Making the Big Decision: The Acquisition of Your Company

In 2008, young and ambitious entrepreneur Lauren Friese started out on her entrepreneurial journey with the creation of TalentEgg, now Canada’s leading job board and online career resource for students and recent graduates. The idea for TalentEgg bloomed when as a young graduate, Lauren faced the difficulty of moving from full-time student to full-time employee herself. After deciding to move on to complete her Master’s Degree in London, England, and discovering an amazing online resource that went well beyond on-campus recruiting and traditional job boards, she realized that something like this needed to exist in Canada.

Since launching in 2008, TalentEgg has seen significant growth and has worked with hundreds of top employers like Kraft, IBM, RBC and Accenture, and attracts over four million students and recent grads each year. After more than seven   years in business, TalentEgg has remained true to its mission: To connect students and recent graduates with meaningful, career launching opportunities and to connect employers with top students and recent graduates across the country.

Just recently in July, TalentEgg announced a big change was coming.  CharityVillage, Canada’s largest and most popular job board for the Canadian non-profit sector, has acquired the company and will help take TalentEgg to the next level. Friese described the opportunity with excitement: “TalentEgg has long stopped being about my story. In fact, the journey is just beginning, and it couldn’t be in better hands.”

Making this big decision for a company that had been her blood, sweat and tears for more than seven years wasn’t easy, but after careful consideration, Friese knew this was the right next step for TalentEgg. “The plan is for TalentEgg to retain its own brand and dedicated team, and to be given the resources it needs to get to the next level,” she shared.

But how did Lauren know this was the right thing for her business? Friese shared two things that helped her make this decision:

1) If you think of a founder’s contribution to and benefit from a business as a line on a graph over time, mine was really steep for the first five years. After year five, the line wasn’t as steep as it used to be.

2) The deal with CharityVillage was the offer I chose mainly because it  seemed to be on the same page about where the business could go and grow.

After careful consideration, Lauren knew this would be the right move for her business, but she emphasized that when entrepreneurs are looking into making a major decision about their company, like an acquisition, they should think of the opportunity cost—the value of the best alternative that you decide not to take. How high is your perceived opportunity cost?

In terms of what’s next for Friese: “I’m not sure. Another venture at some point, probably. But I’m trying to be patient myself against my own natural will and inclinations, to allow myself to take some time to truly figure out what I want,” she shared.

Futurpreneur Canada is excited to see what’s next for Lauren, and we wish her the best of luck in any new ventures she takes on!

Read Lauren’s letter to the TalentEgg community here.

Written By: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Creation Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada