Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
Beth Ewen,
Upsize:
be***@*******ag.com
dev.divistack.com
by Beth Ewen
“I KNOW WHY everybody doesn’t do this, because it’s just not easy.”
So says Andy Dahl, the co-founder of MyTiWi.com. With his father, veteran local meteorologist Dave Dahl, they are trying to leave behind the bootstrapping phase of their company, and move to the level where they can attract investors, build infrastructure and add employees.
Like so many entrepreneurs, they are experiencing the difficulty of building a company with little money and few people for many more years (four, in this case) than they likely ever imagined would be necessary when starting out.
And like so many others, they are hopeful about their chances: Andy Dahl says two investors have already signed on, attracted by his father’s local fame and the Internet weather service/advertising delivery vehicle they have built.
In classic fashion, the two are using flexibility to compete. When they realized the value in their forecasting tool was less in the weather information and more in the space around it where an ad could go, they shifted focus to selling those ads themselves in a centralized location for radio, TV and newspaper outlets around the country.
Because so many of their media outlet customers had cut their sales and design staffs during an industrywide decline, they appreciated the service, Dahl says. Now that advertising sales are beginning to rise again, so is the popularity of the original service, the weather forecasting tool sold by subscription as a stand-alone product. The co-founders like the fact that they have two solid revenue streams now.
Dahl wonders whether their method of building their business is the right one: Could they have done better if they had gotten investors in the first place? Could they have even managed to do so in the past four years, as markets crashed and the economy crumbled?
He knows they have missed opportunities because they didn’t have the resources to pursue them. He also realizes they may have been able to grow bit by bit and be alive today because they did it with the money on hand, plus a bank loan to cover half their startup costs. Left alone, businesses can find their way in the early days when they might get lost with outside funds.
Dahl’s tale and sentiments are no different from those of many entrepreneurs who are kind enough to speak to us at Upsize. He expresses so well the doubts and hopes, joys and frustrations that mark every business owner’s journey. As with all entrepreneurs, Upsize wishes them well as they continue their quest to grow their business, and offers advice and inspiration to get them to the next step.
