Today Dmitri discusses the ins and outs of selling a business, with guests who have been there, done that. Paul Anthony Troiano (Rumblefish; sold to CESAC) and Jeff Ponchick (Repost Network; sold to SoundCloud) share their experiences about the acquisition process, including valuation conversations and competitive bids as well as advice on the emotional challenges and the importance of focusing on the business’s core mission rather than building to sell.
Shoutouts from the ep:
Music from Cast of Characters, Ivy Bakes, LNDÖ, Ghost Beatz
Listen wherever you pod your casts:
Acquisition tips from successful startup founders
How do you prepare to sell your business? What is discussed in acquisition conversations? This week on the Music Tectonics Podcast, host Dmitri Vietze (RPS CEO) sat down with two founders who successfully sold and exited their music tech startups. Paul Anthony Troiano (Rumblefish; sold to SESAC) and Jeff Ponchick (Repost Network; sold to SoundCloud) share their tales from the acquisition journey and offer these key tips for founders navigating the process:
Never build to sell.
Successful founders and their companies are purpose-driven. If you build a company to sell it, you are in it for the wrong reasons. In the early stage and into the growth stage, founders should be obsessed with customer satisfaction and solving the problem. That should take up 110% of your time.
“Trying to sell is a time-consuming process. Your pitch is going to change and buyers can tell if your sense of urgency isn’t to solve the customers’ issues but to make a quick buck,” says Ponchick. “You will build a better business if you truly care about what you are doing and you put that first.”
“If you are obsessed about doing right by your customer or fulfilling a vision that you have, someone will be just as excited about buying you because you did a great job,” explains Troiano. “Then you can choose if you want to be bought.”
Understand your company’s value proposition in the eyes of the buyer.
Know who you’re pitching to and where they see value in your company. Are they looking to acquire your expert team? Do they want your tech? Research and cater your pitch to match their business goals.
Both Rumblefish and Repost Network received unsolicited offers from potential buyers that kicked off the sale process. According to Troiano, these inbound offers forced Rumblefish to reevaluate their proposition: “We were trying to find out, if this unsolicited offer values us in this way, we hadn't even considered that being valuable in our company, what else are we not looking at?”
The best outcome for the seller and the buyer is different. Use this to your advantage.
Most companies are valued based on their gross revenue, net revenue, or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Recognize where the buyer sees value in your company and anchor your pitch on the unfair advantage you offer the buyer based on their metrics, their growth, their sales. This detaches the buyer from reality and shifts their focus away from traditional valuation methods.
Find the right outcome for you.
“Selling to SoundCloud was one of the hardest things I’ve gone through. We had a particularly long sale process that took over nine months from LOI (Letter of Intent) to close. A huge part of it is just managing your emotions and keeping levelheaded through all of it, which I remember being incredibly hard for me,” admits Ponchick.
“The best time to sell the company is when you don’t want to or don’t need to,” says Troiano. “You create a lot more gravity as an organization to acquire talent, retain customers, and make your stakeholders happy when your passion is really locked in.”
Companies sell for myriad reasons. If you’re lucky, your company is a rocket that investors are clamoring to hop on early in its upward trajectory, but this dream scenario often isn’t the case. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, take time to evaluate and be honest with yourself about what the optimal outcome of a deal looks like to you.
For more insight on how to start up, grow, and sell your business, head to the Music Tectonics Podcast and listen to the full episode, “How I Sold It,” featuring Jeff Ponchick and Paul Anthony Troiano.
About Music Tectonics:
Music Tectonics is an annual music innovation conference with free online events, podcast, & newsletter all year. Join us for the next annual conference November 4-6, 2025, in Santa Monica, CA. Music Tectonics in brainchild of music innovation PR firm Rock Paper Scissors, Inc.
Everything we do explores the seismic shifts that shake up music and technology the way the earth's tectonic plates cause quakes and make mountains.
About Dmitri Vietze:
Dmitri launched PR and Marketing Agency Rock Paper Scissors in 1999. His vision was to combine cutting edge technology and deep organic storytelling to help clients crystallize their missions in compelling ways and amplify their stories in innovative ways.
Dmitri stays at the cutting edge of music tech innovation by hosting the weekly Music Tectonics Podcast, monthly Seismic Activity online events, and the annual Music Tectonics Conference in Santa Monica, CA. He freely shares the innovation and business news he tracks in music and adjacent industries via Rock Paper Scanner, a curated weekly newsletter.
He builds community through a warm approach to networking at open mic meetups that he hosts online and in-person. He can also be found speaking on stage at conferences ranging from SXSW to Music Biz on music innovation, new approaches to publicity, and resourcefulness.
Looking for Rock Paper Scanner, the newsletter of music tech news curated by the Rock Paper Scissors PR team? Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday!
Let us know what you think! Tweet @MusicTectonics, find us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or connect with podcast host Dmitri Vietze on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Weekly episodes include interviews with music tech movers & shakers, deep dives into seismic shifts, and more.