Is There a Right Way To Shut Down Your Business?
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Tackling the Taboo of Closing Down with Dori Yona
This week, I chat with Dori Yona of Simple Closure about a topic that many founders consider almost taboo: shutting down. Dori opens up about his journey (from exits to closing down himself) and shares insights on how shutting down your business doesn't have to be so complex. Plus, check out the cool resource on shutting down from Simple Closure below.
Here's what you're in for:
ABOUT DORI YONA
Dori Yona is an experienced founder and CEO with a decade of experience in the entrepreneurial world. After successfully building and exiting multiple companies, Dori encountered the complexities of closing down a business, which inspired him to launch Simple Closure.
Simple Closure offers founders a streamlined solution to wind down their companies, ensuring they can protect their reputation, maintain investor relationships, and transition smoothly to their next ventures. Dori is passionate about supporting founders through difficult times and providing them with the tools they need to move forward confidently.
Connect with Dori on:
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Let's Connect:
Simple Closure is a platform that automates and manages the legal, tax, and administrative workflows required to wind down U.S. startups.
Triggers include running out of runway, board direction, missed milestones, or a credible acqui‑hire offer.
Core filings may take weeks, but state clearances and tax work extend to 1–3 months.
Jason Kirby: Hey everyone, welcome back to fundraising demystified. Today we have Dory Yonah with us, founder and CEO of Simple Closure. Welcome to the show Dory.
Dori Yona: Thanks, Jason. Appreciate being here.
Jason Kirby: No, I'm excited to have you. You have a very unique business that, founders probably don't want to use your service, but in the reality of the situation, they might have to. So let's talk a little bit about your background. You've built and sold companies, you're an exited successful founder, but you've also shut down companies. Tell us a little bit about why you started Simple Closure.
Dori Yona: Sure. So I'll start with a bit of background on my experience. I've been an entrepreneur for the majority of the last decade. Simple Closure is actually the third company I started. The first company was a dating app, a social networking app back in 2014, before Tinder was popular. Most recently, I built a company called Ernie in consumer fintech. We automated a process called price protection. If you shop online, buy an item, and the price drops, you can refund the difference. The problem was no one knew about it or had the energy to submit claims. We automated the process and scaled to 3.5M users, selling the business about three years ago.
Dori Yona: During that journey, we had a board meeting where a member said, “The numbers don’t look so good, we need to talk about shutting down.” I was caught off guard. They asked me to prepare a shutdown analysis: timelines, costs, liabilities, open contracts, severance. I had no answers. That night I Googled “how do you shut down a startup?” and found almost nothing reliable—an outdated blog post at best. I reached out to founders, but shutting down is taboo. No one writes about it on LinkedIn. Even our law firm and CPA said it wasn’t their area. That was one of the lowest points of my career. I felt alone. I dove into researching ABCs, bankruptcy, dissolution, and built my own playbook for our board. That painful experience planted the seed for Simple Closure.
Jason Kirby: There are so many fascinating points. Your board put you on the spot, but you never actually shut down—you sold the company. Still, going through that process showed you the opportunity. How did you go from plan B to selling the business?
Dori Yona: As a founder you’re trained to think big, not about shutdown. Our VC pushed us to prepare plan B, but we kept fundraising and building. We raised a bridge round and pivoted into a B2B data business. During COVID it took off—the fastest growth we had. About a year later, a customer acquired us. So while we had a shutdown plan ready, we kept pushing forward. That experience reinforced how important it is to have both persistence and contingency planning.
Jason Kirby: And you raised nearly $13M for Ernie. Can you walk through the fundraising journey and especially how you handled the bridge round?
Dori Yona: We raised ~$2M seed in 2015–16 led by Sweet Capital, then a $9M Series A led by Mayfield with Comcast Ventures and Science participating. Fundraising was a grind at first—dozens of nos before a yes. The bridge round was especially hard: we needed cash but couldn’t admit we might shut down. We ended up raising about $1M externally and later sold with cash still in the bank. Timing helped—capital was cheaper in 2020–21 than today. That bridge kept us alive until acquisition.
Jason Kirby: Fast forward, after exit you spent time at TripActions (Navan), saw how a 3,000-person company operates, then came back ready to build again. How did Simple Closure start?
Dori Yona: After the exit, I stayed ~6 months post-acquisition, then traveled with family, consulted, and later joined TripActions to learn at scale. Eventually I knew I was ready to found again. I revisited my notes of 100+ startup ideas. One pain kept resurfacing: shutting down. I went on a solo retreat in Mexico, narrowed down ideas, validated the shutdown concept by interviewing founders. Many literally offered me their credit card for help. That was the signal. I built the MVP in Airtable in a week, had a paying customer, and Simple Closure was born.
Jason Kirby: And fundraising for Simple Closure?
Dori Yona: Ironically, I wasn’t fundraising. At a fintech conference, I pitched casually to a VC, who connected me to another. Within 24 hours I had a term sheet. We closed $1.5M pre-seed led by Vera at Redpoint, joined by Cambrian Ventures and angels. In 2023 we raised $5.5M seed. Being a repeat founder made all the difference—investors trust execution experience. The pain point is big, and timing aligned with rising shutdowns.
Jason Kirby: Let’s get practical. What does shutting down look like without Simple Closure versus with it?
Dori Yona: Without us, founders juggle lawyers, accountants, payroll, vendors, state agencies, IRS, severance, investors. Every state and department has its own process—faxes, paper mail, unconnected systems. Most shutdowns drag 9–12 months, cost tens to hundreds of thousands, and still produce fines years later due to missed steps. With Simple Closure, we automate and orchestrate the end-to-end: board/shareholder approvals, multi-state dissolutions, tax accounts, creditor notifications, final payroll, and returning capital. We reduce stress, cost, and long-tail risk so founders can move on.
Jason Kirby: And the emotional side—founders hesitate, bleed out runway, or avoid hard decisions. That hurts investor relationships too. Closing cleanly builds credibility for the next venture.
Dori Yona: Exactly. Most investors expect failures; they judge how you handle them. If you shut down with integrity, communicate, and return capital, they’re more likely to back you again. Founders who drag it out burn relationships and may even face personal liability. Our mission is to give founders peace of mind and let them focus on their next company. In fact, 60–70% of founders on our platform are already working on their next startup.
Jason Kirby: For founders listening, how can they reach you?
Dori Yona: I’m available on LinkedIn (Dori Yona), Twitter, or email (dori@simpleclosure.com). Or just go to simpleclosure.com and click “Get Started.” We’ll ask a few questions and guide you through. Whether you’re out of cash, returning funds, or post-asset-sale, we handle it end-to-end. Shutting down is painful, but there is light on the other side. Many of our customers are already fundraising for their next ventures. We’re here to support.
Jason Kirby: I appreciate you sharing your journey and solution. This isn’t an ad—it’s a legit founder story. Thanks for joining.
Dori Yona: Thanks for having me.
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