[onlyrealcuzzo]

No! Why do you think people are going to pay $80M for Genius if it's worth $1M?

Companies rarely sell for less than the total amount raised. This is true. It doesn't mean that buyers regularly pay double for something because the company wouldn't otherwise sell. It means the buyers just don't buy it!

If Genius was really only worth $1M - we probably wouldn't ever hear about it - because they probably wouldn't ever sell it for that price.

[baldajan]

Have you ever been part of a company sale before or been at a private meetings/meetups where founders talk about how they sold their business? I've never sold a company, but I've talked privately with many that have (and have raised considerable sums).

Very common that the baseline is the amount of money raised - it's why sometimes companies die and not get sold. Other times, companies will use amount of money raised as leverage to increase the final sale price (based on investor expected returns).

Money raised plays a huge factor in regards to sales price, or if a sale occurs at all.

[nemo44x]

If they had $79m in cash/liquid and no debt then their enterprise value was $1m and a sale for $80m would make sense at a $1m valuation. But yeah, doubt that.