Buying 2 Rivals to Create a Dominant Leader

When today's guest first learned about his target business, it seemed like an alignment of the stars. The business, Get Out Pass, sells passes that grant families access to dozens of local attractions for a flat annual fee. Well, Kyle Poll had run and grown gympass in the U.S.

a business whose model was pass based access to multiple local gyms, similar models, and so coincidental, there really aren't that many such businesses in the world. And get outpass wasn't even listed for sale. The owner and Kyle happened to meet at an event.

And after talking shop into the night, the owner tells Kyle that he's been looking for someone just like him to take the business to the next level. Meanwhile, Kyle is already a customer of the business. They have Get Out Pass at the Poll household.

You could imagine his kids excitement when he later told them he was working on buying the Get Out Pass business. And as if all that weren't enough, Kyle lives just 10 minutes from get outpass. This deal was written in the stars, right?

Well, so often in our world a buyer feels like they found the perfect business for themselves. It's obviously destiny. And so often that excitement gives way.

To heartbreak when the deal dies. Kyle went through the same this deal did die. Suddenly, painfully.

And when it died, there were tears. At the Poll household. Listen for how Kyle broke the bad news to his kids, turning personal defeat into a teachable moment.

Well, the deal came back around, which is also a pattern in our world. The structure and the parties involved evolved in an interesting way. Kyle unpacks it for us and today he is the CEO of Get outpass and get outpass's key rival, Pogo Pass.

These are differentiated MODI businesses and Kyle has hit the ground running. He's getting toward the end of year one. He's in the J curve, rethinking the go to market strategy, racing, rebranding, merging rival teams.

But he's laying the foundation for a very exciting opportunity. He acquired the first and second place players in a winner take all market. Like so many stories on Acquiring Minds, today's is a roller coaster with resilience being the key lesson.

So when you inevitably wipe out on. Your own journey of ownership, don't forget. Those three little words that Kyle told himself and his kids when his deal died.

Here he is, Kyle Poll, CEO of Get Out. Welcome to Acquiring Minds, a podcast about buying businesses. My name is Will Smith.