Conversations about the Exit Strategy

Ep. #4 [THEME SEVEN]

I am very excited to republish my interview with Jon Thielen as a way to wrap up our miniseries. Jon is an awesome example of the A-players we’ve been talking about. What better way to understand how to find, pay, and incorporate an A-player than hearing it from one of them!

Today’s show is a replay of a conversation I had with Jon, who was hired on to a software company, grew it, and helped the owner sell it just a few years later for 11x EBITDA. 

In this interview, Jon tells us the story about the process he went through and why the core values of not only the business, but also the owner and founder, are one of the main driving factors that attract A-players. Jon explains why recruiting and building out teams was one of the first things Jon did once being brought on (and his dating approach to this), plus how Jon tied his marketing KPIs to his sales KPIs every single week.

To wrap up the interview, Jon tells the story of how the owner approached selling and how Jon executed the plan by selling the company for 11x EBITDA while only staying on for five months after the sale.

To hire A-players, you need to know how they think and how they approach the businesses they are working in. Jon does a great job! Enjoy!

// WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE: Intentional Growth™ Podcast

What You Will Learn

• How Jon was sought out by the owner of a software company because of his growth mindset and business philosophy.
• Why Jon thinks EBITDA is the most important metric.
• Why Jon always wants to know the owner's core values before accepting a position.
• Jon’s dating mindset toward onboarding and building teams.
• How Jon tied his marketing KPIs to his sales KPIs.
• How Jon structured his bonus compensation plan.
• Jon’s approach to getting the company ready to sell since the owner wanted to be hands-off with the process.

// USE YOUR FINANCIALS TO CLARIFY A PATH TOWARDS A MORE VALUABLE BUSINESS: Intentional Growth Financial Assessment

Bio:

Jon Thielen is a growth leader who has leveraged the principles of leadership to create accountable teams, operational discipline, and strategic growth strategies. As president, he sold a shareholder’s company for 11x in 2019. Jon Thielen builds scalable SaaS B2B and B2C sales growth strategies, driving revenues, profits, and engaging customer experiences. He has had leadership roles with media, start-ups, and data screening companies such as Trusted Employees, AOL/Patch.com, Internet Marketing, Inc, SanDiego.com and Citysearch.com. His focus is in the sales process, operational discipline, employee engagement, LEAN principles, continuous improvement, accountability, brand strategy, a proven process, and most importantly improving the on-boarding (CX) customer experience.

Interview Quotes:

10:02  - “Primarily, I am a revenue-driving executive.” - JT

18:42  - “You can accomplish anything if you put it in front of you.” - JT

23:49  - “If you put incentive plans to change behavior, well, put the right behavior in.” - JT

26:39  - “How he found a guy like me was, he was looking for somebody that he could related to and somebody he could to go to battle with. I’m a very transparent person.” - JT

27:57  - “Your direct report or boss? Find out what their one thing is, so you know where you stand. If you do that one thing, then you know you guys will have a synergy.” - JT

33:10  - “If you’re looking for a partner to help you build it, it has to make sense. You have to really connect with that individual and have a lot of conversations about how you both can win.” - JT

35:47  - “It’s imperative that everybody understands how they’re going to get paid because that’s how you get the most out of your individuals and salespeople too.” - JT

37:00  - “Use the term of dating. You need to date somebody. You can’t just one-night-stand somebody and expect them to stay forever. So if you onboard them, and bring them in, and take care of them, you’re going to have a long term client.” - JT

45:52  - “That’s a little bit of EOS to me: What’re the most important numbers?” - JT

01:06:28  - “At the end of the day, what sounds the most interesting is finding another visionary to partner with.” - JT

Links and Resources:

Connect with Jon on Linkedin!

ARKONA Boot Camp

Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!

You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io or on my LinkedIn