bet More Music Less Discovery
Lucas and Luna break down Spotify's new AI-driven strategy unveiled in May 2026. The streaming giant is doubling down on hyper-personalized playlists and…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
The SpaceX IPO Windfall and Who Really Benefits
Lucas and Luna unpack the upcoming SpaceX IPO, focusing on who actually captures the value. While headlines tout a mega-valuation, the hosts drill into the…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
The Convective Capital 85 Million Disaster Resilience Bet
On The Startup Exit Podcast, Lucas and Luna drill into Convective Capital's newly announced $85 million fund for disaster resilience. They discuss why…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Anthropic Nears Profitability How an AI Lab Plans to Cash In
Anthropic, the AI safety company behind Claude, surprised markets this week by announcing it expects its first profitable quarter. In this episode, Lucas and…
- The Startup Exit Podcast with Fexingo: IPOs, Acquisitions, and Founder Liquidity Events
Mach Industries 50 Million Defense Tech Bet
Episode 1 of The Startup Exit Podcast kicks off with a specific number: $50 million. That's what Mach Industries just spent to solve a major defense tech…