The short answer
JL Needham shares how he sold one business then acquired five more in two years, including how buyer psychology, due diligence trust and strategic market positioning shaped both sides of the transaction.
Key takeaways
- The advantage of being clear on your ideal acquirer from the get-go
- What attracts acquirers? You might be surprised
- Buy versus Build: Which one is right for your strategy and how can you grow, then exit?
- How to switch gears from selling a business to being an acquirer
Listen to the podcast
52 minWatch the full interview
About this episode
JL Needham has been around each stage of the Buy, Grow, Sell business cycle.
After spending much of his career employed by, or in partnership with big tech like Adobe, Google, and Amazon, helping them grow early-stage businesses, he started his own company Valence, that inspects shipments for Amazon sellers and catches mistakes. While not the first in his field, his point of difference caught the eye of a private equity firm, and he sold within three years.
Now, he finds himself on the other side of the negotiation table, having acquired five businesses in the last few years with more on the way. His focus is buying, flipping, and selling. Along the way, JL has gathered multiple perspectives on the transaction process on everything from negotiations and discussions, as well as how to catch the eye (and keep it) of a strategic acquirer.
Chapters
- 8:51JL and a grad student built a business that audited Amazon to catch logistics errors. While not an original idea, they found their differentiator by focusing on Amazon brands vs retainers and within three years was approached by a private equity firm
- 18:01Every business has certain unfair advantages over competition, whether it is unique connections or traits, etc. Here’s how Valence played to its unfair advantages to make the acquisition more appealing
- 34:59JL switched gears from selling businesses to buying them. What he looks for in potential acquisitions is frank transparency on what is not working in the business. More importantly, he notices when others don’t, and it tends to impact the deal
- 39:23When you take a business to market, do you name the price, or do you let your buyer value the business? JL brings his perspective from both sides of the negotiation table
- 44:04Here’s JL’s recipe for finding and acquiring the right businesses to grow, then exit. Rather than flipping houses, he renovates businesses, then hands off to a buyer that will appreciate it and care for it in the next phase of its growth
The Newscast
How to value, grow and exit your company
Get two useful emails each month: founder stories and lessons in the Buy Grow Sell Newscast, plus the latest small and mid-market M&A insights in The Wire.
Related episodes
About JL Needham
JL Needham is a deal-maker and advocate for businesses pursuing growth on technology platforms. JL is also a bridge-builder, and can conceive and run a scrappy startup or operate within a global organisation.
JL has spent more than 10 years launching ventures and helping brands win in Amazon’s marketplace ecosystem, after spending many years at Google during its hyper-innovative Camelot period.
JL has launched or contributed to building many businesses, but produced lasting value with only a handful. Rather than improve his average, he is looking to pursue bolder ideas and take bigger risks. He is at his best when advising companies on embracing disruption and getting competitively positioned on tech platforms.
Connect with JL Needham
About the show
Buy Grow Sell is hosted by Simon Bedard, founder and managing director of Exit Advisory Group, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helps Australian business owners value, prepare for and navigate a sale. Every conversation draws on real deals and the patterns behind them.
