<description>&lt;div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;Nick Telson-Sillett and his co-founder built what you could call "OpenTable for bars and nightclubs" in the UK.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "TextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" lang="EN-CA" xml:lang="EN-CA" data-contrast="auto"&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;Instead of chasing the US (the move most founders are told to make), they went &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;big fish&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;, small pond: dominate their home market first. That focus helped them build &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2Themed SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;DesignMyNight&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt; into a business that sold for more than $40M.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "TextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" lang="EN-CA" xml:lang="EN-CA" data-contrast="auto"&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Nick shares what happened, so you discover how to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;ul class="BulletListStyle1 SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="list"&gt; &lt;li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="listitem" aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props= "{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;Turn one clear customer frustration into a business idea you can explain fast&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;ul class="BulletListStyle1 SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="list"&gt; &lt;li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="listitem" aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props= "{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "TextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" lang="EN-CA" xml:lang="EN-CA" data-contrast="auto"&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;Choose &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2Themed SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;focus&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt; over hype when everyone tells you to chase the biggest market&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;ul class="BulletListStyle1 SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="list"&gt; &lt;li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="listitem" aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props= "{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;Set a "financial freedom" number and use it to make cleaner decisions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;ul class="BulletListStyle1 SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="list"&gt; &lt;li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="listitem" aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props= "{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;Run a sale process without tipping off competitors too early&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;ul class="BulletListStyle1 SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="list"&gt; &lt;li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="listitem" aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props= "{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="5" data-aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt;Negotiate an earn-out tied to revenue so the targets stay in your control&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt; &lt;ul class="BulletListStyle1 SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="list"&gt; &lt;li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW200000820 BCX8" role="listitem" aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props= "{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"multilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="6" data-aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p class="Paragraph SCXW200000820 BCX8"&gt;&lt;span class= "TextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" lang="EN-CA" xml:lang="EN-CA" data-contrast="auto"&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;Plan for the morning after the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"&gt;deal, when&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-parastyle= "Normal (Web)"&gt; your identity gets reset&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW200000820 BCX8" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"201341983":0,"335559740":240}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</description>

Built to Sell Radio

John Warrillow

Ep 530 $40M for a Big Fish in a Small Pond

JAN 23, 202657 MIN
Built to Sell Radio

Ep 530 $40M for a Big Fish in a Small Pond

JAN 23, 202657 MIN

Description

Nick Telson-Sillett and his co-founder built what you could call "OpenTable for bars and nightclubs" in the UK. Instead of chasing the US (the move most founders are told to make), they went big fish, small pond: dominate their home market first. That focus helped them build DesignMyNight into a business that sold for more than $40M. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Nick shares what happened, so you discover how to: Turn one clear customer frustration into a business idea you can explain fast Choose focus over hype when everyone tells you to chase the biggest market Set a "financial freedom" number and use it to make cleaner decisions Run a sale process without tipping off competitors too early Negotiate an earn-out tied to revenue so the targets stay in your control Plan for the morning after the deal, when your identity gets reset