Think Like an Owner Lori Harrington & Bruce Vanderzyde - Searcher and Seller Perspectives - Ep.104
My guests on this episode are Lori Harrington and Bruce Vanderzyde. Lori launched a search in October 2020 and recently acquired Bruce's company Anterra Tech at the end of 2021, which offers business intelligence software for the construction and real estate industries.
This episode is a great discussion of how building a better relationship with a seller, negotiating upfront, bringing great advisors, and emphasizing strong and frequent communication can lead to a successful deal.
Whether you're buying or selling a business, this conversation has a ton to offer. During the episode, we go over how their first meeting went, how they made their due diligence process easier on each other, the power of building a strong relationship, and their advice both for searchers and owners looking to sell their companies.
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Links:
Topics:
(4:36) - Lori & Bruce’s Career backgrounds
(10:00) - What has become more difficult as the company became larger?
(11:18) - Why made Lori’s offer more interesting than others to buy your company?
(14:33) - What was it about meeting with Bruce that made his company more attractive to buy?
(16:10) - How did meeting with Lori increase your confidence in the deal?
(18:51) - What parts of the process did you focus on to make the transaction as smooth as possible?
(22:45) - The importance of constant communication during an acquisition
(23:36) - Bruce’s experience balancing due diligence while still running the company
(26:38) - Thinking about life after selling your business
(29:02) - Thinking about life after completing the search process
(30:10) - How do you look to the board for guidance?
(31:09) - What did your first 30 days look like in terms of communication, especially with a remote team?
(35:07) - Are there any compound benefits to running a remote company for 6+ years?
(36:00) - Dealing with letting go of control of your company
(39:09) - How do you discover best processes from a company you acquire?
(40:02) - What advice would you offer to searchers and sellers?
(45:45) - What college class would you teach if it could be about anything?
(47:53) - What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on?
(49:33) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?