Nick Katz built acasa to help housemates track, split, and pay household bills. Over time, it evolved into a platform that could set up utilities and handle recurring payments, taking a messy part of shared living and making it simple.
When Nick decided to explore a sale, he did what most founders do: he handled it himself. The early signs looked promising. Big companies leaned in. Meetings stacked up. Diligence started. Lots of smart people asked lots of smart questions.
And then nothing happened.
No LOI. No deadline. No moment where anyone had to decide.
It’s the kind of mistake you don’t notice while it’s happening because it feels like progress. But it quietly changes who has the leverage.
Eventually, Nick hired an M&A banker. The story shifted fast. Same business. Same market. Different outcome. Not because the banker had secret buyers, but because the process was rebuilt around how acquirers actually make decisions.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
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The telltale signs you’re being pulled into “infinite diligence.”
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Why buyers can sound serious while staying non-committal.
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What changed when a banker ran a disciplined process.
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The phrase Nick uses to describe his biggest mistake.
Quote of the Week
I didn’t control the game at all.
Deals
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Particle Industries, Inc., a subscription-based provider of edge-to-cloud infrastructure that helps companies build and manage connected IoT devices, was acquired by Digi International Inc., a public IoT hardware and services provider. Digi paid $50 million in cash for Particle, which generates approximately $20 million in annual recurring revenue, valuing the business at roughly 2.5x ARR.
