10 Nov Acquiring Minds: Why Choose Ownership Over Being a CEO
Ahh, 51 percent. A magic number in the world of business. Today’s guest discovered just how important it was to her after working as the CEO of a private equity-held business and seeing up close what it means to not be owner of the business you’re running. This insight — as much about herself as it was about private equity — led Katherine Butler-Dines and her husband Rahul Desai to embark on a self-funded search. And what they ultimately acquired is a travel business that offers guided tours to women. At less than $1m in revenue, it’s very small, the opposite end of the spectrum from the PE platform business that Katherine ran. But it suited the couple well in ways that you’ll hear, and they saw it as their own platform, with more acquisitions hopefully to come. You’ll hear Rahul say, effectively, that all tour operators taste like chicken, and he’s built back-office tech that they hope will allow them to bolt on other tour operators and quickly realize the same efficiencies they’ve gained in their first year of this business. Katherine and Rahul expect revenue to have almost doubled next year, their second as owners. OK, here are Katherine Butler-Dines and Rahul Desai, owners of Women Travel Abroad.
