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May 7, 2021 · 17m · top-founders

How He Grew $5m Agency and Why He Exited for EBITDA Multiple Last Year

Michel (Mike) van Velde · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken Frank Bien · 4s spoken Eric Yuan · 4s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this interview with Nathan Latka, One Shoe founder Michel 'Mike' van Velde explains how he bootstrapped his digital and software agency to $5 million in revenue before executing a successful acquisition exit to Interacto Group on an EBITDA multiple.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 32.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.2 Guest teaching 1.2 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 2.4
05100:0010:000:14–3:53 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Subscription Announcement and Platform Overview Latka opens with standard promotional material and intro questions to establish the agency's business model and origin story. The tone is highly collaborative and conversational with minimal friction.3:54–9:27 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Agency Engineering Team and High-Value Projects Latka presses van Velde on vague growth claims, asking repeatedly for specific historical revenue numbers to accurately calculate compound growth rates.9:28–14:15 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Acquisition Strategy, Valuation Metrics, and Interacto Group Merger Latka exercises strong domain knowledge around M&A valuation multiples, pushing back when van Velde claims the multiple was applied to a mixture of top line and bottom line.14:16–16:31 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A friendly and straightforward Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering book recommendations, tools, and background without adversarial friction.16:31–17:01 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode Recap and Final Remarks A standard host monologue summarizing company metrics, growth timeline, and exit before signing off.0:14–3:53 · Guest teaching 1/10 Subscription Announcement and Platform Overview Latka opens with standard promotional material and intro questions to establish the agency's business model and origin story. The tone is highly collaborative and conversational with minimal friction.3:54–9:27 · Guest teaching 2/10 Agency Engineering Team and High-Value Projects Latka presses van Velde on vague growth claims, asking repeatedly for specific historical revenue numbers to accurately calculate compound growth rates.9:28–14:15 · Guest teaching 2/10 Acquisition Strategy, Valuation Metrics, and Interacto Group Merger Latka exercises strong domain knowledge around M&A valuation multiples, pushing back when van Velde claims the multiple was applied to a mixture of top line and bottom line.14:16–16:31 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A friendly and straightforward Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering book recommendations, tools, and background without adversarial friction.16:31–17:01 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Recap and Final Remarks A standard host monologue summarizing company metrics, growth timeline, and exit before signing off.0:14–3:53 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Subscription Announcement and Platform Overview Latka opens with standard promotional material and intro questions to establish the agency's business model and origin story. The tone is highly collaborative and conversational with minimal friction.3:54–9:27 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Agency Engineering Team and High-Value Projects Latka presses van Velde on vague growth claims, asking repeatedly for specific historical revenue numbers to accurately calculate compound growth rates.9:28–14:15 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Acquisition Strategy, Valuation Metrics, and Interacto Group Merger Latka exercises strong domain knowledge around M&A valuation multiples, pushing back when van Velde claims the multiple was applied to a mixture of top line and bottom line.14:16–16:31 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A friendly and straightforward Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering book recommendations, tools, and background without adversarial friction.16:31–17:01 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Recap and Final Remarks A standard host monologue summarizing company metrics, growth timeline, and exit before signing off.0:14–3:53 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Subscription Announcement and Platform Overview Latka opens with standard promotional material and intro questions to establish the agency's business model and origin story. The tone is highly collaborative and conversational with minimal friction.3:54–9:27 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Agency Engineering Team and High-Value Projects Latka presses van Velde on vague growth claims, asking repeatedly for specific historical revenue numbers to accurately calculate compound growth rates.9:28–14:15 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Acquisition Strategy, Valuation Metrics, and Interacto Group Merger Latka exercises strong domain knowledge around M&A valuation multiples, pushing back when van Velde claims the multiple was applied to a mixture of top line and bottom line.14:16–16:31 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A friendly and straightforward Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering book recommendations, tools, and background without adversarial friction.16:31–17:01 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Recap and Final Remarks A standard host monologue summarizing company metrics, growth timeline, and exit before signing off.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 62.6% · guest 37.4%0:00 · Nathan 62.6% · guest 37.4%3:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%3:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%6:00 · Nathan 23.1% · guest 76.9%6:00 · Nathan 23.1% · guest 76.9%9:00 · Nathan 16.4% · guest 83.6%9:00 · Nathan 16.4% · guest 83.6%12:00 · Nathan 35.1% · guest 64.9%12:00 · Nathan 35.1% · guest 64.9%15:00 · Nathan 38% · guest 62%15:00 · Nathan 38% · guest 62%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:25 Van Velde deflects precise revenue memory

Van Velde resists providing exact historical figures under Latka's persistent questioning, admitting he does not know the exact numbers off the top of his head.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:54 Latka rejects mixed multiple framing

Latka directly halts van Velde's vague answer about a mixed multiple, firmly pointing out that buyers only multiply against one metric: top line or profit.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:43 Van Velde explains open source pivot during financial crisis

Van Velde educates Latka on how the 2008 crash drove enterprise demand toward open source Drupal platforms and specialized compliance niches.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:07 Latka extrapolates exit revenue from compound growth

Latka quickly calculates the agency's estimated run-rate at exit by compounding its historical 15-20% annual growth on top of the 2012 baseline.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Subscription Announcement and Platform Overview 3111 Latka opens with standard promotional material and intro questions to establish the agency's business model and origin story. The tone is highly collaborative and conversational with minimal friction.
Agency Engineering Team and High-Value Projects 5225 Latka presses van Velde on vague growth claims, asking repeatedly for specific historical revenue numbers to accurately calculate compound growth rates.
Acquisition Strategy, Valuation Metrics, and Interacto Group Merger 6225 Latka exercises strong domain knowledge around M&A valuation multiples, pushing back when van Velde claims the multiple was applied to a mixture of top line and bottom line.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2111 A friendly and straightforward Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering book recommendations, tools, and background without adversarial friction.
Episode Recap and Final Remarks 0000 A standard host monologue summarizing company metrics, growth timeline, and exit before signing off.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Van Velde built One Shoe to 45 staff before Interacto acquisition
“I sold one shoe to the Interacto Group and I basically built the company up until 45 people. And now my company has become part of the Interacto group, and we now have over 1500 employees.”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 4:07
Disclosure
One Shoe's enterprise project fees ranged from $150,000 to over $1 million
“So, so, so between a 150 to six, seven, eight, over a million plus.”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 5:31
Disclosure
One Shoe serviced approximately 50 active customers in 2020
“About 50, 50 customers. Yeah, yeah.”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 8:29
Insight
Scaling an agency past 25 employees is the first major operational hurdle
“Growing past 25 is really difficult as an agency. That's where the first hurdles come in.”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 9:47
Assertion Not checkable as stated
One Shoe grew revenue 10% to 20% annually from 2012 until exit
“I think about, you know, between 10, 15, 20% growth.”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 10:20
Disclosure
One Shoe's acquisition valuation was based on a profit multiple, not revenue
“Profit.”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 13:01
Insight
Founders should read 'I'm OK – You're OK' to improve negotiation skills
“It's a book well, which I advise to every single entrepreneur. It's called I'm okay. You're okay. And it's a book about transactional analysis on how to communicate effectively. That's been serving me a lot in terms of negotiation, but also internally with my,…”
Michel (Mike) van Velde May 7, 2021 ▶ 14:26
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