Chris Kuenne, Rosetta + Princeton // Selling An Agency For $575mil + Growing Through Acquisitions
Let me know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi Subscribe + watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jWYhsGaK3Qk Chris Kuenne started Rosetta & grew it to become the largest independent digital agency in the world before selling to Publicis for $575mil. Now he runs Rosemark Capital, investing in companies with revenues of $30–60mil. Chris teaches high-tech entrepreneurship at Princeton University. In this conversation, we discuss: how Chris pre-sold $1mil of contracts before launching his agency four personality types of builders the opportunity to solve expensive problems + merge software with services how acquisitions fueled growth before selling for $575mil lessons in hiring 1200+ people breaking down implications of money raised + liquidation in his sale TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:23 Behind A $575M Deal 00:07:08 What Would You Do Differently? 00:11:01 Turning Down A Larger $600M Offer 00:13:49 How Much Does A Founder Keep After A Huge Sale? 00:19:18 Venture Waterfall + Preference Stack 00:22:13 What Changed After the Deal 00:26:45 Early Years At Rosetta 00:31:22 Pre-Selling $1mil In Sales Before Quitting His Job 00:34:55 Find An Expensive Problem - The Mckinsey Approach 00:38:36 Expensive Problems To Work On In 2021 00:41:27 Using Data To Create A Quantitative Persona 00:43:21 Opportunities To Combine Software + Services 00:45:35 Who's Doing It Well In SaaS? 00:50:01 Lessons In Hiring 1200+ People 00:56:40 The Right Way To Fire Someone 00:59:19 4 Builder Personalities: Driver, Explorer, Crusader + Captain 01:01:04 The Driver: Apple 01:03:44 The Explorer: Facebook 01:04:52 The Crusader: Google 01:05:50 The Captain: Alibaba 01:08:11 Wrap Up