End of the Year Special: Top 10 Strategies for Building the Valuable of Your Company, Punching Above Your Weight in a Negotiation to Sell, and Feeling Happy After You Leave

Hacking Your Way to a $22 Million Exit

In 2015 Nick Santora founded Curricula, a cyber security awareness training program that helps companies defend themselves against hackers. Santora created fun, cartoon training videos in contrast to the dull content that existed at the time.

Companies happily embraced Santora’s approach. By 2021 he had grown Curricula to just over $2 million in annual recurring revenue when he accepted an acquisition offer from the cyber security giant Huntress for $22 million.

A Small Giant Makes a Great Exit

Tyler Tringas maintained his independence from beginning to end, starting with bootstrapping his SaaS company and then ultimately navigating the sale alone.

Reoccurring Revenue vs. Recurring Revenue

Mike Malatesta built Advanced Waste Services, a company that helped businesses dispose of their industrial waste, to $45 million in annual sales before a fateful lunch changed his life forever. It was with a division president of Covanta (NYSE: CVA) who saw acquiring Malatesta’s company as the perfect way to enter the industrial waste industry.

Libsyn’s Acquisition of AdvertiseCast: The Tell-All

In 2016 Trevr Smithlin and Dave Hanley founded AdvertiseCast, a marketplace connecting podcasters with advertisers. The company experienced tremendous growth, doubling revenue year-over-year until 2020. That’s when the uncertainty triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic caused Smithlin and Hanley to consider their strategic options.

In March 2021, Smithlin and Hanley signed an acquisition agreement from Libsyn for $30 million.

How Two Co-Founders Stopped One Thing To Change Everything

The two founders of Stelligent were burnt out running their consulting business until they agreed to stop doing one thing that changed just about everything.

How to Turn Beta Users into Customers Plus 3 Other Stories

This week, we’re featuring four recent guests and highlighting transferrable lessons they shared about exiting their company.

Multiple of What?

Dennis Hart sold his advertising agency for 7.1X. That sounds like a great exit but it disguises the complexity of the negotiations. Hart felt like he knew precisely how much EBITDA he generated until the buyer started questioning his math.

Identity Theft

Yvonne Tocquigny built her advertising agency up over 35 years working with clients like Jeep and Dell. Then in 2015, she got a call asking if she would consider selling. The problem was that her agency had become part of who she was.

When It Makes Sense To Accept Equity Instead Of Cash

Matt Darby was burnt out and wanted to sell the business – even if it wasn’t for cash.

How to Get Your Business to Run Without You

When Jodie Cook started her social media agency, nothing happened without her involvement.

Desperate to free herself up from the minutia of running her company, Cook started to systematize her business with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). After a few missteps, Cook mastered the art of delegation.

What’s Lurking In Your Company’s ‘Attic’?

Washington state’s legalization of recreational marijuana sounded like an entrepreneur’s dream, but the reality had Brandon Neth looking for an exit after only 5 years.

A $471 Million Exit From The Online Travel Industry

From a standing start, Dinesh Dhamija grew European online travel agency eBookers to more than one billion in sales in just five years.