In 2015 Nick Santora founded Curricula, a cyber security awareness training program that helps companies defend themselves against hackers. Santora created fun, cartoon training videos in contrast to the dull content that existed at the time.

Companies happily embraced Santora’s approach. By 2021 he had grown Curricula to just over $2 million in annual recurring revenue when he accepted an acquisition offer from the cyber security giant Huntress for $22 million.

Ep 361 Hacking Your Way to a $22 Million Exit – Nick Santora

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.

Ep 366 The Inside Story of Stripe’s Acquisition of Indie Hackers with Co-Founder Channing Allen

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.

Ep 367 Libsyn’s Acquisition of AdvertiseCast: The Tell-All with Trevr Smithlin and Dave Hanley

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.

Ep 368 How This Service Business Sold for Over 4-Times Revenue with Kelby Zorgdrager

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

End of the Year Special: Top 10 Strategies for Building the Valuable of Your Company

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.

Ep 370 Scaling Your Business through Strategic Partnerships with Simon Penson

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.

Ep 371 From Dragon's Den Investment to $16.8 Million Acquisition – The Story of truLOCAL

In 2011, Perry Rosenbloom started the web development company, Brighter Vision. After a few years of jumping from project to project, Rosenbloom had a breakthrough. Instead of doing web design for everyone, he decided to focus on creating websites exclusively for therapists.

His decision to niche down worked as revenue soared.

By 2020, Rosenbloom had thousands of customers and millions in sales, which was when Evercommerce made an offer to acquire Brighter Vision for $17.5 million.

Ep 372 Brighter Vision’s Niche Strategy Leads to $17.5 Million Acquisition with Perry Rosenbloom

In 2012, Spencer Thompson founded Sokanu, a career assessment platform aimed at replacing the outdated assessments that existed at the time. Sokanu’s “Career Explorer” quickly became one of North America's most prominent assessment tools and was adopted by the U.S. Government and top colleges around the world. 

The assessments were a huge hit with job seekers, yet Thompson struggled to generate sales. Rather than fix his revenue model, Thompson looked for an acquirer who would value his enormous user base. Soon after, Sokanu received a lucrative acquisition offer from Penn Foster, an online educational institute.

Ep 373 Revolutionizing the Way We Plan Our Careers: Discover the Impact of Sokanu

In 2016, Derek Morin founded Tabarnapp to create after-market sales applications for Shopify website owners. The company was an instant hit generating more than 1,000 paid customers in its first few months after launching on the Shopify platform. 

In 2020, Morin acquired one of his partners' stake in Tabarnapp, valuing the company at $400,000. Two years later, Morin sold Tabarnapp for a much higher price, implying a tenfold increase in the company's value.

Ep 374 How Tabarnapp Grew Its Value Ten-Fold in 24 Months with Derek Morin

Sam Parr founded the Hustle, a media company that delivers business and tech news to millennials in an engaging and relatable way, in 2015. The business was an instant hit with readers, generating millions of page views in only a few months.

By 2020 Sam Parr had grown the Hustle to $15 million in revenue, attracting the attention of tech giant HubSpot. A few months later, the tech conglomerate acquired the Hustle in a lucrative eight-figure deal.

Ep 375 Inside HubSpot's Surprising Acquisition of the Hustle with Founder, Sam Parr

Built to Sell Radio is a weekly podcast for business owners.  Each week, we ask a recently cashed out entrepreneur why they decided to sell, what they did right and what mistakes they made through the process of exiting their business.  Built to Sell Radio is the ultimate insider's guide to approaching the most important financial transaction of your life.  

Ep 361 Hacking Your Way to a $22 Million Exit – Nick Santora

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