#134: When It's Time to Close: Helping Founders Shut Down Right – Dori Yona

#134: When It's Time to Close: Helping Founders Shut Down Right – Dori Yona

Author: Greg Head March 7, 2025 Duration: 44:27

Dori Yona is co-founder and CEO of SimpleClosure, a technology- and people-powered company that helps founders wind down and dissolve a startup or business that is no longer viable. Shutting down a business can be complicated, costly, and risky for founders. SimpleClosure manages the unique processes with automation and expert support. 

SimpleClosure has helped tech startup founders wind down over 500 startups, businesses that closed or have gone through a sale of assets. It manages the important steps of a winddown, including legal, regulatory, employees, investors, intellectual property, customers, data, and more. 

In this episode, Dori shares the key considerations for SaaS founders who have run out of VC funding or need to shut down their companies for other reasons.  

Quote from Dori Yona, CEO of SimpleClosure

"The biggest thing for software startup founders and CEOs is to move fast. Your time is your biggest resource in life as an entrepreneur, whether you're venture-backed or bootstrapping. You're spending your time,  you're spending your energy, you're spending the best years of your career.

"So move fast, learn fast, test fast, iterate quickly, grow fast, fail fast. Ultimately, when you're building your own business, you're sacrificing an easy, convenient, cushy job anywhere else to take this risk.

"The faster you can grow, learn, build, and fail, the better. It's ultimately to your advantage to make the most of your time. Our time is our most expensive resource."

Links

The Practical Founders Podcast

Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel.

Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com/newsletter.


Greg Head hosts the Practical Founders Podcast, a series dedicated to the often-overlooked builders in the technology and business landscape. Each week, the conversation focuses squarely on founders who have successfully scaled their software companies through means other than massive venture capital. You'll hear detailed, candid stories about bootstrapping, profitable growth, and the strategic choices that define a sustainable enterprise. These interviews dig into the real work of building a valuable company-the early decisions, the pivotal mistakes, the practical systems, and the personal resilience required. It’s for entrepreneurs and operators who are more interested in durable ownership and practical execution than in hype or fundraising rounds. By focusing on firsthand experiences, this podcast provides a grounded perspective on entrepreneurship. Listeners gain actionable insights and honest reflections from leaders who have navigated the complexities of building a business on their own terms. The discussions are in-depth and specific, offering a valuable resource for anyone looking to understand the tangible realities of creating a technology company without relying on external funding. This is where the conversation moves beyond theory into the applied lessons of proven founders.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Practical Founders Podcast
Podcast Episodes
#186: The Grind Behind a Stellar SaaS Exit in the UK - Simon Swords [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:41
Simon Swords founded Fundipedia after starting in a backyard shed building bespoke software. Originally a custom development shop, his firm built a data governance platform for major buy-side asset managers including HSB…