Acquiring Minds From €4 Million, to Zero, to €12 Million
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Oct 23, 2025 Ivona Butcher, Co-CEO of Bayeret and former Kellogg MBA, shares her inspiring journey from acquiring a business in the Czech Republic to facing a total revenue collapse during COVID-19. She discusses the challenges of operating in a post-Soviet culture and pivoting to virtual events to keep her staff employed. Ivona highlights her aggressive strategies in negotiating with banks, successfully buying back a seller note, and ultimately tripling revenue and doubling EBITDA post-crisis. Her insights on entrepreneurship alongside her husband offer valuable lessons for aspiring business owners.
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Choosing Home Over Investor Comfort
- Ivona and Corbin pursued a Czech acquisition despite investor skepticism because returning and running a company in their home country solved dual-career and cultural goals.
- Determination to proceed without a funded search signaled commitment that later attracted investor support for deals.
Exploit Public Filings For Deal Sourcing
- Use public company filings to build a searchable CRM and prioritize targets by owner age, revenue, and employees.
- Automate scraping to systematically find sellers in smaller, data-accessible markets.
Create Third-Party Credibility First
- Do build public credibility before seller meetings by getting press coverage and a simple website with investor endorsements.
- This reassures skeptical owners who Google you and speeds trust-building in markets unfamiliar with search funds.