Despite the popular buzz around cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the technology has yet to see mass adoption in the world of mainstream business and finance. However, the past year has seen a number of indications that cryptocurrency is gaining a good deal of legitimacy and stability.

Knowing when to sell is always a challenge – since the timing of launching a process is not only critical to it being successful but also can make a significant difference to the valuation. One important consideration is knowing what buyers look for in a deal so founders can maximize their price and make the exit a win for them, the team and their shareholders.

For aspiring entrepreneurs and startup companies, knowing how and when to raise capital for their businesses can be a challenging endeavor. This challenge only becomes compounded when you consider the dynamic digital landscape that all companies are required to navigate. Now more than ever, there is a growing need for companies to be able to provide secure and easily accessible information to their potential investors while minimizing lead-times through seamless virtual data exchanges.

Summer may be almost over, but there’s still time to get in a beach read or two. If you have the bandwidth to pick up a book during the last few weeks of August, why not optimize your reading time by combining business with pleasure?

Growth through mergers and acquisitions has already surpassed $1.7 billion this year, which is the fastest growth rate in value ever recorded. According to accountancy firm Deloitte, this figure is already well beyond the $1.3 billion in M&A growth recorded for the entire year of 2017.

Decades ago, the file room was often the heart of an organization — information  flowed  in and out of its chambers, bringing critical resources to every part of a company. While  paper  is on the fast track to obsolescence in many environments, the file room has evolved to take up residence on local servers or the cloud, with virtual data rooms making M&A due diligence and paperwork that much easier.

And yet, the  organization  of that data room remains a key aspect of ongoing business success. Check out these three tips for maintaining an organized virtual data room to support your entire organization — whether you’re in the midst of M&A activity or not.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can be convoluted and time-consuming transactions, and countless issues could crop up at many points during the deal. This is true irrespective of the value or complexity of the transaction, as there are always a ton of details to iron out for any firm purchasing or joining forces with another. There is obviously no way to avoid every potential issue, but there are certainly steps that can be taken to significantly reduce their likelihood and/or impact. Here are some of the most important ways to effectively manage the risks inherent in M&A:

As the name suggests, a virtual data room, or as it is more frequently called, a “VDR,” is an online database in which companies can store and share confidential information, usually used during a financial transaction. It may also be described as a type of electronic repository or document filing system. With the ubiquitous reliance on computers and specialized software to keep a business running smoothly, coupled with the fact that more and more companies are making the transition to a completely paperless office, many of the previously document-heavy operational practices have been shifted to the virtual realm.

There is a common misconception that startups seeking funding have to answer all of the questions posed during a fundraising round, but nothing could be further from the truth. Accepting an investment is an important decision for early stage startups, and it can have a huge impact over the long haul. For this reason, the folks who will be involved in soliciting investments must be prepared to ask prospective investors a series of revealing questions to better understand exactly what they will be getting from the deal. Here are five key questions to ask: