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Should We Sell?
Dos fundadoras discuten sobre una oferta de compra por su empresa.
Una conversación entre iguales en la que hay mucho en juego. Fíjate en cómo argumentan las dos sin dañar la relación: concesiones, hipótesis (Suppose …, Even if …) y la pregunta de qué se está negociando en realidad.
I have read the offer three times now, and I keep arriving at the same place. It is more money than either of us ever expected to see. I think we should take it.
I know. That is exactly what worries me. When an offer is this generous, I start asking what they think they are buying that we do not see.
They are buying our customers and our software. It is no secret.
They are buying our customers’ trust, which is a different thing. Within a year of the deal, they intend to move everyone onto their own platform. Suppose half our customers leave as a result. The offer is paid in part in shares, so we would be paying for that decision with our own money.
Granted, the share part is a risk. But consider the alternative. We have eighteen months of cash left. Even if the next funding round goes well, we spend the following two years raising money instead of building anything.
That is a fair point, and I do not have a good answer to it. What I have is a question. When we started, we said we were building something that would still exist in twenty years. Do we still mean that, or was it just something founders say?
I meant it. I still mean it. But I also have a mortgage and a team of forty people who are counting on us to make a sensible decision rather than one based on feelings.
Then let us make it a sensible one. What if we went back to them with conditions? Two years before any migration, a guarantee that the team stays together, and more of the price in cash.
They may well walk away.
They may. And if they do, we will have learned that they wanted us less than the offer suggested, which is worth knowing before we sign anything rather than after.
All right. I can live with that. But if they accept the conditions, you agree to sign, and we stop discussing this every evening.
Agreed. If they accept, I sign, and I will not say “I told you so” for at least a year.
I have read the offer three times. It is more money than we ever expected. I think we should take it.
I know. That is what worries me. When an offer is so generous, I ask myself what they are buying that we do not see.
They are buying our customers and our software. That is not a secret.
They are buying our customers’ trust. In the first year, they want to move everyone onto their own platform. What if half our customers leave? Part of the price is paid in shares, so we would pay for that decision with our own money.
True, the shares are a risk. But what is the other choice? We have money for eighteen more months. Even if we find new money, we will spend two years looking for money and not building anything.
That is a fair point. I do not have a good answer. But when we started, we said we wanted to build something that would still exist in twenty years. Do we still mean that?
Yes, I still mean it. But I also have a mortgage, and forty people in our team need us to make a sensible decision, not one based on feelings.
Then let us make a sensible one. We could go back to them with conditions: two years before they move our customers, a promise that the team stays together, and more of the price in cash.
Maybe they will say no.
Maybe. Then we know that they did not want us as much as the offer said. It is better to know that before we sign.
All right. But if they accept the conditions, you sign, and we stop talking about this every evening.
Agreed. If they accept, I sign. And I will not say “I told you so” for a year.
Al hacer clic en una palabra se busca en el vocabulario de este sitio.
Más frases sobre esto en «El idioma en uso»: Inglés para el trabajo y la carrera
- Palabras
- 365
- Frases
- 34
- Palabras por frase
- 10,7
- en el vocabulario
- 100 %
- nivel medido
- B1
- Tiempo de lectura
- 3 min
Gramática en este texto
Estas formas aparecen en el texto en un uso real. Con «Mostrar gramática», encima del texto, se marcan en color.
Suppose half our customers leave · What if we went back
Hipótesis sin if: Suppose half our customers leave …, What if we went back …? Otras condiciones: unless, in case →
may well walk away
may well significa «bien podrían»: más fuerte que un simple may. Modales de probabilidad →
we would be paying
Una consecuencia imaginada con would: we would be paying for that decision ourselves. Oración condicional de tipo 2 →
Las palabras de C2 en adelante en este texto
No las palabras difíciles en general, sino las de tu nivel: las 1 de las 180 palabras de este texto están en C2 o por encima. Todo lo demás ya lo conoces cuando llegas hasta aquí.
founder
el fundador
C2
Las listas de palabras de este texto
Las palabras de este texto están en 34 listas de este sitio; el número de detrás indica cuántas vienen de cada lista. Quien ha leído el texto acaba de necesitar justo estas palabras, y puede repasar exactamente esas.
Preguntas de comprensión
5 preguntas sobre el texto. Con cada respuesta aparece la frase en la que está: una pregunta cuya respuesta no se encuentra en el texto no evalúa nada.
1. ¿Por qué precisamente la cuantía de la oferta hace desconfiar a Beth?
La primera intervención de Beth.
Fíjate en la palabra «generous».
I start asking what they think they are buying that we do not see
2. ¿Qué riesgo ve Beth en la parte del precio que se paga en acciones?
Lee la intervención de Beth con «Suppose».
Fíjate en la palabra «shares».
we would be paying for that decision with our own money
3. ¿Cuál es el argumento más fuerte de Nadia a favor de vender?
Lee la intervención de Nadia con «Granted».
Fíjate en «cash left».
We have eighteen months of cash left
4. ¿Qué condiciones propone Beth?
Lee la propuesta de Beth con «What if».
Fíjate en «conditions».
Two years before any migration
5. ¿En qué se ponen de acuerdo las dos al final?
Lee la última intervención de Beth.
Fíjate en la palabra «accept».
If they accept, I sign