Built to Sell Radio

In 2016, Marc Lafleur started truLOCAL, a subscription business allowing people to buy locally-raised meats online.  To ignite sales, Lafleur and his co-founder pitched the company on the popular Canadian TV show Dragon’s Den (similar to Shark Tank). The presentation was a hit as they received an investment of $100,000 from Dragon’s, Michele Romanow and Joe Mimran for 10% of the business.  As a result of their new partners and the free marketing that came from the show, revenues soared.  By 2020 truLOCAL had reached sales of eight figures when Lafleur began receiving interest from acquirers. A few months later, the company was acquired by EMERGE in a deal valued at $16.8 million.

In 2009 Simon Penson founded Zazzle Media, one of the first content marketing agencies in the U.K. Although the company was successful, Penson had difficulties winning large customer contracts due to the size of his agency. To enhance his credibility, in 2015 he decided to merge Zazzle Media with Stickyeyes, which, at the time, formed the largest content marketing agency in the U.K.  Penson’s decision proved to be savvy.

This week on Built to Sell Radio, we highlight the top strategies from the 10 most popular shows of 2022.

In 2006 Kelby Zorgdrager started DevelopIntelligence, an outsourced training provider that helps programmers develop new skills and adapt to ever-changing technologies. The business snowballed as Zorgdrager onboarded most Fortune 500 giants in his space. However, Zorgdrager had a problem. The company was too dependent on him. To ensure the business could succeed without him, Zorgdrager implemented a four-step system to replace himself as the rainmaker of his company. The strategy worked. By 2020 Zorgdrager had grown the business to $12.1 million in revenue, which piqued the interest of some acquirers. A year later, Zorgdrager signed an acquisition offer from Pluralsight in a deal valued at $48.9 million.

In 2016 Trevr Smithlin and Dave Hanley founded AdvertiseCast, a marketplace connecting podcasters with advertisers. The company experienced tremendous growth, doubling revenue year-over-year until 2020. That’s when the uncertainty triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic caused Smithlin and Hanley to consider their strategic options. In March 2021, Smithlin and Hanley signed an acquisition agreement from Libsyn for $30 million.

In 2016 Channing Allen and his brother Courtland founded Indie Hackers, a blog and forum that encourages founders to transparently share their ideas and stories.  After only eight months, the brothers had grown the business to $8,000 in revenue when they received an unexpected email from Patrick Collison (co-founder and CEO of Stripe), who was looking to acquire the company.  Although tempted to keep building, Stripe’s offer was too good to refuse. The brothers agreed to be acquired by Stripe in March 2017.

In 2012, Jaclyn Johnson founded Create & Cultivate, a media company that educates and inspires women to succeed in business. By 2018, Johnson had grown Create & Cultivate to eight employees when an acquirer offered her a staggering $40 million. Unfortunately, the deal was too good to be true. When the acquirer discovered her hands-on management style, they pulled out. Learning from her mistakes, Johnson implemented a collection of strategies to ensure Create & Cultivate could thrive without her. By the end of 2019, Johnson had grown to $14 million in revenue ($4 million EBITDA) when acquirers came knocking again. This time she was ready. Create & Cultivate was acquired by Corridor Capital in a deal valued at $22 million.

In 2002 Chuck Crumpton started Medpoint to help businesses bring medical devices and pharmaceuticals to market. The company quickly took off after Crumpton landed a prominent blue-chip client.   It was a blessing and a curse. At one point, the blue-chip customer made up 83% of Medpoint’s revenue. Determined to reduce his customer concentration, Crumpton implemented a clever strategy to minimize his dependency. The strategy worked as Crumpton successfully reduced his reliance below 50%, allowing him to sell Medpoint in 2020 for around five times EBITDA.

In 2009 Natalie Nagele and her husband, Chris, launched Postmark to help businesses deliver emails to their customers quickly. A decade in, Nagele had grown the company to around 40 employees, which was when she began feeling burned out. The pull to explore new interests was the catalyst to accepting a life-changing acquisition offer from Active Campaign in 2022.

In 2020 veterinarian Dr. Joseph Marchell started Old Brown Dog Veterinary Partners (OBDVP) after identifying a unique opportunity to do a rollup of family-owned animal hospitals.  Marchell acquired three practices for around ten times EBITDA. He then implemented a streamlined operational strategy that resulted in the sale of OBDVP less than two years later for almost three times the purchase price.