Frequently Asked Questions

How many businesses are you looking to buy?

Just one! We’re looking to roll up our sleeves, not roll up a company. We want to join the leadership team as CEO and CPO/CTO and focus all of our energy on growing a single business.

What size business would be a fit?

In general, we’re looking for a business that does between $2-$7 million of EBITDA (that’s a fancy way of saying earnings), or >$3 million of ARR for a SaaS business. These aren’t hard and fast rules though, so if your business is slightly bigger or slightly smaller, let’s chat. See our blog post for more on valuation.

More generally, what exactly are you looking for?

In addition to our size criteria above, we are looking for a growing business, with predictable revenue, which could clearly benefit from our infusion of technology and design.

What might a transaction look like and can I stay involved going forward?

We’re looking to pay a fair market price for the business we acquire. Generally speaking, our investors are expecting us to do a buyout. However, you can invest some of the proceeds back into the business in exchange for equity to share in the upside of the company’s next chapter.

In terms of your involvement going forward, it’s up to you! If you want to retire or move on to another project, we can plan for a graceful exit. If you’re just tired of managing the day-to-day and want to focus your energy on the part of the business you love most (e.g., product or sales), we can help you shift gears.

How might you value my business and what might a deal structure look like?

For businesses of the size that we are targeting, they tend to trade at 4-7x EBITDA where a large portion (>50%) of the consideration is paid up front and the rest is structured as a combination of debt (i.e. a seller note), an earn out, and rolled equity. The exception to this is SaaS businesses that trade at 3-4x ARR.

For more detail, check out our blog post about how we approach valuation.

Could you just bring an investment and your skills to my company? Do you have to run the business that you acquire?

Candidly, one of our main motivations in acquiring a business is to get in the driver’s seat and apply everything we learned at IDEO to help a company grow and get to the next level. Furthermore, our investment group backed us with the expectation that we run the company that we acquire. So while we are very collaborative people, we are aiming to run the business that we acquire as CEO and CPO/CTO.

What are some ways you might bring technology and design to my business?

The possibilities are endless! Read our blog post about why a couple of guys from a design & innovation firm might be the best buyer for your business.

But since we’re big fans of frameworks, you can think of the opportunities as occupying a "2x2:" Existing Offers vs New Offers, and Internal vs Customer-facing. So we could take on something as straightforward as automating internal processes for your existing offer—or as ambitious as designing and implementing brand new customer-facing offers.

How would a sale to Infinite Cake be different from a sale to private equity or a “strategic?”

We’re similar to private equity in the sense that we’re aiming to buy a company and give the seller liquidity. However, many private equity buyers don’t want to take over management, and expect you to stick around in your current role for up to five years.

When it comes to strategics, they may expect you to join the parent company—often with a reduced job title and responsibility. Sometimes business owners find it hard to become an employee at a larger firm that may be a competitor.

In contrast, we expect to join your company full-time as CEO and CPO/CTO, which would allow you to transition out of the business faster if you wish. Or if you prefer to stay involved, you could dial down your time and design your own role. In short, part of what we offer is flexibility and peace of mind.

How do I know if it might be a fit and be worth chatting?

If we reached out to you, we think your business is interesting and would love to chat. If you stumbled across our website, and think you have a business that might be a fit, book a meeting or reach out!

We love meeting entrepreneurs. Even if it isn’t a fit, we’re trying to do a little good in the world as we go about our search, connecting the dots to help people that we meet.