Manoj Adithya’s inspiring journey through the maze of acquisitions offers a treasure trove of insights for aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs alike. From ethical decision-making and stress management to the strategic importance of rebranding and the power of mentorship, his experiences provide a robust guide to navigating the turbulent waters of business exits. Tune into “The Big Exit Show” for a deeper dive into Manoj’s story and valuable lessons from his path to success.
This is what we discuss during this episode:
- Moral Compass in Business Description: Manoj emphasized the importance of ethical decisions, rejecting deals that compromise integrity or side-line investors🎯.
- Handling Acquisition Uncertainty Description: The episode highlights the unpredictable nature of business acquisitions and the need for resilience and backup plans📈.
- Investor Relationship Management Description: Maintaining open communication and strong relationships with investors can provide crucial support through tumultuous times 💸.
As always – hosted by Peak’s very own co-founder and managing partner Johan van Mil and Anke Huiskes founder & managing partner of NP-Hard Ventures 🕺🏻🕺🏼
You can find the episode on your favourite podcast platform, linked below. And, if you are truly interested in listening to the big exit of specific founders – reach out to us so we can invite them for the next episode!
Spotify Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Youtube
You can find the transcribed version of the episode below:
Johan:
Starting a company is easy; growing a company is harder. But selling your company? That’s a whole different story. In The Big Exit Show, we lift the curtain of secrecy around selling businesses by learning from ambitious and successful founders who have been on this roller coaster. Our hosts, venture capital investors Johan van Mil, the founding and managing partner of Peak, and Anke Huiskes, the founding and managing partner of NP-Hard, will guide you on this exciting journey.
Anke:
So, Johan, we just got off the call with Manoj, who told us his incredible story about how his company almost died a few times. He received multiple acquisition offers, some of which fell through or didn’t happen for other reasons. But in the end, he secured a great deal for his team.
For his investors, the outcome could have been completely different if they had made different decisions based on different values. It’s a very interesting story. What were your key takeaways?
Johan:
Yeah, indeed. He went through this process three times, where a deal fell through almost at the last minute. And you see this happen a lot—not just in funding rounds but also in exits. There’s a Dutch saying I like: “Pas binnen als het op de bank staat.” It basically means that until the money is in the bank, nothing is certain. This case really proves that point.
Another thing I found interesting was that Manoj had an offer on the table where the investor later pulled out. They then made a strange counteroffer that would have completely sidelined the investors. His moral compass guided him not to take that offer, and in the end, he delivered on his promise to his team and co-founders.
I think this is a great example of how, while money is obviously important, a strong moral compass is even more crucial. And Manoj proved that. So, this is definitely an episode our listeners can learn a lot from—not just about how to handle an exit but also about managing the entire process. He shares some invaluable insights.
Anke:
Yeah, and it was almost a two-year journey. So, to all our listeners—tune in and enjoy the show!
Johan:
Enjoy!
Anke:
Today, we have Manoj Adithya in the hot seat. He’s based in Amsterdam and is very open about sharing the story of the company he sold last December—if I’m correct. So, let’s kick things off. Thank you, Manoj, for joining us today!
Manoj:
Well…
Anke:
Let’s start with how you founded your company, Roam. I think when you started, it even had a different name. I’m very curious about the beginnings!
Johan:
The start…
The beginning
Manoj:
Right. Well, thank you so much for inviting me on the show. I’m really excited to talk about my journey. I actually haven’t spoken much about it or the acquisition, so it’ll be interesting to relive the experience. I think it’s going to be a fun conversation.
We originally started this company as Holo, a location-based messaging app. The idea was that users could leave messages for friends and family at specific locations, and they would receive notifications when they arrived at those places. At its peak, the app had around 20,000 users.
The only problem? We couldn’t figure out how to monetize it. We were on the verge of shutting down when we got an invitation from Rockstart, an accelerator in Amsterdam, for their one-month AI launch track program. I thought, Okay, why not? Let’s go to Amsterdam for a month and showcase our product.
A week later, I arrived in Amsterdam, presented the app, and quickly realized… it was completely useless. No one really needed it.
But what was useful was the technology we had built—the location tracking aspect, which ensured minimal battery drain. We had been trying to solve the problem of continuous location tracking without excessive battery consumption. That turned out to be far more valuable than the app itself.
So, we stripped the technology out of the app and built an SDK in just about a week. We rebranded as GeoSpark during that one-month program and started pitching it as our new company. We pivoted very quickly into a developer-focused platform for enterprise applications. That was the true beginning of our journey in this market.
Anke:
That’s a big leap! You mentioned Rockstart—moving abroad and taking that shot must have been a huge decision.
Manoj:
Yeah, at the time, I was based in Bangalore, India. That was right after I left my previous company. Actually, before that, I had spent some time in the U.S. as well, and that transition eventually led me to Amsterdam. It was a pretty big jump.
Johan:
You rebranded your company multiple times—first Holo, then GeoSpark, and finally Roam.ai. What made you decide to change the name each time? You don’t see that happen very often.
Early Days
Manoj:
Yeah, so I think the reason we rebranded from Holo to GeoSpark was that Holo wasn’t really a great name. We chose GeoSpark because it reflected the location-tracking aspect—getting locations accurately and quickly. Our CTO actually came up with the name, which is why it sounds quite technical. I thought, Okay, fine, we need a new name, let’s just go with it. So we did—without really thinking it would become a company.
We had no idea it would evolve into the next stage. We just went with the best name we had at the time. Also, we didn’t want to continue using Holo because the app was still active, and we didn’t want to shut it down immediately. So, we kept the app running while using the new name exclusively for the technology. That’s essentially why we had to rebrand.
Johan:
Okay. My second question is about your move to Amsterdam to join Rockstart. What was your experience like, especially during such a pivotal phase for your company, coming from India and joining an accelerator in a new country?
Manoj:
Yeah, so at first, it wasn’t really an accelerator program—it was just a one-month Launch Track program. But I think it was a great experience, and I made the most of it. I met a lot of interesting people, some amazing mentors, and really took advantage of the opportunity.
When people ask me, What do you think of accelerators? I always say: Accelerators are great, but it’s up to you to make the most of them. If you don’t leverage the people, connections, and resources, you’ll be missing out. I made sure to maximize the opportunity.
Anke:
I have a question about how you positioned your product—because initially, it was a consumer product, right?
Manoj:
Yes, Holo was a consumer product—a social app.
Anke:
Yeah, and from there, you transitioned into a developer product.
Manoj:
Exactly.
Anke:
That’s a completely different market. It’s still the same product but targeted at a whole new audience. That’s a bold move—but also a smart one. How did you approach that transition?
Manoj:
Looking back, I think it was all about customer interviews. We started talking to a lot of people. Through Rockstart, we had access to mentors and an extended network, so we reached out to people at Marktplaats, Booking.com, and other major companies.
We explained our app and the technology behind it, and we realized that many people were interested in the location-tracking technology rather than the app itself. They wanted a location SDK that could track locations with almost no battery drain.
When they heard that, they were like, This is amazing. We want the technology, but not the app. That was our validation moment. The more we spoke to developers and businesses, the more we heard the same thing. That’s when we knew we were onto something—and that’s why we made the shift.
Johan:
You raised capital, right? I believe you got some investment through Rockstart. Could you share more about that?
Rockstart Accelerator Program
Manoj:
Yes, after the one-month program, we were actually named the best startup of the program. That earned us a free pass into Rockstart’s six-month accelerator program. That’s how we got into the accelerator.
I had no intention of staying in the Netherlands beyond that one month, but everything just fell into place. We did the one-month program, got selected for the six-month program, and things started becoming real. That’s when it felt like we were building an actual company.
As part of the accelerator, we received €20,000 in cash—what Rune (one of the mentors) jokingly called pizza money. In the startup world, that’s not a huge amount, but we used it to build a great product and make the most of the program.
Even during the accelerator, I was a bit rebellious. Our mentors advised us to focus on building an enterprise-only solution, but I wanted to create an open developer platform where any developer could sign up, get an API key, download the SDK, and start immediately.
At one point, we were even close to getting kicked out of the program because we weren’t listening to our mentors. But that moment turned out to be pivotal for us. We trusted our instincts.
In February 2018—one month before Demo Day—we launched our platform publicly. We debuted on Product Hunt and a few other places, and it was a huge success. By the end of the first month, we had between 5,000 and 6,000 signups.
That was a major turning point. Suddenly, we had proof that our vision was working. Our mentors, who had initially doubted us, started saying, Okay, you guys made the right call. That validation helped us a lot.
Johan:
And that success also helped you attract funding, right? I believe you later raised €1 million. That’s also how we met—because Peak was involved at that time. But for our listeners—especially founders—what advice would you give them about raising funding?
These days, it’s much harder to raise capital. What tips would you share?
Manoj:
Yeah, for me, raising funding was a learning experience. We first met Volta Ventures at the end of the Launch Track program. Back then, I was young and inexperienced—I literally walked up to them and said, Here’s my product. Can you give me money?
Of course, they said no. They told me we still had a long way to go.
But what we did right was staying in touch. We regularly updated our prospective investors—every month, or every few weeks—about our progress.
We told them: Hey, we got into this program. We launched this feature. We acquired X number of customers. We kept them engaged for five to six months, sharing our progress.
Then, once we launched and started gaining real traction, investors started coming to us.
At that point, we had a term sheet from Volta Ventures. We also had interest from INKA, and we even got a call from Peak—your firm, Johan! We had meetings with several investors, including Airbridge Equity Partners, who reached out after Demo Day.
At one point, we had four or five different parties competing to invest in us. It was an amazing time. Honestly, it felt too good to be true. I hope I find myself in that position again in the future—it was a great place to be.
Series A Funding
Manoj:
One thing we did right was keeping our investors constantly updated about everything. Some people advised us not to share discussions with multiple investors, but we ignored that and just kept everyone informed. The Rockstart community was small, so word spread fast. Eventually, we received a few term sheets and chose to work with Airbridge because they offered the best terms. It made the decision easy. In the end, we went ahead with them for our first seed round, raising half a million on April 5th.
Manoj:
We had our demo day in early March, and within a month, the money was in the bank.
Anke:
Congrats! That’s a great position to be in. Once you had the funding, what were the biggest drivers to reach the next inflection point?
Manoj:
At first, we were just excited—like, wow, we made it, we got the money! But we didn’t realize that’s when the real challenge started: turning it into an actual business. After raising funds, we noticed a high churn rate among developers. The main issue? They wanted more than just location tracking.
Manoj:
People were excited initially, but as they integrated the product, they realized they needed additional features. That caught us off guard. We had to step back, talk to customers again, and truly understand their needs. Without that funding, we wouldn’t have been able to rebuild the platform. Luckily, by early 2019, we launched a much-improved version of GeoSpark, which helped us sign bigger customers.
Johan:
How did your investors react to this shift? You had promising traction but then had to rebuild your product.
Manoj:
Our investors, especially Rick from Airbridge, were incredibly supportive. They never showed disappointment—just optimism. Their reaction was, “At least you see the problem and are taking the right steps.” They were always encouraging.
Johan:
That’s great to hear. Some founders ignore such issues and push forward blindly.
Anke:
So, from 2019 onward, you figured out product-market fit. Fast-forwarding to 2023—what were the biggest highlights and lowlights for you?
Growth Phase: Expanding the Team
Manoj:
By the end of 2019, we started hiring enterprise salespeople, extending our budget to bring in the right talent and drive revenue. Just when we were about to close major enterprise deals in early 2020, COVID hit. It was a major blow—many big deals got delayed indefinitely, and that first year of the pandemic was incredibly tough to survive.
Manoj:
After that, we faced another challenge—a trademark lawsuit. A company called GeoSpock sent us a letter claiming our name was infringing on their trademark. That forced us to rebrand. In early 2021, we became Roam.ai, and honestly, it was the best decision we ever made.
Manoj:
Post-rebrand, people started perceiving us differently. Maybe it was the new name, or the repositioning, but we gained serious traction with enterprise customers. We started working with a major insurance company in the Netherlands, the Dutch government, and large transportation firms—including companies behind the New York Metro and Hong Kong Metro.
Manoj:
At some point, we had to decide on our next move—should we raise more funding, exit, or join a bigger company? So, we explored both paths.
Exploring Options
Manoj:
At that point, I was more inclined toward getting acquired and working with a bigger company. We needed more than just funding to handle large clients. One of our biggest potential deals, a transportation company, had an ARR of around $1.5 to $1.8 million. While we could close the deal, we lacked the internal expertise to support it long-term. These were complex, slow-moving, and highly political deals, requiring a different skill set. That was a key reason we decided to sell Roam.
Anke:
When exactly was this? Where are we in the timeline?
Manoj:
This was around late 2021 to early 2022.
Anke:
Once you realized that scaling alone wasn’t ideal, how did you go about it? Did you involve the team, reach out to investors, or explore partnerships?
Manoj:
Interestingly, a potential customer actually reached out to us first. He said he wanted to have an open conversation, and during that chat, he mentioned they might be interested in acquiring us. I told him, “Sure, make an offer, and I’ll send it to our investors.” That was the first moment we considered acquisition as a serious option.
The company made an offer, and we sent it to our investors. Initially, it seemed too good to be true— and in the end, it was. After several discussions, we realized it wasn’t going to work due to misaligned expectations. At that point, we decided to take matters into our own hands and compiled a list of 10–15 potential acquirers to reach out to.
Anke:
That sounds simple, but how did you actually reach out? Were you cold-messaging CEOs on LinkedIn, or did you get warm introductions? Did you use external advisors?
Manoj:
Good question. Our investors advised us to work with a corporate finance firm. We partnered with an investment banker in Amsterdam, and they helped us draft an Information Memorandum (IM) and reach out to 20 companies.
Anke:
Did they contact CEOs directly, or was there a different approach?
Manoj:
Mostly CEOs, managing directors, or board chairs, depending on the company’s size.
Johan:
You mentioned a deal that seemed too good to be true. Can you elaborate on what happened and what you learned from it?
Manoj:
Sure. The potential buyer asked me, “What do you want for the company?” Jokingly, I said, “If you can offer $55 million, I’d sell it today.” To my surprise, they actually sent over a term sheet for $55 million.
Johan:
Wow.
Manoj:
I sent it to our investors, and they were shocked. Rick from Airbridge was like, “This can’t be real.” I didn’t believe it either. But when our investors spoke with them, they seemed serious. They claimed they had backing from selling a previous company for $800 million.
Before proceeding, our investors requested proof of funds—before allowing any technical due diligence on our side. But they couldn’t provide proof. That was a red flag. We refused to share our technical know-how without verification, so we walked away.
Johan:
That must have been a moment of reflection. How did it affect you personally?
Manoj:
It was a huge distraction. Looking back, I wish I had just focused on building the company instead of chasing what felt like a life-changing deal. These things can pull you off track, making you think ahead too much when the deal isn’t even real yet. My biggest lesson? Always stay balanced. If you’re exploring acquisition, don’t get carried away. I made the mistake of thinking too far ahead.
Johan:
But at least you didn’t buy a new car or expensive watch before the deal closed, right? I’ve seen founders do that.
Manoj:
[Laughs] No, I still haven’t bought a new car.
Anke:
After reaching out to 15–20 companies, how did you filter it down to the one that eventually acquired you? And what was the timeline like?
Reaching Out To Potential Buyers
Manoj:
Yeah, so I think the process started somewhere in March of 2022. We started having conversations, and I think the majority of them said, “Not interested, not interested, not interested.” I think four companies said, “Yes, we’re interested,” and we had four conversations in the first lead list. One of the companies that actually made a serious offer was a startup based in Singapore with around $30 to $40 million in funding, backed by some big VCs. They were building a mapping platform, and after a couple of conversations, they moved ahead with a term sheet. They sent us a term sheet with some good terms.
Manoj:
We presented it to our investors, and then we started discussing it. We decided to visit them in person. We had a couple of meetings, and in the end, we had only one term sheet—no other company made an offer. The rest of them said it wasn’t a fit, or we couldn’t make it work. It took almost six months to narrow everything down.
Manoj:
It didn’t happen overnight. There were multiple conversations, countless emails, a lot of due diligence, and a lot of preparation for due diligence. Everything checked out. We were about a week away from signing an official agreement, and then the company decided to pull out from the acquisition. This was around November 2022. We were almost done. We had already started integrating our team with theirs, setting up Slack channels and everything.
Manoj:
We were having ongoing conversations, but then there was a conflict between our investors and them. Our investors were asking fair questions and trying to negotiate to ensure the terms were correct. The company, run by young entrepreneurs, got pissed off and sent an email saying, “Hey, your investors are too rude. We cannot work with them, and we want to pull out.” It happened in an instant—one email, and everything fell apart.
Johan:
You had already communicated it internally, right? Everybody was working together, and then they pulled out. Wow.
Manoj:
Yeah, the team knew. Everyone was ready for this. We were already planning what we were going to build together. Everything was set. When they pulled out, it was insane. We had no idea what was going on. I even called them and asked, “Hey, guys, what went wrong?” They just said, “We don’t want to work with your team.” Then they started proposing under-the-table terms.
Manoj:
After that conversation, they said, “We won’t work with your investors, but if you want to join our team, you can. We’ll pay you what we were supposed to pay your investors. You guys can split the amount among yourselves and don’t have to tell your investors.” I knew this was not going to work. I called our investors and told them exactly what happened. I knew it was a great deal, and I could make a lot of money, but ethically, it was completely wrong.
Manoj:
So we decided to walk away. Some team members asked why I wouldn’t even consider it. I told them, “I know this is a bad decision for myself right now, but in the long run, this is the best decision we are ever going to make.” We had no clue what would happen next—how we would handle funding and all the other uncertainties—but we decided to do the right thing and see what happened. My CTO was really upset about the situation. I told him, “Give me six months. I will bring you another deal. Just hold on.”
Manoj:
He had an offer from Google and wanted to move on, especially since he had just gotten married and needed a pay raise. We weren’t paying Google salaries. A lot was happening at the same time. My job was to keep the investors on board, keep the team together, and make sure everyone stayed aligned. Emotionally, it was a very stressful time for me. But somehow, I managed to keep everyone together and motivated for the next six months.
Johan:
How do you deal with this kind of stress? You’ve been through so many stressful situations—pivoting the company, fundraising, the exit process. You had a generous offer on the table that was pulled back. Another buyer also pulled out after discussions with investors. There was tension between you, the investors, the team, and the buyer. How do you handle that? How do you cope with stress? How do you talk to people about it?
Dealing With Stress
Manoj:
The first thing I do is talk to a few very trusted mentors. I openly discuss how I’m feeling with them. Every time I go through a stressful moment, I go for a walk—either to Bundle Park or a nearby park. I just keep walking. When I go for a walk, it helps me clear my mind and, for an hour, not think about anything. Just take it easy.
Manoj:
Most bad decisions are made when emotions take over. When you’re emotionally overwhelmed, that’s when you make mistakes. So I always told myself, “No matter what happens, stay calm. Don’t react—respond.” That was my strategy. It helped, though at the time, it was painful. Looking back, I’d say kudos to me—I handled it well. I didn’t react; I responded.
Anke:
What’s interesting to me is that you did the right thing. Your moral compass told you to think long-term. It also reflects who you are as a person.
Manoj:
Yeah.
Anke:
But within Curie, you told your co-founder, “Give me six months, and I’ll make this work.” Not knowing the future, did you really believe it was going to work? Or were you bluffing to yourself?
Manoj Aditya:
Oh, I was definitely bluffing to myself. When I told people, “Give me six months,” I had no idea what I was going to do. But I just believed, “Okay, I’ll make it work—I don’t know how, but I will.” And they believed me. My CTO, in particular, has this ability to trust me.
Manoj:
When I tell him, “Just give me a couple of months—we’ll make it work,” he believes me. And our track record shows that somehow, we always make it work. It might not be the perfect solution, but something always comes up. That’s how it’s been for the last six or seven years.
Anke:
Incredible story. So then, six months later…
Extension Of Funding
Manoj:
Yeah, what happened was that we had to work with investors to secure an extension on our funding, ensuring we had a few more months to keep going. I decided not to work with an investment banker because I felt it would make the process too impersonal and corporate. I also wasn’t happy with their communication style—it was too dry. Instead, I wanted to build a direct connection as a founder. So, in 2023, I reached out to five companies in China and said, “Hey, we’re in the midst of a process.”
Manoj:
We had a few ongoing conversations and asked if they would be interested, as we believed they could be a great fit for Roam. We spoke with a couple of companies—one was Placer AI, and another was Echo Analytics. Both were solid conversations.
Manoj:
We sent the IM to Echo Analytics and continued discussions. They were interested but unsure if it would work. We stayed in touch every few months. Eventually, we met one of Echo’s co-founders in Rotterdam at a conference, which turned out to be a crucial meeting. After that, they decided to move forward, requesting our technical due diligence and a legal review before making an official offer. Then, on May 29, 2023, we received their first term sheet, which was quite solid.
Manoj:
We worked closely with them to ensure the term sheet was structured correctly for our investors. Since we had a strong, friendly founder relationship with the acquiring company, we helped them craft the term sheet in a format that our investors would accept. Once finalized, we sent it to our investors. Their reaction was a mix of surprise and relief—”Okay, you finally got it.” Even my co-founder said, “I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to get this term sheet.” From there, the investors engaged in negotiations to secure terms more favorable to them.
Manoj:
Of course, the first term sheet is never the final one. We refined the agreements and went through an extensive due diligence process, which lasted three to four months. This included legal, technical, and privacy due diligence. What I hadn’t anticipated was the sheer volume of documents I needed to prepare. I had to dig through years of financial records, ensuring everything was in order, working with our accountant, and gathering past versions of our technical diagrams to show the evolution of our technology. We wanted to provide full transparency, acknowledging any flaws or financial discrepancies. Our approach was to lay everything out openly—this is us, and this is all you’ll get. Of course, there were some issues along the way.
Johan:
Was this their first acquisition?
Manoj:
Yeah, it was.
Anke:
Yeah.
Johan:
It sounds like it, based on how they approached the process. That’s an interesting learning point for this podcast—when a company is going through its first acquisition, they often need guidance throughout the process. If I understand correctly, you even drafted the term sheet yourself? You probably leveraged examples from previous discussions.
Manoj:
Exactly.
Johan:
How did you handle the process without an investment bank? You mentioned you decided to manage it yourself.
Manoj:
Right.
Johan:
How did you come to that decision? And in the final stages, did you have anyone assisting you, especially on the corporate finance side or during negotiations? Or did you manage everything yourself with the investors?
Manoj:
Yeah, we handled everything ourselves. We had prior experience with acquisitions, which helped a lot. Our investors also had internal legal teams that we trusted, so we used the same lawyer for our side of the discussions. Honestly, it was pretty straightforward—nothing too complicated. They didn’t ask for anything we didn’t have or need.
Johan:
Valuation?
Anke:
One of the interesting aspects of this podcast is figuring out the sale price of the company. So, we asked one of Elon’s colleagues to make an educated guess based on publicly available variables. I know you signed an NDA and can’t disclose the exact amount, but I’d love to hear your reaction to our estimate.
The Evaluation Of Roam.ai
Tim:
Hi everyone, this is Tim from Devaluation Corner. To be frank and upfront, it was not easy to find concrete information on Roam AI’s deal volume and potential revenues at the time of its acquisition. So, I have to make some assumptions here, but let me first state the facts.
Echo Analytics, a geospatial data company based in Paris, recently announced its acquisition of Roam AI. Echo itself appears to be a bootstrapped startup, founded about six years ago, and is estimated to generate around $14 million annually, according to platforms like Grojo or Traxon, which track company revenues. Echo provides data solutions, mainly serving the retail sector and other industries. On the other hand, Roam AI had raised around $1.5 million from investors before the acquisition. While the deal amount wasn’t disclosed, we can estimate the price based on Echo’s revenue and typical acquisition trends in the SaaS space.
Bootstrap companies like Echo typically pay around 1 to 2 times the acquisition target’s revenue for strategic deals. Given Echo’s revenue level and Roam AI’s niche technology, I would estimate the acquisition price to be around $3 to $4 million USD. In my opinion, this deal makes a lot of strategic sense for Echo, as it combines Roam’s location-tracking expertise with Echo’s data capabilities, allowing them to offer a more comprehensive location intelligence platform. Now, I’m curious—what’s your take on my estimation?
Manoj:
Okay, those are pretty fair estimations and reasonable guesses. To provide some clarity, Roam AI had actually raised around $1.5 million, but not all of it was publicly announced since some came from internal funding.
Regarding valuation, it was not 1x or 2x revenue. In fact, we secured a deal at 5.54 times our ARR, which was the valuation multiplier we received for the acquisition. As for the exact price, I’m not in a position to disclose that, but I can say it was somewhere within a reasonable range.
Johan:
Okay.
Manoj:
To clarify the structure of the acquisition for the listeners, it wasn’t a full acquisition. It was a majority acquisition, meaning all of the investors were bought out. They received a cash payout upfront, while the remaining portion was structured as an earn-out. Specifically, they were entitled to receive 33% of Roam’s revenue for the next 36 months post-acquisition, allowing them to benefit from future revenue growth.
As for the founders, we negotiated a call option in our agreement, which guarantees us a multiple of 5.54 times the ARR at a future date. That’s essentially how the overall deal was structured. We believe we secured a great deal, as Echo is working very hard on the sales side, and we continue to support them in that effort. Ultimately, this structure allows us to reap the future value that the company generates.
Johan:
Yeah, I think it’s a great deal for—
Manoj:
Everyone at the table.
Johan:
Right. It’s a good deal for your investors, but also for you, ensuring long-term alignment. That’s something you often see with bootstrapped companies—they tend to structure creative deals rather than relying entirely on upfront cash payments.
Manoj:
Exactly.
Anke:
So, we’re now 10 to 11 months after the paperwork was signed and the money was wired. Maybe it’s still fresh, but looking back, is there anything you would have done differently to make the process smoother or the outcome better? Or are you extremely satisfied and wouldn’t change a thing?
Manoj:
Right. Maybe to add some context—toward the end of the process, the deal with Echo actually fell through. They decided to pull out and told us, “Hey, we’re not going through with this unless you accept certain terms.” At that point, they officially withdrew. We then had to work with our investors, who later decided they no longer wanted to be part of the deal either. So I had to call them, explain the situation, and convince them that this could still work. Eventually, we managed to bring everything back together, and the deal was signed. It was a real rollercoaster to get it across the finish line.
Manoj:
Overall, though, it was definitely the right decision. The acquisition has put everyone in a great position. Some employees are transferring from India to Paris, while others have already relocated from Amsterdam. So, from a business perspective, it has been a very positive outcome.
For me personally, it was a great decision as well, but if I could change something, I would have been more intentional about structuring my role post-acquisition—clarifying my responsibilities and contributions from the outset. That would have made things a lot smoother.
Post-Acquisition Tips
Manoj:
One key takeaway is the importance of setting clear expectations post-acquisition. Define your role, KPIs, and contributions from day one—never leave them ambiguous. If these details aren’t clearly defined early on, it can lead to unnecessary conflicts later in the process.
Johan:
On the process itself, since you’ve been through multiple exit scenarios, what learnings can you share with our listeners?
Manoj:
I think preparation is key. Make sure you have all the necessary documents organized, including financial records and technical overviews. It’s also crucial to create a clear information memorandum that provides an overview of your company.
When reaching out to potential buyers, do your research. Understand their funding situation, their growth stage, and whether they are in a position to make acquisitions. You also need to be ready to pitch a strong case for why a partnership makes sense. Even if the idea comes from their side, reaffirming the synergy between the companies is essential.
Lastly, be prepared for setbacks. You’ll get a lot of “no’s,” and deals can fall through even at the very last minute. Don’t count on anything until the contract is signed and the money is in the bank. Things can change overnight, sometimes with just a single phone call. So, stay level-headed and don’t get too carried away.
Anke:
What I’m taking away from this is that, at multiple points, it was really you keeping the deal together. There were moments when it seemed like everything was going to collapse, but you played a crucial role in bringing everyone back to the table. It sounds like an intense process of stakeholder management. At this stage—without a large corporate structure, a CFO, or a big team—you had to stay sharp and drive the process forward yourself. Without that, the deal probably wouldn’t have happened at all, not for your team, your investors, or the buyers. It’s quite remarkable to hear your story and see the outcome.
Anke:
So, congratulations on that.
Manoj:
Thank you so much! But I have to say, while I played a role in keeping things together, it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our investors and my co-founders. They stuck with it, even through the most difficult moments. So, it was definitely a team effort—I wouldn’t take all the credit for it.
Anke:
What’s next for you? Are you starting another company, taking some time off?
Manoj:
I’m definitely thinking about starting another company, and I’m already in the process. At the same time, I really enjoy doing my podcast, and I want to develop it into something truly valuable. But I also want to take my time with my next startup. I don’t want to build just another product—I want to solve a real, meaningful problem that affects a significant number of people. If it’s not something people actually need, I won’t build it.
Johan:
That’s exciting.
Anke:
That’s great. Congratulations, Manoj. Well done.
Manoj:
Thank you so much.
Johan:
And that wraps up this episode of The Big Exit Show. We hope you enjoyed this conversation. If you did, please subscribe to our show on Spotify or your favorite podcast platform. If you have any feedback or guest suggestions, feel free to send us a message at Podcast Peak Capital. Thanks again for listening and we hope you join us for the next episode.