The Exit - Presented By Flippa The Exit - Presented By Flippa

This week on The Exit: Suleman “Suli” Ali was introduced to the world of business M&A when he was just eight years old helping his father find and buy their family’s first business.

However, it wasn’t until years later into his early 20s and his first job at Microsoft that he determined that corporate life was not for him and he answered his calling to a life of entrepreneurship.

During this time, the Facebook app marketplace was in its early stages and he went all in on becoming a leader in the Facebook app space.

He and his team would go on to build and exit two mobile gaming businesses, Esgut (acquired by SGN) and then TinyCo (acquired by Jam City).

Two exits and decades of experience later in building both bootstrapped and VC-backed businesses, he emphasizes the importance of building businesses that will continue to perform through increased competition and marketing costs.

Through it all, he hopes business owners will do what he wishes he did for himself: to enjoy the journey as you’re building and growing the business, and not just at the exit.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.


Suli Ali is a serial investor and entrepreneur who has started and sold 2 startups with Esgut being acquired by SGN, and TinyCo being acquired by Jam City. Suli has been an angel investor in over 100 startups and LP in 25+ venture capital funds. Through Ali Capital, along with his brother Moiz, Suli has a passion for investing with founders who see a future that few others can see.


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sulemanali

Website: https://www.ali-capital.co/

X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/sulemanali


For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit





--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: After a short stint in politics, Charlie Silver, founder and CEO of Permission.io, shares his 35-year entrepreneurial journey, which started by opening Michigan’s first Jiffy Lube store.

10 years and 17 franchises later, he sold all of his stores back to Jiffy Lube, and founded his next venture, RealAge, a health risk assessment company.

After launching and scaling the business to $30M in revenue, he decided it was the right time to sell, and exited the business to Hearst Corporation.

Through it all, Charlie reflects on the importance of conviction in entrepreneurship but balanced with understanding the risk of each endeavor, and that a previous success does not guarantee the next.

Now, with Permission.io, Charlie aims to empower individuals by allowing them to control and monetize their data in a privacy-centric internet landscape.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.


Charlie Silver is a start-up business expert who has built several enterprises from the ground up to successful exit. Charlie understands that each business has its own unique DNA and that there is no formula for business success other than a deep commitment to reality and reason, and a dogged pursuit of obtaining and retaining customers. Charlie's current project is Permission.io. Permission has created ASK to serve as the digital reward for individuals to share their data and engage with brands.


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliehsilver/

Website: https://search.permission.io/


For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit




--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: John Shufeldt was an ER doctor before embarking on a decades-long career as a serial healthcare entrepreneur with three companies and a health-tech VC firm under his belt.

He details the sale of his virtual medicine business, MeMD to Walmart in 2021.

He recognizes that, while he happened to sell at a peak valuation, it wasn’t due to timing the market, but rather his success came in selling the company while there was still a “blue ocean” of growth opportunity ahead, and a compelling story of year-over-year historic growth.

When selling to large buyers like those of Walmart, he emphasizes how important it is to have your numbers in order, and how much easier it is to build this into your business operations early, rather than retroactively trying to clean up finances when an offer is at your doorstep.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.



John Shufeldt has more than three decades of healthcare entrepreneurship. In 1993, John founded NextCare, Inc., which expanded under his leadership from one to 60 clinics across six states, generating nearly $100 million in revenue. In 2010, after his tenure as NextCare’s CEO, John launched MeMD, LLC, connecting over 500 medical professionals to patients virtually. Walmart acquired MeMD in 2021. John created Tribal Health in 2015, addressing healthcare needs in Indigenous territories. The organization now employs over 450 providers across 35 Native American healthcare facilities. In 2021, he founded Xcellerant Ventures, a VC firm focused on investing in health-tech startups.


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-shufeldt/

Website: https://www.johnshufeldtmd.com/

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xcellerantventures/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit





--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Before the days of YouTube and TikTok, James Creech was creating videos, little did he know this interest would lead him to one day launch a company focused on content creation. In 2016 when influencer marketing and the creator economy was still finding its feet, James and his partners saw a need for tracking and reporting on the impact of influencer marketing, and the opportunity to turn this into a business.

Together with his two partners, James launched Paladin, an influencer marketing platform for brands and agencies to work with, manage and track influencer partnerships. Entirely bootstrapped, the three founders each invested their life’s savings to get the business started, including James taking the downpayment he had saved for a house and putting it all into the business. They were first time founders figuring it out as they went, but always focused on revenue, customer count and retention rates. And when it came time to sell the business, these were the same metrics buyers were interested in.

After six years the business had grown to 25 people when the world was hit by Covid. For the influencer industry and Paladin, the impact of Covid only meant increased investment from brands who were looking to connect with people while they were stuck at home on their phones. The business hit an inflection point and James and his partners saw their opportunity to exit. They realized they either needed to raise funding to acquire smaller operations in order to grow in what was now a crowded market, or find a strategic partner who could help them grow. They met over 30 potential buyers as they tried to narrow down the list to those who had similar values and shared their vision to take the business to the next level. Buyer were primarily interested in topline revenue, potential for the business, strength of customer contracts, customer retention and how sticky the technology is - everything James was focused on as they built the business. Ultimately Brandwatch was the best fit, Brandwatch believed in the business they had built and what they were trying to achieve.

Listen to learn more about what James learnt along the way and his advice for other founders and entrepreneurs.



James Creech is a 3x entrepreneur who helps founders sell their business. James offers advisory services for entrepreneurs and operators looking to navigate the M&A process and maximize their outcome. He built and sold his first startup, currently is working on 2 more, and “has had countless failures along the way.” James Founded Creator Economy Jobs in October of 2023, which operates as the premier job board for creator economy companies and candidates. He is also the Co-Founder and Board Member of Measure Studio, which provides AI-powered social media insights for brands, agencies, and publishers.


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlcreech/

Website: https://www.measure.studio/

Website: https://creatoreconomyjobs.co/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit





--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Among everything Sara Hirsh Bordo has done in her career, from being a marketing executive at Paramount Pictures and MGM Studios, the owner of several acquired businesses, and a 15x award-winning filmmaker, she might now mostly describe herself as an impact-focused creator.

Through her production company, Women Rising®, which was named as one of the most “Innovative, Interesting, and Purpose-Driven Women-Led Startups to Watch” by Inc Magazine, Sara has used her storytelling skills to become an advocate and a mentor for female founders and women-led companies.

As far as how she chooses what businesses to get involved with, she says “I start things because I think they’re missing. I don’t start things because I think I can do them better than somebody else”.

While her exits are accomplishments in themselves, she defines her success in entrepreneurship more as building something behind messages she believes are needed.

For more details and insights from her entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.


Sara Hirsh Bordo is a 15x award-winning filmmaker and Founder/CEO of empowerment production company Women Rising®, named "One of the Most Innovative, Interesting, and Purpose-Driven Women Led Startups to Watch” by Inc Magazine. Sara's client storytelling work includes national and global work for partners like Toyota, Saatchi & Saatchi, ESPN Women, Hiring Our Heroes, Farmhouse Fresh, and Tri Delta, as well as marketing consulting for Sony Pictures and Warner Bros.' WONDER WOMAN franchise. Sara is a member of the Producers Guild, a 4x Juror for Best Documentary, and on the Women's Leadership Committee for the Global Wellness Institute. A former delegate to the UN and the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, and 2x nominee for Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneur. Sara previously held positions in media/entertainment including Executive Director of Interactive Marketing at Paramount Pictures, VP of Digital Marketing at MGM Studios, and CEO and Co-Founder of NowLive which was acquired by Live Media Group in 2013.


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahirshbordo/

Website: https://www.womenrising.com/

Website: https://autoimmunesurvey.com/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit





--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Matt Frary got his start in online business during the dot com era. After graduating from business school and being unable to find a job, he went on an entrepreneurial journey that would have him building and selling five different online businesses.

One thing he learned about himself was how he knew when it was time to sell. In his case, he loved the building and scaling phase but knew he was no longer the best person for his business once he grew it to the operational phase.

He explains the difference between building a lifestyle business vs. a business you plan to exit. For those planning to exit, he emphasizes the importance of building businesses with a strong foundation, scalable solutions, and operating as if the company will be a large business in the future.

He also discusses life after exiting, and making sure that, whether business or personal, you always have another “mountain to climb”.


Matt Frary is a successful startup entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience, and he has built and sold five different startups in the fields of affiliate marketing, performance marketing, digital marketing, and ecommerce consulting. Currently, Matt is the founder and managing member of Chief of Chaos Holdings, LLC, a company that focuses on management consulting, commercial real estate, angel investment, and startup mentorship. Matt is also the founder and CEO of Elite Media Partners, a performance marketing agency that specializes in growth marketing for B2B SaaS companies. He is also the vice president of brand strategy at The Academy of Pop, a revolutionary platform for artists and creators to learn and entertain in a web 3.0 environment.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefofchaos/

Website: https://chiefofchaos.com/

Website: https://partneragency.io/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit





--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/