When Tragedy Strikes A Founder

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Tom Pisello built Alinean, a consulting company which offered a set of tools to help salespeople express the value of picking their solution. The business was cruising with about half of its revenue coming from recurring licensing fees and the other half from consulting when disaster struck the Pisello’s family.

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Tom Pisello built Alinean, a consulting company which offered a set of tools to help salespeople express the value of picking their solution. The business was cruising with about half of its revenue coming from recurring licensing fees and the other half from consulting when disaster struck the Pisello’s family.

Pisello’s wife succumbed to a seven-year battle with cancer. Pisello knew he needed to focus on his family and decided to sell quickly and picked an existing partner as a new home for Alinean.

In the episode, you’ll discover:

• How life events can change your motivation in an instant
• How to value consulting compared to recurring revenue
• How to evaluate a potential acquirer
• Why your best acquirer may be an existing partner
• How to vet the likelihood you’ll hit your earn out
• Pisello’s biggest regret and what he might do differently if he could sell Alinean all over again
• The definition of “Evolved Selling” and how it applies to B2B companies

The passing of Pisello’s wife triggered an overwhelming desire for Pisello to re-prioritize attention on his two daughters. What’s driving you to want to sell? If you’re not sure, get your PREScore™ now and discover how ready you are to exit your company without regret.

 

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Tom “The ROI Guy” Pisello is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author of Evolved Selling™: Optimizing Sales Enablement in the Age of FRUGALNOMICS. He joined the Mediafly team in 2018 through the acquisition of the company he founded and led, Alinean Inc. In his role as Mediafly’s Chief Evangelist, Tom is responsible for developing new practices for sellers and marketers to communicate and quantify the business value to increasingly frugal buyers.