I'm sorry that the author's company did something screwy with a daily deals company and it didn't work out, but this is extremely bad advice.
For all but the most dramatic successes, companies are absolutely sold and not bought. Small strategic acquisition? Talent acquisition? Technology acquisition? Asset sale? None of those will happen if you don't know the potential acquirers and take the appropriate actions - usually backchannel mentions with a simultaneous PR push. If your startup's failing, and you don't have a plan to sell, you'll run it into the ground and you get nothing. With a plan to sell, sometimes you still get nothing, but sometimes you'll get a cushy landing, and sometimes you'll get rich.
The author's company didn't go wrong by trying to sell, it went wrong by getting wedded to a single company who wasn't really interested (nine months? come on) and by dramatically changing what they were doing instead of focusing on building a shiny happy narrative that could attract other acquirers.
I'm also a fan of Basil Peters' Early Exits book. I don't agree that you need an 'exit coach' or an 'M&A advisor' to do this stuff, though, which is what he's been emphasizing on his website.
The point that the author's trying to make is that you need to have obvious value to the buyer. If value is not obvious, it is an uphill battle to convince them of the purchase.
This applies not just for companies, but for products in general.
I'm sorry that the author's company did something screwy with a daily deals company and it didn't work out, but this is extremely bad advice.
For all but the most dramatic successes, companies are absolutely sold and not bought. Small strategic acquisition? Talent acquisition? Technology acquisition? Asset sale? None of those will happen if you don't know the potential acquirers and take the appropriate actions - usually backchannel mentions with a simultaneous PR push. If your startup's failing, and you don't have a plan to sell, you'll run it into the ground and you get nothing. With a plan to sell, sometimes you still get nothing, but sometimes you'll get a cushy landing, and sometimes you'll get rich.
The author's company didn't go wrong by trying to sell, it went wrong by getting wedded to a single company who wasn't really interested (nine months? come on) and by dramatically changing what they were doing instead of focusing on building a shiny happy narrative that could attract other acquirers.