Zach Perret

I don't think that most people immediately orient on value for the acquisition. Sure, yeah, it reaches a threshold, and the dollar value starts to make sense. But I think when people really go through that agony around selling a company, it's much more about, like, am I creating the long-term impact? Am I fulfilling the mission? Am I achieving the vision that I've set out?

And for me, it was always about that. You know, making the decision to sell the company to Visa, that was one of, if not actually the hardest decision that I've ever made. Do you remember the moment you made it?

And for me, it was always about that. You know, making the decision to sell the company to Visa, that was one of, if not actually the hardest decision that I've ever made. Do you remember the moment you made it?

And for me, it was always about that. You know, making the decision to sell the company to Visa, that was one of, if not actually the hardest decision that I've ever made. Do you remember the moment you made it?

my gosh yeah yeah it was my leadership team and i it was uh right we were doing this off site because you don't want to be in the office and we were sitting in my living room and um i had them all there we were like had this offer and and we were going through like the pros and cons of it and um you know we went around we talked about what people were thinking and then i kicked them all out and i was like like i need to think like i'm making this call like at the end of the day like i've gotten all of your input and i didn't think it was like me sitting in my living room you know my wife is out of town and i'm just kind of alone sitting there

my gosh yeah yeah it was my leadership team and i it was uh right we were doing this off site because you don't want to be in the office and we were sitting in my living room and um i had them all there we were like had this offer and and we were going through like the pros and cons of it and um you know we went around we talked about what people were thinking and then i kicked them all out and i was like like i need to think like i'm making this call like at the end of the day like i've gotten all of your input and i didn't think it was like me sitting in my living room you know my wife is out of town and i'm just kind of alone sitting there

my gosh yeah yeah it was my leadership team and i it was uh right we were doing this off site because you don't want to be in the office and we were sitting in my living room and um i had them all there we were like had this offer and and we were going through like the pros and cons of it and um you know we went around we talked about what people were thinking and then i kicked them all out and i was like like i need to think like i'm making this call like at the end of the day like i've gotten all of your input and i didn't think it was like me sitting in my living room you know my wife is out of town and i'm just kind of alone sitting there

and ended up making what I think was a 51-49 call to say it's the right answer to sell the business for a variety of reasons at the time. A year later, we had that same meeting, same group of people sitting in my living room, having the same style of conversation. And that was a 99-1 decision. I was pretty certain that the right answer was to walk away.

and ended up making what I think was a 51-49 call to say it's the right answer to sell the business for a variety of reasons at the time. A year later, we had that same meeting, same group of people sitting in my living room, having the same style of conversation. And that was a 99-1 decision. I was pretty certain that the right answer was to walk away.

and ended up making what I think was a 51-49 call to say it's the right answer to sell the business for a variety of reasons at the time. A year later, we had that same meeting, same group of people sitting in my living room, having the same style of conversation. And that was a 99-1 decision. I was pretty certain that the right answer was to walk away.

I just wanted to make sure that everyone else was aligned. And what had changed in that innovating period is that our business had grown quite massively. We'd reached this escape velocity. And the concept of digital finance had really taken hold as something that people couldn't really live without. Did we build products because of the acquisition? No.

I just wanted to make sure that everyone else was aligned. And what had changed in that innovating period is that our business had grown quite massively. We'd reached this escape velocity. And the concept of digital finance had really taken hold as something that people couldn't really live without. Did we build products because of the acquisition? No.

I just wanted to make sure that everyone else was aligned. And what had changed in that innovating period is that our business had grown quite massively. We'd reached this escape velocity. And the concept of digital finance had really taken hold as something that people couldn't really live without. Did we build products because of the acquisition? No.

Now, the one thing that I did wrong there was we launched three new business areas at the same time. MARK BLYTHEUSE- What should you have done? In benefit of hindsight, how would you change it? MARK BLYTHEUSE- One, then the next, as you would naturally imagine. MARK BLYTHEUSE- With a year in between. I think it's hard to do all the things that we did simultaneously.

Now, the one thing that I did wrong there was we launched three new business areas at the same time. MARK BLYTHEUSE- What should you have done? In benefit of hindsight, how would you change it? MARK BLYTHEUSE- One, then the next, as you would naturally imagine. MARK BLYTHEUSE- With a year in between. I think it's hard to do all the things that we did simultaneously.

Now, the one thing that I did wrong there was we launched three new business areas at the same time. MARK BLYTHEUSE- What should you have done? In benefit of hindsight, how would you change it? MARK BLYTHEUSE- One, then the next, as you would naturally imagine. MARK BLYTHEUSE- With a year in between. I think it's hard to do all the things that we did simultaneously.

So launch three new business areas. Go from being a single product to a multi-product company. That is really hard, going from one to two products, one to two major product areas within a company. Super, super hard. Because you have to figure out, how do you sell? How do you balance your sales resources across the two? How do you change your brand?

So launch three new business areas. Go from being a single product to a multi-product company. That is really hard, going from one to two products, one to two major product areas within a company. Super, super hard. Because you have to figure out, how do you sell? How do you balance your sales resources across the two? How do you change your brand?

So launch three new business areas. Go from being a single product to a multi-product company. That is really hard, going from one to two products, one to two major product areas within a company. Super, super hard. Because you have to figure out, how do you sell? How do you balance your sales resources across the two? How do you change your brand?

And how do you explain to your customer that you're now not just doing one thing, you're doing multiple things? Going from one to two would have been the right answer. And then maybe we could have done the next two at once. But going from one to four, it was super hard. I have this analogy that I use internally is like, it's going to be a little gross. It's like a snake that eats an elephant.