Was Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo a good deal? Was JP Morgan’s Bear Stearns deal a win? Did YouTube score big with its $1.65 billion acquisition by Google?

The answers depend on whom you ask and their perspective. Getting a good deal also has a lot to do with business decisions that are made in advance of the deal.

At a recent Northwest Entrepreneur Network breakfast meeting, former CleverSet CEO Todd Humphrey did something few executives ever do. He lifted the curtain on CleverSet’s acquisition earlier this year by ATG (Art Technology Group Inc.), of Cambridge, Mass. In the process he shed light on the varied and complex issues to consider when planning an exit and determining if a deal is good, or not.

An entrepreneur at heart, Humphrey spent most of his career leading early-stage technology companies in a variety of executive management roles. Prior to running CleverSet, which makes software used by websites, he was part of the management team at Apex Learning. He also has an investment background, spending time as a venture capital (VC) insider while working with two different VC firms. Earlier he was on the founding team of Triax Capital, a private financial services firm that managed assets of $1.8 billion prior to its acquisition.

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