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Mike Zani

CEO, The Predictive Index · 1 appearance on the record.

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executiveinvestoroperatorauthorathleteLinkedIn ↗predictiveindex.com ↗

After coaching the 1996 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team, Zani used a search fund model to acquire and scale multiple companies, including LEDCO, ShapeUp, and workforce assessment company The Predictive Index. He also authored the Wall Street Journal bestselling book The Science of Dream Teams.

15statements → 9claims → 1claims resolved → 3.87/5average certainty → 1.07/5average debate potential →

1 supported 0 partly supported 0 contradicted 8 not checkable as stated how the 9 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

9 assertions · 6 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 9 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 1 is resolved, and 8 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Mike argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Zani: Predictive Index sells only upfront annual subscriptions
“Only annual.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 17:55 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Mike Zani on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Mike Zani said on Top Founders that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Only 4 of 45 Ledco employees remained after Zani's acquisition
“We had 45 people, and only four of those people made it, and we actually used the Predictive Index as a client to help us reshape our human capital strategy.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 3:16 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Predictive Index accelerated from 8% to 34% growth post-acquisition
“It was growing at about eight percent for the last 10 years before we bought it, and we've retooled the company, and this last year will be 34% growth.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 6:36 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Disclosure
Zani details search fund carry hurdle: 20% under 30% IRR, 30% over
“Typically we structure it as a profits interest. So what we do is we get everyone their initial capital back. And then we share, you know, a percentage of the proceeds and you hit on it. If we are under a 30% IRR, we get 20% of the proceeds. And if we're over …”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 14:44 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Predictive Index average ACV is $12,000
“Yeah, our average ACV is 12,000.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 5:38 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
The Predictive Index has 6,100 corporate clients
“That's, you know, our average client, we have 6100 clients.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 5:44 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Predictive Index generated $50M in revenue when Zani acquired it in 2014
“We are, we're doing when we bought the company in 14, we were doing fifty million in revenue.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 6:13 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Predictive Index is forecasted to close 2017 at $70M revenue
“And we've grown the company to seventy million when we're closing out, forecasted to close out on 17.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 6:20 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Disclosure
Zani: Predictive Index has self-funded through cash flow since November 2014
“And the only capital that we've brought on was acquisition capital. Since November, 2014, we've self-funded everything through cash flow.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 9:24 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Disclosure
Zani: PI acquisition was backed by original 2004 search fund investors
“Daniel, Daniel and I put put some in, but we've used our investors in the search fund that we've, that got us going in, in 2004. And we've gone back to them through every subsequent deal and just sort of passed the hat.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 9:36 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Disclosure
Zani put zero personal equity into his first search fund deal
“And in our first opportunity, we didn't put any equity in. We just earned sweat equity. But we did well with the first company and we've taken some of our proceeds and bought other companies and we've been able to put more and more equity into our subsequent i…”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 11:24 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Disclosure
Zani reinvests all company cash flow into growth over regular payouts
“We've done that just because in most of the companies that we've had, we have wanted to take all of our cashflow to invest in growth.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 15:41 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Zani: Predictive Index CAC payback period is roughly 16 months
“I think it's about we're probably at about 16 months payback.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 17:33 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Zani: Predictive Index reaches 98% revenue retention, sub-90% logo retention
“On, on revenue, it's closer to 98. On, on logo, it's just under 90.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 18:13 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Disclosure
Mike Zani and partner have acquired four existing companies
“My business partner and I have purchased and taken over four sort of used companies”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 2:16 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter
Assertion Supported
Zani: Predictive Index sells only upfront annual subscriptions
“Only annual.”
Mike Zani Mar 9, 2018 ▶ 17:55 958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
958 When Founders Died, He Acquired $50m+ SaaS Company That Helps You Hire Smarter Mar 9, 2018 10m
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