Practical Founders Podcast #167: Practical Founders Brought in CEO to Scale Their Company - Darryl Pahl
Darryl Pahl is the co-founder of DFnet, a Seattle-based company providing clinical trial data management software and services. Along with his wife and co-founder, Lisa Ondrejcek, Darryl started the company more than 20 years ago after careers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. They built DFnet around long-term client relationships in global health and clinical research.
The company runs DFdiscover, an enterprise-grade electronic data capture and management platform used in clinical studies worldwide. With offices in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa, DFnet has grown to more than 50 employees and is approaching $10M in revenue. Clients range from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to nonprofits like PATH and major universities.
Still independent and bootstrapped, DFnet has made key moves to prepare for the future—such as bringing in a growth-focused CEO, diversifying beyond single-client risk, and shifting legacy software to SaaS and services. Darryl shares the lessons from running conservatively under debt, buying rather than building, and building a global company rooted in relationships and practical execution.
Key Takeaways
- Stability First Growth – Carrying a 10-year SBA loan forced conservative growth and taught the discipline of stability over risky expansion.
- Buying Not Building – Acquiring DataFax brought 35+ new clients overnight and proved that buying legacy software can be smarter than reinventing.
- Services Plus Software – Unlike pure SaaS, DFnet thrives by combining consulting, hosting, and software in a regulated field.
- Spouse Founders Structure – Their 51/49 ownership split avoided deadlocks and kept marriage and business aligned.
This Interview Is Perfect For
- SaaS founders balancing growth and control
- Founders considering succession or sale
- Bootstrapped entrepreneurs in niche B2B markets
- Anyone curious about global health data and impact-driven tech
Quote from Darryl Pahl, co-founder of DFnet
"The best position to be in is to say that in three to five years, we would be crazy to sell this company. It's doing so well. That would be the perfect thing. And what we're not looking for is a giant payout. We have a very modest lifestyle.
"But is an asset, it is a business, and there's a business aspect. It would have to be the right type of buyer. It has to be the right fit. It has to be the right person or group that is respectful to our clients, our employees, and us as owners.
"So the ideal would be to have the luxury of either not selling or being more selective rather than responding to random emails from some financial buyer or search funder."
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