Start-Up To Ferrari In Five Years

Zain Hasan started an insurance agency called National Insurance Consulting Group (NICG), in 2014.

To read a transcript of this episode, click here.

Zain Hasan started an insurance agency called National Insurance Consulting Group (NICG), in 2014.

By 2019, Hasan had built NICG to more than $2 million in revenue, earning him a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies. Hasan figured his company was worth between 6-8 times Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA). Given the consolidation happening in his industry, he decided it was time to sell.

Hasan received eight offers and agreed to one that paid him 85% of his proceeds in cash and the remaining 15% in shares in his acquirer, Risk Strategies Company. In this candid conversation, Hasan shares:

• How he got comfortable taking 15% of his money in shares in a private company
• Why he would use a 12-month “cliff” in a stock vesting schedule for employees and partners
• How big companies use the magic of accretion to ensure they virtually never lose when making an acquisition
• One surprising way to figure out the right time to sell
• The tasty little pearls that should be in your Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM)

To celebrate his exit, Hasan bought himself a Ferrari, which he proudly drove to his father’s house to share the news of the sale of his company. What trophy will you buy yourself to celebrate the sale of your business? We’ll brainstorm that together in module 12 of The Value Builder System – get started by completing module 1 now.

Check out our article on How To Know When It’s Time To Leave Your Business Behind.

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

A serial entrepreneur, Zain Hasan focuses on the Client’s viewpoint and identifies solutions to business leaders biggest challenges. Initially through his employee benefits expertise, Hasan set out a mission to fix the broken healthcare system by re-engineering the supply chain & removing the conflicts of interest inherent in the health insurance brokerage industry.
Now as a Managing Director at Risk Strategies Company, Hasan is focused on bringing the market leading expertise in every practice area to enable enterprises to reduce their total cost of risk and outsource all risk management activities.