<b>If you accepted an earnout, you admitted your asking price was fiction.</b>

<b>If you accepted an earnout, you admitted your asking price was fiction.</b>

An earnout is the buyer saying "I don't believe your numbers, prove them on my dime." And you said yes.

— Cash at close is the only number that's real
— 60% of earnout targets quietly get missed, and you eat the gap
— The buyer controls the P&L after close, so guess who decides if you hit it

Take the lower all-cash offer. Certainty beats a promissory note you can't enforce.

Got an earnout that actually paid in full? I want the war story.