How They Built a $745M Company Together and Stay Married

83 snips

Oct 7, 2025

Guest

Kass Lazerow

Guest

Mike Lazerow

Mike and Kass Lazerow, successful entrepreneurs who co-founded Buddy Media and Golf.com, share their journey of building a $745M company while navigating family life. They dive into the chaos of selling their business, surviving a bankruptcy scare, and how Tiger Woods played a pivotal role. The couple discusses the importance of trust and communication in their partnership, revealing their approach to managing work disagreements and finances. They redefine what 'enough' money means, highlighting experiences over accumulation, and share candid lessons from their entrepreneurial journey.

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00:00 / 00:00

The $745M Buddy Media Exit

Buddy Media grew to $50M ARR in six years and sold to Salesforce for $745 million.
Mark Benioff told them he'd "overpay" and offered nearly $800M for the company.

00:00 / 00:00

Platform Shift Fueled Rapid SaaS Growth

Social platforms created a new marketing layer needing centralized software to manage content and rights.
Buddy Media rode Facebook and other platforms to unusually fast SaaS growth to $50M ARR.

00:00 / 00:00

Don't Micromanage; Respect Lanes

Avoid micromanaging your partner and respect each other's lanes.
Practice direct, work-style communication at work and don't sugarcoat feedback to protect feelings.

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Stop making million dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://joinhampton.com/

Kass and Mike Lazerow built two companies together, sold one for $25M… and the next for $745M. Along the way, they went bankrupt, survived dot-com busts and Facebook booms, and figured out how to build a business without destroying their marriage.

Here’s what we talk about:

What it’s actually like to sell your company for $745 million
The early Golf.com bankruptcy scare, and how Tiger Woods saved the business
Why their co-founder relationship works (and where it almost blew up entirely)
Mixing work and love: the brutal fights, trust, and one-liners from the delivery room
Full breakdown of their first splurge, and what “enough” money really means
Raising $50M without meaning to sell, and getting a surprise offer from Salesforce
The $12M flop that reminded Mike why Kass is the only co-founder he needs
Co-founder red flags, communication rules, and how they manage disagreements
Living rich vs. feeling rich: the moment they finally felt secure

Cool Links:

Hampton https://www.joinhampton.com/
Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/
Kass and Mike https://kassandmike.com/
Kass and Mike's book: Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shoveling-Story-about-Entrepreneurs-Success/dp/B0DY21NS7W

Sponsors:

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Chapters:

(1:26) The $745M Buddy Media exit
(4:29) What people get wrong about working with a spouse
(6:22) How Kass and Mike met
(8:44) The Golf.com story
(15:33) Managing team dynamics as married co-founders
(23:17) Handling finances as a married couple
(28:18) What they did with the money after the exit
(32:33) Lessons learned and what they'd do differently
(36:58) Closing thoughts on finding the right co-founder

This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.

Your Host: Harry Morton

Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
Co-parents a cow named Eliza.