Over at TechCrunch, investor and entrepreneur James Altucher has nine points to consider to go about selling a startup company. First, he says, is to prepare a year ahead of time — he advises to start talking to potential buyer immediately and to keep them up to date as the company grows. Then he says to keep what he calls the 20:6:3:1 rule in mind: calling 20 companies that might be interested in a startup will lead to six meetings, then three serious offers, and one sold company.