From Founder to Exit — The Story Behind Growth Counts
What we built, how we scaled it, and everything we learned along the way, so you don't have to learn it the hard way.
The Organic Foundation
Before a single acquisition, we spent years building the core business the hard way, adding customers, expanding service lines, earning repeat revenue. Organic growth wasn't a warm-up act. It was the platform the acquisitions needed to land on.
That meant proving a repeatable operating system, a way of running the business that wasn't dependent on any one person. That's what makes a company acquirable. And equally important, it's what makes you a credible acquirer when the time comes.
Consistent profitability and reinvested cash flow built the balance sheet, and with it, the credibility and borrowing capacity to go acquire. None of that happened by accident. Every decision in the early years was quietly building enterprise value.
“Organic growth wasn't a warm-up act, it was the platform the acquisitions needed to land on.”
Bringing in the Right Capital Partner
In 2017, Private Equity entered at a 20% ownership level, valuing the business at $10M. This wasn't about giving up control. It was about accessing the capital, expertise, and network needed to accelerate growth far beyond what organic revenue alone could support.
Working with a PE partner taught me how institutional investors think, what they look for in a platform company, and how to align incentives so that everyone, management, investors, and employees, wins together.
With that foundation in place, we launched the acquisition campaign that would define the next chapter of the company.
“PE isn't a last resort. For the right business at the right stage, it's the most powerful growth lever available.”
Seven Acquisitions. One Disciplined Strategy.
We executed seven acquisitions in total, starting with small, disciplined tuck-ins, then two larger deals that carried the business to its final scale. Total enterprise value paid across all seven: $77.5M, at a blended multiple of approximately 6.9x.
The strategy was deliberate: buy consistently at a lower multiple than the one we were trading at. That gap, buying at 6.9x blended and ultimately exiting at 11.3x, is multiple arbitrage. It was the real engine of value creation, not deal count.
Each acquisition was a lesson in due diligence, integration planning, and cultural alignment. The operating discipline built organically is what made each acquisition integrate cleanly instead of adding chaos.
Four Transactions to Exit
The exit wasn't a single event, it was four transactions over eight years. Each one built on the last, and each required its own negotiation, structure, and timing.
Even after the French strategic buyer acquired 100% in 2023, I continued leading the growth strategy, completing two more acquisitions with the support of the new parent while the business kept growing organically. That combination is what took us from a $90M enterprise value to $215M by the time of my operational exit in 2025.
Most founders assume that selling their company and exiting their company are the same event. They are not. The sale is a legal and financial transaction. The exit, the moment you are truly free from operational obligations, comes later, on your own terms, if you plan for it.
Private Equity entered at 20% ownership at a $10M EV, validating our platform interest, we then did around 6 acquisitions together.
German strategic buyer acquired 60% after 6 acquisitions at a $46M EV. The PE firm was bought out and I retained 40%. This partnership ultimately was not the best fit.
Together the German company and I took U.S. CAD to market again, and a French strategic buyer acquired 100% at a $90M EV. I reinvested back into the global group.
In late 2025 I had my final exit, and my operational exit. This followed continued organic growth and two more strategic acquisitions, growing the company to around $215M in EV.
From $10M to $46M in 2 years, through strong inorganic growth. From $46M to $90M in 4 years, through strong organic growth. From $90M to $215M in 2 more years with a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic growth.
“The sale is the transaction. The exit is the freedom. Plan for both separately.”
When International Strategic Buyers Enter the Room
When a German strategic buyer acquired 60% of the business in 2019, and a French strategic buyer acquired 100% in 2023, the complexity multiplied, different legal frameworks, currencies, cultural expectations, and deal structures. But so did the opportunity.
International strategic buyers often pay a premium because they are acquiring market access, not just revenue. Understanding what they are really buying, and positioning accordingly, is a skill that takes years to develop. we bring that experience directly to my clients.
What Two Decades Taught
Acquisitions bought years
Growth that organic execution alone would have taken far longer to reach happened in single transactions. Time is the one thing you can't manufacture — acquisitions compress it.
Multiple discipline mattered most
Buying consistently at a lower multiple than the one I was trading at 6.9x blended in, 11.3x out, was the real engine. Not deal count. The arbitrage was always the point.
Organic and inorganic reinforced each other
The operating discipline built organically is what made each acquisition integrate cleanly instead of adding chaos. You can't skip the foundation and expect the acquisitions to hold.
International buyers change the game
When you open the process to international strategic buyers, you change the competitive dynamic entirely. More competition means better terms, and a German or French buyer may value your business more than any domestic acquirer.
Selling and exiting are two different plans
Four transactions over eight years taught me that the sale is a legal event. The exit, true operational freedom, requires its own negotiation. Plan for both, separately, from the start.
Build it like you'll sell it, from day one
The decisions you make in year two affect your valuation in year ten. Enterprise value is built intentionally, not accidentally. Every founder I work with wishes they had started preparing earlier.
Your Story Is Still Being Written
We built Growth Counts because we wished we'd had an advisor who had actually done it, not just advised on it. Twenty-six years, seven acquisitions, four exits, and two continents of buyers later, we know what it takes. Let's talk about where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there.