After nearly a decade of building @Broadlume, I’m excited to announce that we've been acquired by @CynclyCo 🎉🎉. It's been an incredible 10-year journey, but to be honest, one that I can't take credit for. If you're a founder reading this, please trust me:. The team and people

From the outside, our @broadlume journey looked up and to the right. But here’s the part the headlines don’t show:. - 108 investor rejections, many of them brutal.- A RIF I promised would be our last… until COVID hit 3 months later.- A board meeting where I was told I wasn’t a

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In 2021, I sent out a routine Q1 investor update. One of our earliest investors, Tj Mahony, forwarded it, and it changed my life. That forward led to a 30-minute Zoom with PSG. - That Zoom led to a $60M growth investment. - That investment helped us scale to $30M ARR and

Everyone’s talking about AI-first roll-ups where you buy service businesses, layer in AI, capture the margin. In theory, it sounds clean. BUT, in practice?. You’re building two companies:. A software company with high margins, scalable distribution, and compounding value. And.

Most founders brag about growth. Few brag about retention. At @Broadlume, we quietly obsessed over NRR. Because NRR is the real proof you’re solving meaningful problems, not just acquiring new customers. This chart is still my favorite milestone from our journey. It shows our

In 2015, @jasonmendelson gave one of the best talks I’ve ever heard during @techstars. Here are the 16 ways he said you can kill your startup (and looking back, I've seen every single one of them happen). 1. Pick the wrong team - Hire for culture, not just credentials. 2. Pick.

Most people still don’t understand vertical SaaS. They think it’s just SaaS… but more “niche.”. It’s not. You’re not selling software. You’re rewiring an entire industry’s operating system. You’re selling to HVAC contractors who run their business from a clipboard. To ports.

Early-stage chaos is energizing. You’re scrappy, fighting fires, chasing product-market fit. Everything is broken, but the adrenaline keeps you going (at least it did for me). Late-stage success is addicting. The numbers are compounding, the stakes are higher, and every.

Founders - your team doesn’t need another fancy powerpoint. They don’t need a new mission statement, a Slack emoji for your values. or even an all-hands filled with buzzwords. What they really need?. - To know you’re not going to quit. - To trust you’ll tell them the truth.

“We’re not thinking about an exit right now.”. I hear that line all the time. And I get it, founders don’t want to seem like they’re “building to sell.” I was the same way. But here’s the uncomfortable truth:. You don’t need to be exit-obsessed…. BUT you must be.

It’s a big no-no to say you’re “building for an exit.”. I get it. But here’s what I don’t get…. Why are so many founders building without any understanding of what their outcome will be?. I talk to so many founders that haven’t run the cap table waterfall. They don’t know the.

I’ve been in the flooring industry for over a decade and 2024 was one of the most brutal years I’ve seen. U.S. flooring sales dropped to $33.2B, down for the 2nd year in a row. Every major category declined… except hardwood. Laminate? Down 8.4%. LVP? Once the golden child,

I used to think flooring was niche. But this year I've met a founder building cattle management software. Another optimizing porta potty delivery routes for construction sites. And one running a marketplace for tractor parts. Every time I think I’ve seen the edge of niche,.

It now takes the average startup nearly 5 years just to reach a Series B. And if you’re lucky enough to raise a Series D? You’re probably 8+ years in. Startups are staying private longer, markets are more skeptical, capital is more expensive, and growth is harder to

At Broadlume, we acquired 7 companies, with the 1st one being FloorForce. But most of them weren’t “for sale.”. 👉 They were all founder-led, profitable, and highly respected companies in flooring. But most importantly, they had relationships with the industry/customers that

“I just need to get through this quarter.”. That’s the lie most founders tell themselves at some point during the journey. It sounds harmless. Rational, even. I talk to a lot of founders that say something like this. But here’s the truth:. You don’t “get through” the hard part.

We made this video 6 months before we pivoted from adtech to flooring. What a ride. @danielppratt

I once delayed a pricing change by 60 days because I wanted “more data.”. You know what happened after 60 days?. Nothing. No magical insight. No new learning. Just lost time, missed revenue, and a painful reminder that early stage startups don’t die from wrong decisions, they.

RT @BillAckman: The world is filled with hard working passionate people that devote their lives to a cause that don’t get the recognition t….

Every startup eventually draws its first org chart. Or at least… what they think is an org chart. Around 15–25 people, a founder or COO grabs a whiteboard or opens Figma to bring order to chaos. Boxes get drawn. Titles assigned. Reporting lines established. It feels like.

Just another overnight success.