The Exchanges

Q doing quite well with it. I guess I never had a problem listening, but I also always had too much energy and my bosses never understood how to utilize it properly, and I felt like only I could do that. As you were working in the dot com era and all of that, how did you decide to make this marketing agency that you then had this fabulous exit from?

A Yes, it was actually before, that's my first, ah, my, the first agency that I, I ran was with some friends out of school. So we were all, we were all taking, you know, web development and three D and video. And, you know, at the time flash was still a big thing. And we jumped in right away. The three of us basically with a bunch of friends and contractors and really grew that business. So at the time, You know, agencies, there was a lot of really big agencies. That was the theme. It always kind of ebbs and flows. And so our, our job basically as contractors was to work with the big agencies. And, and so we were kind of in the background and, uh, you know, it was, it was, it was a great time to, to, to go through that, that ride. Um, but with my partners and I, we had difference of opinion of where we felt the market was, was going, we're building a lot of custom content management at the time. And then this thing called WordPress came out and, um, You know, it was, it was quite a disruptor for a lot of us in terms of open source and where all that went. And so we just ultimately went our separate ways. And that's when I founded, uh, Arcane with my, with my business partner, John. And ultimately our goal was this. So this was at, uh, just after the 2008, 2009 recession, uh, 2010 things started to come back on, but clients all over were asking for transparency on, on where their …

AI assessment note: “And that's when I founded, uh, Arcane with my, with my business partner, John.”

Q How did you grow the marketing agency, especially during this time you said when it was in the middle of the crisis and The great recession and all of that people probably weren't spending that much. How did you find these clients? How did you grow the company through all that?

A Yeah, I think with, with any good business, it's looking for opportunities to not have to add budget. Um, and so we were cognizant exactly as you said, you know, 2010 things started to pick up. There's a little bit of dollars floating after, after 2008 and nine. Uh, but people really were holding onto their, uh, onto their cash or to their, to their budgets. Um, so first foremost, yeah, we didn't want to add to the budget. Uh, we wanted to, to prove and show results, which at the time was very different. It was a unique sales conversation that traditionally that they would never have had. Um, generally it was before just spend a bunch of money and, and let's see what happens next year from a historical report perspective. And we walk in and say, you know, we're going to show you results every single week that we meet with you and we're going to meet in person and we're going to sit down and we're going to teach you and coach you just as much as you are on your business. We're going to do the same about what's going on with your data and what it is that your analytics are and performance are, are telling us. So that was a big point. The second one in terms of budget was we, we wanted to take dollars from existing budget from something else that we would be able to, to show wasn't working. Uh, so in a lot of cases it was a traditional media focus. So we'd actually go out and find…

AI assessment note: “we wanted to take dollars from existing budget from something else”

Q How long was it From when they messaged you to when you actually closed and what was the process like of, I guess you had to go through due diligence. They probably asked for tons of documents. Uh, what is that like? Cause I think a lot of people love to know, oh, you made a hundred million dollars, but nobody talks about the process of the sale, the close.

A The money part is interesting. Cause it, you get, you can get stuck on that very quickly and, and, um, it, it can drive negative decisions. So we're lucky where we, we hired the, uh, the M&A firm to actually guide us through the process. We had been on the buying side before, but not on the selling side, especially with a business of that size. And, and I can show you a clip of the paperwork on the day we signed. It was littered our second floor of our entire, uh, entire office. And funny, one of our, this was actually during COVID, one of our team members walked in to water the plants and they're, they're like looking around cause they had no idea what was going on. And there's You know, 20 people running around and lawyers and papers being signed, and it was, it was insanity. But yeah, it was, so from November of 2019, um, moved very quickly, closing at the end of, of March is not a lot of time. So it was weekends, nights, mornings, days, ridiculous amount of due diligence. Um, the process is, is, is not simple, but I'll, I'll simplify it. In most cases, there's, you know, the process to a letter of intent, which is generally non-binding, but the letter of intent speaks to Multiples, valuations, um, the, the requirements to get to a specific deal structure. So we spent a lot of time within the LOI stage, uh, with our, um, you know, with the, the potential buyers getting to kn…

AI assessment note: “from November of 2019, moved very quickly, closing at the end of, of March”

Q At the end of the day, through all of it, through all the, the, the, the huge rollercoaster you experienced, would you say that you were satisfied with the sale and with the amount of money that you made?

A Yeah, absolutely. It was either, you know, not to get into too many details of our criteria, but a lot of it was, we have these fantastic, uh, initiatives and other businesses going on that, that ultimately have, uh, a very large upside to them. And in many cases, more than You know, what the service based business did, and it was our time to kind of move on. And, uh, and, and so we're very happy with the deal structure. We love our new partners. You know, we're so happy with the success of that business and being able to be involved in it and meeting all of our criteria just means that much more that we made the right decision. Um, and obviously some bumps and bruises along the way itself, but ultimately what has happened with COVID in the world of digital and marketing and commerce, e-commerce formally, whatever you want to call it. Um, has just supercharged our entire, our business and in, in the business of being all things online. So, um, that means a lot to us. It means the business is secure and we've got a, a great model and the team there is doing awesome. And, and that, you know, it all boils up to, we made the right decision. And so very happy with how everything went down, you know, outside of the stress, et cetera. We've got great partners. We've got a great business, uh, and to be a part of something that is really going to grow and, uh, and, you know, change the,…

AI assessment note: “Yeah, absolutely... and, and so we're very happy with the deal structure.”

Q in the purchasing of Bitcoin for these professional services, as well as business to business services, as well as the purchasing of Bitcoin for hedge funds and other investors. And so this Surge in popularity due to the surge in buying and discussion is really what's driving the growth of, of Bitcoin. So what is the most important thing you've learned in your life that you could impart on us?

A Well, I, uh, I think it has to be with, um, you know, how we, we treat each other. There's no better time to speak about this, but, um, I have a personal belief to never judge anybody and to be empathetic with who they are, what they've been through, get to know and understand them. Uh, and then formulate a, uh, a decision on what I, I believe, you know, who they are. I also trust my instinct and will often measure up, uh, what I believe a person has to offer and, but also give them the benefit of the doubt in time and try to get to know them before, before that, you know, you also never know who you're going to run into. I've had many relationships for many years, friends that turn into co-workers and friends that turn into clients and vice versa. And or partners and all sorts of stuff. The world is very small. And, uh, and I think if we treat each other with respect and empathy, then, you know, we'll have a better place to live. And like I said, there's no better time for us to understand each other's views, whether we believe it's right or wrong, actually listen to people, have conversations, take it off of Facebook or whatever social media that you want to, you know, position your, your point of power on, not saying you shouldn't deliver it, but if people want to have a conversation or, or Talk about their views. I think everybody needs to be a little bit more empathetic th…

AI assessment note: “I think it has to be with, um, you know, how we, we treat each other.”

Q and explaining your data, like, As you said, I've, I've talked to so many different companies and I still don't think people are doing that kind of stuff. So let's move a little bit further to more about the sale of the agency. So did you decide you were ready to sell or did someone come to you and say, I like this, I want to buy it from you?

A So we've had lots of people interested in, in the business and, um, or co-investing and growing and all those kinds of things. And again, we had a, We had a seven year business plan that, you know, we sat down and looked at together in around, uh, 2017. My co-founder and I and our partners, we, we realized that we loved building the business and selling and, you know, being a part of the grind of the strategy and the product and all those kinds of things. What we weren't great at was, you know, let's say running the actual operations, the day-to-day, the HR, the process, the, you know, executive team meetings, et cetera, et cetera. That's not what got us excited in the morning. So we actually stepped aside. Uh, I was CEO for the majority of the, of the time. I, I moved over to, uh, to basically a chairman and president role, and we appointed a new CEO and a COO to come in and run the business. It was our sort of first inkling that, you know, how long are we going to be involved in this business? But we, we loved it. We love the culture. We love the team. We love the clients. And so we didn't want to go anywhere. We just didn't know what our next evolution was, but we did have a realization that we weren't, uh, the long-term You know, managers of, of the business day to day. And so we were very happy about that change and that movement. Uh, and the team is still intact today. Bo…

AI assessment note: “we've had lots of people interested in, in the business and, um, or co-investing”