Selling a Failing Business with Full Transparency

21 May 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

In this brief interview segment, Jesse Pujji discusses the dilemma of selling his struggling venture, Unbloat, while maintaining authenticity. He explains that repeatedly acknowledging the business’s failure in his newsletter creates tension between honest communication and the desire to secure a higher sale price. Pujji wrestles with the temptation to overstate value versus the need to be transparent about his inability to run the company and his willingness to transfer the debt to a buyer. The conversation also touches on how a prospective buyer might interpret the prolonged, public sale attempt as a red flag, questioning the seller’s credibility and the business’s viability.

You're saying in the newsletter multiple times this company didn't work out and I'm trying to unload it. Doesn't that take away your ability to sell it at a higher price?
This is all just about, again, how do you get more and more authentic? This is a good one actually, because I've struggled with it for Unbloat because there is a part of me that's like, ooh, I can like pull one over on someone and get them to pay me money for this business. And then I'm like, wait, no, like I need to be authentic with what this is. This didn't work out. I'm no longer the right person to run it. I want to basically sell it. I want to give it to someone for the debt.
But then that buyer is going to say, I've seen him talk about this for a few months and he still hasn't sold.
Yeah, it's a lot of it's control, right? You're trying to control the other person. Negotiating is just standing for my position. If you offered me all the debt for it, I'd take the deal. I think it's silly to try to put lipstick on a pig. The more clarity you have of your position, the better negotiator you are. If I say the product is good and here's the things I would do if I had the time and energy, and by the way, it's gone poorly and we have debt, people go, oh wow, I believe this. This is true.