The Surprising Reason Ryan Kulp Sold Fomo
“Ryan Kulp started Fomo in 2016 and quickly grew the company to be able to exit in 2020,” shares Sam Thompson a Minneapolis business broker and the president of M&A firm Transitions In Business. “This interview offers excellent insight into selling a business that has strong recurring revenue. Kulp talks about delegating tasks without upsetting customers plus many other tips when selling.”
In 2016, Ryan Kulp launched Fomo because he saw marketers using aggressive popups on their websites.
Kulp reasoned that if he could show other people were shopping and interacting with a site, it would give new visitors confidence in the company.
Fomo allows businesses to show off real-time customer interactions (purchases, opt-ins, even pageviews) with a line of code the company installs on their site.
Kulp led Fomo to around $1 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) before deciding to step down as CEO in 2020. Two years later, an acquirer approached Kulp about acquiring Fomo. Initially, he wasn’t interested, but after some soul-searching, Kulp decided to sell Fomo to Relay Commerce in a lucrative exit. In this episode, you’ll learn how to:
- Decide when to sell using Kulp’s untraditional approach.
- Start your business using the same tactic Kulp used to grow to $1m in ARR.
- Build trust with customers using the fear of missing out (FOMO).
- Market your offering using other businesses’ brand equity.
- Delegate tasks while avoiding upsetting customers.
- Avoid the biggest mistake made when goal setting.