Slashdot Mirror
Finding Someone To Manage Selling a Software Company?
rrrrw22 writes "My company has spent the last year developing a framework for creating games on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. While we had originally planned to release the product to the public and take a percentage of the revenue, we have realized that we can make more money by selling the application to a funded company entering the social gaming space. Our problem is we don't have many other contacts in the social gaming space and would like to find someone to manage selling the company for us (in exchange for a percentage of the sale.) Where can we go about finding someone with the skills and contacts to sell a product like this? What experiences have others had trying to sell a company that we can learn from?"
You didn't tell why you came to conclusion that you would make more money that way, and it seems you haven't tested the other possibility either. Why not? If it doesn't work, then sell it. It also gives more value for the platform.
Advertize on Slashdot for free by couching it as an 'article'?
Translated to truth from euphemism.
We started a company to try to get rich off the back of other websites. After investing all of our personal money we have realized that we will never get it back and we're tired of working 80+ hours a week for nothing and we know we will never make a dime.
We're looking for a sucker to do all the work to try to sell our craptastic software "company" that has never sold a single line of code and attempt to get some of our money back.
It's best to use referrals from people that have been through it before.
Grabbing a random person is incredibly risky. Business deals (hell, business in general) are very fragile and involves a ton of trust on everyone's part, or a lot of previous experience so you know how to protect yourself.
In any case, prepare to get screwed because that's usually how things go unless you're lucky.
Yawn. Ok, I will offer one US dollar for your company.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
When you product is any good, buyers will come knocking. If it's not, then trying to find someone is a waste of time, keep on it until you have a good revenue and a decent customer base. Web 2.0 and .com were yesterday.
If you're a small self-funded company, this isn't really at the level of specialized firms or agents specializing in acquisitions. It sounds like you fit in to standard venture-capitalist funding, which is usually aimed at eventually being acquired anyway. Often the VC firm will handle trying to sell the firm to someone bigger, when they think they can do so. However, your guess that you can be bought for a nice sum right now may or may not be something the VCs you can find will agree with. You might have better odds if you have multiple scenarios, like what you could do with another 6-12 months of funding.
This is partly because VCs are already in the business of evaluating "is this company worth anything (now or potentially), and who is it worth something to?" Most larger companies are wary of just buying unknown small firms, because they have no real way of evaluating that--- it's more often a multi-tier thing where the un-funded firm gets funded by a VC initially, then a larger firm buys from the VC.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
My company has spent the last year developing a framework for creating games on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. While we had originally planned to release the product to the public and take a percent of the revenue, we have realized that we can make more money by selling the application to a funded company entering the social gaming space.
Sell it to the spammers, marketing research firms, and anyone without a conscience because the only way someone's paying for your product is if they think they'll realize a return on their investment. And right now, advertisements or leeching away people's personal data is the only way to make money in the "social gaming space". People without a conscience also tend to be cheap-asses, so I wouldn't expect to get much.
Also, for the above-mentioned economic reasons, I don't use facebook or myspace applications and most of the "personal" data on my profiles are outright lies or fabrications.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Release it and prove that users like what you have. Otherwise, I don't even know that your great platform/software does what you are saying it does. You want to make money out of your start-up but don't want to do the initial hard labor... it doesn't work that way.
What kind of games can you build on top of Twitter? You do realize that it's limited 140-character text strings, right? I'm not really sure there's a market for Hunt the Twumpus.
If you have to turn to "Ask Slashdot" for what's likely THE most important decision your business could make (sale), then you really have no business farming this out to someone you've just met.
Believe it or not, Slashdot is a rather poor place for high-level business strategy (I know! I thought slashdot knew everything!). I don't know much about selling a company, but I do know a little about risk. If you really don't have the skills internally to do this yourself, there's an ENORMOUS risk of looking outside the company to find someone with these skills. If you don't have the skills to do this yourself, how are you going to know who's qualified to make such a big decision? How are you going to know if they're doing a good job? Put into simple terms, what's your expected gain in value from selling the company vs. selling your product? Now think about that in terms of hiring the wrong sales guy.
The thing is, you can always sell the company later. If you've demonstrated a viable sales strategy, your company is going to be that much more easy to sell, and worth more money.
AccountKiller
Given that you state you don't have the "contacts in the social gaming space", and since you basically state you don't have the expertise in-house to manage the sale - how exactly did you manage to determine that you "can make more money by selling the application to a funded company entering the social gaming space"?
I am guessing the phrase "we have realized that" in your submission should be replaced by "we're hoping that". I will also speculate that you attempted to follow your first plan - releasing the product to the public - and didn't get any significant interest. If these two suppositions are true, I don't know that you're going to find a company willing to take this off your hands - most of those sorts lost their shirts nine or ten years ago.
#DeleteChrome
Post on Slashdot. Free advertising...
You're not selling a company. You're selling a product, and an unproven one at that. No one is going to buy this from you, because even figuring out how much it's worth would be a costly endeavor. And what are they going to get for your "company?" A zip file full of source code?
"We have realized that we can make more money by selling the application to a funded company."
That implies that if you sat on it, you wouldn't make money Sounds like fancy words for 'There's no way we can monetize this piece of shit, maybe we can convince some stupid VC company to buy it for more than it's worth.
Ps. Fuck stupid social networking games. What a bunch of data mining, spamming, assholes.
You mean Hacker News, right?
Linky:
http://news.ycombinator.com/
Anonymous tears are the most delicious.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Isn't twitter limited to around 140 characters? If so what games can you play? TLA-Scrabble?
--- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
To actually get the deal going, start talking to people at companies you think might be good acquirers. Start with polite email, or better yet, get introduced through someone you know who respects your work. Good people to talk to would be founders, C-level people, or investors at the potential acquirer. You will probably get better milage from asking a question, like "do you know anyone who would be interested in our assets" rather than going directly to the point of "you should buy our assets for $XX" If you can't do the deal without a broker, I'd suggest talking to business students at undergrad or MBA levels, potentially someone who's focusing on M&A. You've got to match the scale of the deal, and the size of the upside for a broker with the expectations of the broker. If you are going to get sold for just a few thousand, do it yourself. If we are talking hundres of thousands, there are people who work in the center of your local major metropolitan area who specialize in these things. Get introduced to those people through your lawyer, or through a lawyer you know.
One goes to VCs if one wants an infusion of moderate to significant capital (hence the name), not if one is looking to sell the company in the short term.
>Most larger companies are wary of just buying unknown small firms
Larger companies are usually delighted to buy small companies that possess something they want (technology, IP, talent, access to key customers/markets, ...) that have straight-forward ownership structures and balance sheets.
It happens all of the time.
If they don't have to cough up big $$ to compensate VCs, all the better.
I've been there, done that, multiple times.
Craiglist!
Have you considered simply putting an advert into a major daily newspaper?
What about advertising on websites such as Seek.co.nz, etc.
If you're looking to employ someone those are normally the sorts of things to do.
Where he was writing about how some start-ups are working from the business model of The Producers.
I find this high interest in off-loading risk onto another company a tiny bit suspect.
Maybe that's why most firms enabling this sort of activity want to see the business model up and running before they get too frisky thinking about an acquisition.
My advice -- get the damn thing up and working. Prove there's an audience. And then you won't need anyone to act as your agent. They'll be knocking at your door.
Stop being pussies and trying to transfer risk. Move forward with your business model and impress someone.
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
The link for the game "The Summoning" does NOT ask your permission to access your Facebook data. It just takes you straight to the character-selection screen. If you pull up that link while you have an active Facebook cookie in your browser, be sure to go into your "Application Settings" and remove it from the list of authorized applications, or else this fly-by-night (and obviously pretty desperate) company has full access to whatever data can be mined from your Facebook account.
The poster is going to have to find someone who has been through this and get referrals. Sorry, that means meeting people and using social skills. Emailing potential buyers probably won't help because if you don't know any people in the space, you also don't know how to communicate with them out of the blue; you'll probably put them off, if they read your message at all.
Get an attorney who has experience doing these types of deals, this has saved me from failed deals. The guy who did Daddy & Mommy's will or plays golf with Uncle Barney or whatever isn't the way to go.
Trying to sell your company through one of the hundreds of business for sale websites brings tire kickers and scam replies. Going to the local business brokerage franchise (basically a bunch of commission-only out-of-work real estate salesmen) is usually a dead end for this type of thing, they won't grasp what you are selling, but they will have free balloons for the kiddies.
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
I'm judging you've never run into the term "weasel words"?
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
Then you will find it easy. Social networks are hot and generating revenue there is important.
You correctly realize you need a professional manager/CEO to do it.
Don't give up on the IPO yet. If you have amazing revenue then contact Goldman Sachs in NY. Filing IPO costs around $500k, but there may be easy underwriters.
Do you have any links to forward to several candidates I know?
Selling a company is just sales. You have to network with the community you want to sell to. Go to events they go to. Scout your network to find someone who knows someone. Read the blogs the target community reads, post when you have something intelligent to say. Next step isn't going to be a sale, it's going to be to develop a custom app for one of those target companies, hopefully one large enough to be a potential acquirer. If you are lucky they will start to talk in terms of "strategic relationship" as you become a trusted provider. They will want to see a track record of app development, to "prove" your technology, your team, and your understanding of the real product requirements for a game platform. This may even provide some cash flow while you look for an acquirer. Beware, there are many many sales/mkting consultants of many types willing to take your money to aid this process. Those who can, do. Those who can't, consult. Good luck. (Credentials for the above comments: Sold two companies, on my third.)
I see this as a perfect example of people trying to base a business model on trying to convince people they need your product rather then making a product they already want.
I will state this as clearly as possible.
Your enterprise was doomed to failure before you even got started.
And another thing. You are trying to enter a field where MOST of your competitors are CROOKS. Do you really want to be associated with such a label as a "Social Network Game Producer" when those that already are seem to be jumping ship in an attempt salvage what little reputation they retain now the cat is out of the bag regarding the less then savory business practices they've used?
Count your losses, learn from your mistakes and move on. Soon, people will realize how seriously they are being used, excuse me...FUCKED OVER, by social networking sites and start abandoning them for something else to keep them entertained. You want to be in a position where they move on to YOU. You do not want to be the guy they are leaving in the dust.
Start thinking about what comes AFTER Social Networking sites, then work towards THAT. Well, at least if you want to make money.
I sold my software company to a public listed US company. I'd be interested but I'd want some cash up front to take the job on. www.bradleythomas.com
How much money have you spent making the product? That's about what it would cost the funded company to make themselves, and that's about what you could possibly sell the company for.
Also, depending on your corporate structure, you should be able to just sell a majority stake in your company to anyone. If you are looking for someone to negotiate for you, you'll probably have to give that party a stake as well.
Like other responses here, I'd conclude that you're better off trying to sell your software instead of hawking your company. This is 2010, not 1998.
I'll do it!
To be honest, unless you have a successful and *popular* product that has a very high profit margin investors are unlikely to be interested in your software.
What angel investors and venture capitalists are really interested in is the team behind the company. They want to see a diverse group of people who have a decent probability of launching and growing the venture you are trying to sell. Unfortunately you are saying that the team most familiar with the venture wants to quit. Exiting the venture prior to having a popular product and subordinates who can immediately fill the original team's shoes creates a terrible impression.
--
Perpenso Calc for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch
You sound very young and inexperienced to ask such a question on slashdot. Don't react to any contact requests, most of the people in the internet are a scam/shady, especially when it comes to business. Where are you located? Go to VC meetings and present your product. I have good contacts to some but they don't focus on software/internet. Your problem is that my impression is that you don't need VC-money but a buyer for your company. Talking to VCs may still raise some attention. Depending on the games you produce your product may also be well suited for a marketing company. The main question really is to me, why do you want to sell? Your negotiation power will be much higher if you get approached by someone. Could you try to find collaborators to get more momentum?
Why would they give you $3M if they can get along with much less? Fail often, fail early, fail CHEAP is also true for VC. I know VC that don't have a lower limit. It depends on which stage they are focusing on. If you are going to a late stage investor/growth investor and ask for 50.000 US$ seed capital (yes, 50k!) they will laugh about you the same way as an early stage/seed investor will laugh about you when you ask for 100 Million for a late stage pharmaceutical start up.
Sounds like you have a "development tool" to sell -- the lowest end of the value chain when it comes to making money from an application.
What makes you think a buyer would be interested? Who would that buyer be?
Typically a broker will take 6% of such a deal, but I doubt you will interest one until you have proven traction from a wider developer community (or a wide range of games successfully deployed
You need the team from The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.
Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
But your assumption is dubious. While you will likely make more money selling your proven apps to publishers than by marketing them yourselves, you will likely not make money from your platform in that way, especially an unproven platform.
Publishers don't want to buy a platform. Publishers want to buy existing games with proven popularity for an initial capital investment that they can a profit on over time. Publishers fund development of games primarily through paying the original developer of a game to extend it, to port a game, to build another game, or to build a game with a product tie-in on behalf of another company.
If you want to sell the rights to your apps, start cold calling and the online equivalent. When you don't have connections, that's how it's done. There are plenty of social media game publishers out there, and if you have multiple games with proven popularity you shouldn't have any problem getting their attention. It's a publishers market, and it's put up or shut up.
Only don't expect them to be interested in your platform. If you're that confident that your platform is where it's at, then attract other developers to it first, get proven apps on it, and put your platform where your mouth is, so to speak. Then you might have something.
I can give you my thoughts relative to having founded, grown, and eventually selling my company back in the 90's. I'll leave it up to you to decide how relevant all that is a little over a decade later. My company had a software product that eventually was sold internationally, with customers in 23 different countries. We had a staff of about a dozen engineers and an office assistant. We were entirely profitable, with a solid track record and a respected product. When it came time to sell, I found the people at the Corum Group to be invaluable. I'd suggest starting at their web site and moving forward from there. They are pricey, but the advice and guidance along the way proved to be worth it. Along the way, you'll probably hear a lot of things you don't want to hear, and will be asked to do a lot of things you don't want to do. Get over it. These guys know their stuff.
If they know really know enough about social networking to write a game authoring platform, they have enough sales people in their social networks to do this deal.
Alternatively, using said platform, write a game which appeals to sales people...
There are 1.1... kinds of people.
There are companies that just handle mergers and selling your company or buying someone else's. One such company is Corum Group. (http://www.corumgroup.com/) For the record, I do not work for Corum group, nor does the company I currently work for have any current ties to them.
http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank
The simple and correct answer is, hire a banker. That doesn't mean Goldman, Morgan, Chase, or BofA, there numerous small boutique firms that are very good for your size transaction.
Lawyers suck at marketing companies, they're not setup to do that. Selling companies and running a process is what bankers do, so once again, find a banker.
I'm in the process of selling my SaaS company and hiring a banker is the best thing I ever did; they have brought two more qualified bidders to the table and I will get far more for the company as a result.
My 2c.
You need to find a skilled mergers and acquisition attorney. There are a number of tasks in the selling process, including valuation (what are you really worth) all the way up to the final negotiation - which covers everything from earn-out to pay-out to final disbursements of assets and funds. You need to at least start and find out what your company might be worth.
If your company is worth good money, you need good advisers to facilitate this process. We're back full circle.
Summary: find a good M&A attorney. and be willing to pay good money to get good results. If you aren't willing to do that, you're not ready to sell.
Lindsay Blanton
RadioReference.com
You want Craig Stull, CEO of Pragmatic Marketing. He's been involved with the sale of many, many software companies. If you are lucky he will take you on as a client. At the very least you should take a course from his excellent company. I can't believe you are actually getting good information from "Ask Slashdot".
Seriously dude you have no fricking idea how sick I am of being 0wn3d as a pet, hollow nagging requests to become part of organized crime families and listening to friends over coffe boast about the operation of their myspace meat markets... Enough is a fricking nough!!!!!!!!!
My recommendation is to jack your offices up on stiltz, get a few semi trucks and some chaser cars with the wide load signs and flashing lights and haul it all over a cliff.
May the warmest places in hell be reserved for you and your minions.
This isn't to to poster. Now that you've got the word out, you might find a buyer.
Everyone else: stop telling these people they can't do it, and are idiots for asking. They are smarter than you as they have got 50,000-60,000 people who are now aware of what they have. Also, no one has a freaking clue the first time you sell a company, and often after selling a few. Why? BECAUSE THERE ARE VERY FEW RULES. Just make sure you are getting paid in something that has real value and will continue to unitl your no-sell period ends. Having a lawyer is a give on deals like these.
-- $G
This is exactly the business of investment banks. They evaluate your company's worth and use their existing network of clients to find a buyer. If your company is actually worth something, call them. Yes, I'm talking about Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc. If you are a smaller company (which seems very likely, given that you don't know much about business), then try the smaller firms and possibly those with a technology focus: http://www.google.com/finance?catid=us-66043603
Or try VCs, local rich dudes you might know, etc. Put together a small pitch-book about your company and send it around. If it's worth anything, someone will come knocking.
Greedy bastard...
You're a social media company that doesn't have the whole making contacts thing down?
And you'd like to ensure you get your full value?
If you have to turn to "Ask Slashdot" for what's likely THE most important decision your business could make (sale), then you really have no business farming this out to someone you've just met.
He should put it up on Ebay. He can offer up his virginity as a sweetener, but beware the tax man.
Actually, I'm tired of Ask Slashdot. Usually stories are just someone who should know better asking how to do his job. Anything narrow enough to imply competence can be googled and has no appeal as a story. Anything this broad almost by definition implies incompetence. The only ones that don't make me think this are students asking how to break into an industry or similar since they are just starting out and don't have the knowledge, but even then they could Google. It's like Dear Dolly or Ask Abby for Internet geeks. Everyone comes off sounding like a bimbo.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
ha ha, make your own elven blood clone, great demo. good fucking luck selling that shit, you're about 14 months too late. and should prob try to keep any potential acquirers away from this: http://www.developeranalytics.com/compare_apps.php?cids=33101300262%3B36860150554%3B99752549355
There is a company based out of Winnipeg, Canada named Acumen Corporate Development Inc. that is quite good at this sort of thing. They do Acquisition Management/Support and other corporate services for this sort of thing.
*facepalm*
You don't really /get/ social networking, do you?
Hey I got a car I need to sell, oh and my brother in law needs a job too. What happened to the filters on this one? Or did I just miss the memo that it's ok to hawk your company on /.
It's quite possible to sell a company that just has a technology and a demo, but the timing has to be right Vermeer, which became Microsoft Front Page, sold only 400 copies before Microsoft bought them. They, though, had a working product at the right time.
You need something to sell. You need at least one of revenue, intellectual property, market share, or lead time. Preferably more than one of the above. All Vermeer had was lead time; anyone could write an HTML editor, but they happened to have one at the right time. This is unusual. Usually you need something more than that.
If they're anywhere near Silicon Valley, those guys should join SVASE, meet some venture capitalists, and learn how to pitch. Talking to VCs is useful, because everybody talks to them and they'll tell you who you should be talking to.
I recommend that you purchase a Slashvertisement.... oh wait...
The 6M users demonstrate your ability in building games - which is probably your biggest asset. I'm not so sure about the framework itself - you probably haven't licensed it to anybody as it's not released. If it is a game-framework company then it should show some traction on selling the game-framework. Other companies or VC...etc. all will look at this. If the target buyer only wants the game-framework, then you'll selling the IP. There is not a lot of goodwill in your company right now for the game-framework.
> My company has spent the last year developing a framework for creating games on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.
The obvious question here is: why don't you use your own tool and generate a bunch of games? Now that you have this terrific code-writing technology, why don't you use it? See, that's the tricky part with that kind of project. If it works, then you should be able to use it yourself; otherwise, why would someone pay for it? And even if you actually designed a magic button that will create games from a bunch of generic parameters, your solution must be cheaper than outsourcing. Good luck with that.
My guess is that you did not write a game factory. What you probably did is follow the "Law of Building Blocks": without a strong business leadership, any small or mid-sized team of developers will spend time and money writing building blocks instead of creating value, until there is a major technology or paradigm shift in the industry or business that makes the building blocks obsolete.
If you really want to sell it instead of using it, the only possible market for your kind of tool is full of weasels and scammers. Just google "affiliates", "referral", "direct marketing" or "SEO" and you will get the list of potential buyers. It's not that bad - it's still a bit better than working for big tobbacco or subprime lenders.
lucm, indeed.
If you want to take this off line, I know a company that is a broker for selling businesses. FYI - at the end of the day, your revenues and expenses are going to be a key factor in valuing your company to other businesses.
"While we had originally planned to release the product to the public and take a percentage of the revenue, we have realized that we can make more money by selling the application to a funded company entering the social gaming space." Don't get your hopes up about selling the company. If it is such a great idea you would do it and make money. You need to get it into the market place and demonstrate a sales history before you are likely to get much interest or a good price. Do it yourself.
Or, at least that has been my experience.
So, make your firm attractive to a buyer, and make sure you get publicity so that you're known in the industry, and maybe... someone will make you an offer.
Chip H.
Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where if you have to ask that question, you're not ready. If your company doesn't have the numbers to show nor the business track record, more than likely the only takers you'll get are corporate raider pimps who will come in, stroke your egos and financially milk your company for as long as they can see the magic twinkle in your eyes (or a more profitable scam comes up). Sometimes the scam is as basic as reimbursing those restaurant tabs and first-class flights as they push your wares on the money trail. Other times "they" will do a Dog-n-Pony show of your products to one or more ACME Incs., larger companies who will, in turn, string you along over several meetings -- long enough to where their inhouse techs can reverse-engineer what you're offering and do it without you. if the Barrier-to-Entry is not high enough with your product, you can bet you'll get banged out Tiger Wood style with each "promising" encounter. And, no, things like Non-Disclosures don't work in those arenas; they'll always claim their company is too large and no one will sign off on it. Bottom line -- if you're not going to grow it yourself to where the real players come to you, expect to get played like a prostitute -- and, no, that's not Hair Gel.
Max Nomad . Bohemian Griot Publishing, LLC . http://www.bgpublishing.com
Timothy asks: How to sell the company; How to sell the application to a company; How to hire someone to sell the product; Others experience.
The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know.[Harry Truman]
I've been tangentially involved in a handful of software deals. In my experience the topic that gets the most discussion and analysis on both sides is valuation.
You would do well to read about valuation of companies in order to understand the language and goals of the people you will be dealing with when you try to sell your company - investment banks, VCs, and corporate acquirers all have different perspectives but they will all perform some kind of valuation analysis.
Particularly for engineers who tend to think of code as a major asset it is important to understand how client lists, sales pipeline, revenue, and other intellectual property like trademarks, copyright, etc. figure into valuation. I'm not at all knowledgeable in this area - only know enough to know that valuation experts consider all kinds of things that wouldn't be at all obvious to someone whose expertise is in engineering. I see a number of posts prodding you to disclose the games, users, etc. that tie-back to your framework - those posts are all tipping you off that your initial posting doesn't speak the language of valuation. Learn that language at least a little before you invest too much in choosing an adviser.
I've seen two other topics get a lot of attention. One is "fit" of the acquired staff with the acquiring company - the primary issue is whether the leaders of the acquired asset can develop good relationships with the acquiring decision makers. If you want to cut and run, don't expect much for your company - to get a good valuation the acquirer will want to see that you are committed to success and willing to take direction. If you can't get along with the acquiring management during the courtship there either won't be a deal or the deal will be for particular assets which would be valued much lower than a going concern.
Risk is the third big topic - this is what the lawyers tend to focus on. In your case you will likely need to do some homework on intellectual property - you'll have to show you own what you've created (things like conformance to open-source license terms; your contracts with any consultants you've hired; etc.), and I suspect also you'll need to show that your business model isn't too problematic in terms of end-user infringement. I noticed the "I have permission" checkbox on image upload in your demo - but game and quest names might, for instance, need to be screened against existing game trademarks. I'm sure other risks will come up - again my main advice is to learn a little about risk management before you go too far down the sell the company road. I'm not suggesting you learn to be a risk manager - but learn enough to know the language and perspective of risk management.
Lastly, bear in mind that in negotiation the other party may or may not be transparent. What they choose to tell you about why they want to acquire your company; how they value your company; or what their future plans are, may or may not be what they are really thinking. I think the best deals are the most transparent - but in most cases once an acquirer has decided you are worth acquiring, the job of the acquirer's team is to get you to sell for the lowest price with the highest commitment (think deferred compensation agreements tied to milestones). This makes your choice of adviser a very critical choice - you don't know enough to value your company so it's important you have an adviser the does know.
It's a brave thing to start a commercial venture and I have little respect for posters who have been critical - ignore them. Go do your best and learn all you can from the experience - you will accomplish more that way than most. Good Luck!
Think about long term. This won't be the first and last app you develop. Have confidence in your dev skills. Treat this as a learning experience. Make a good choice. Execute well. Learn from the choice so you can do even better next time.