12 Oct Built to Sell Radio: How iD Tech Went From the Verge of Extinction to a $200 Million Acquisition in 12 Months
Back in 1998, siblings Pete and Alexa Ingram-Cauchi started iD Tech to offer summer camps for kids who wanted to learn about computers.
The business grew each year and by 2019, was generating $70 million in annual sales hosting camps from Stanford to MIT and beyond.
Then COVID-19 hit and iD Tech was left with hundreds of contracts with schools, thousands of instructors, dozens of full-time employees, and no ability to run camps. The business needed to pivot quickly.
They decided to use the pandemic as the impetus to re-invent themselves as an online training company shifting their camps and content online. Within months, their online courses were gaining traction. By 2021, iD Tech was back and expecting $45 million in revenue — mostly from online camps and tutoring. Their reversal of fortune did not go unnoticed by Emeritus, an ed-tech giant who offered to acquire iD Tech for a cool $200 million. The deal closed in May of this year.
In this episode, Pete Ingram-Cauchi shares his wisdom of growing a mission-driven business including how to:
- Stick handle the demands of an investor that wants top-line growth.
- Recruit new employees who will fuel growth without destroying your culture.
- Value different forms of revenue in your business.
- Evaluate the fit with a potential investor.
- Hold on to control, even after taking outside money.
