They Got Acquired - You get to pick our next report

November 7, 2023
​Read on web​

Dan Wolff had put everything into TickEase, his tick removal product.

Despite $1.5 million in sales over a decade, he was maxed out on debt and couldn’t both service that debt and pre-pay for new inventory.

Then “Tick Man Dan,” as he’s known, got an idea. One night, while watching “Shark Tank,” he learned about Bug Bite Thing, a suction tool that removes insect venom or saliva left under the skin. It would be perfect to sell alongside his product.

It took a few months, but Wolff finally reached founder Kelley Higney through Facebook Messenger to pitch a partnership.

They had a three-hour conversation about creating a combo pack, and then Higney surprised Wolff by asking if he would consider selling TickEase.

The mid-6 figure sale — an asset-only purchase with ongoing royalties — closed in June 2023, when the company's revenue was about $500,000 annually.

“Instead of riding off into the sunset, most of the proceeds from the acquisition will help me get out of debt,” Wolff said.

But Tick Man Dan didn’t leave the business; it’s in his blood. He stayed on with the buyer to help develop new products.

See our full story of how Wolff grew TickEase and found his buyer:

​Inventor Tick Man Dan found a buyer via “Shark Tank” and sold to pay off debt​

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Behind the business (of TGA)

Yes, ChatGPT can save you time.

Yes, it can save you money.

But one of the coolest applications for lean small businesses is when we're able to use it to do things we simply wouldn't have been able to do before.

Here's an example of what this looks like for us.

We've been building our database in AirTable for the last two years.

And now, with ChatGPT's help, we can write and run scripts to clean the data and create automations.

I'm not a developer and we don't have one on our team. So writing code to automate improvements in our database wouldn't have been possible before, unless we'd hired a contractor to help us.

Now — it's not an exaggeration to say — it's easy.

Watch me use ChatGPT to write formulas that trigger automations in AirTable (1.5-minute video):

I'm curious how you're incorporating AI into your workflows? Would love to hear about it.

See you next time,

Lexi Grant
Founder & CEO
​They Got Acquired​

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P.S. Two things I could use your help with!

👉🏽 PODCAST SEASON 2 UPDATE

I shared the news on LinkedIn yesterday that we're bringing our podcast back for Season 2 in 2024. We are looking for one or two sponsors to ride the wave with us.

Could that sponsor be your company? If so, press reply for details.​

(Here's Season 1 if you haven't listened yet.)

👉🏽 OUR NEXT REPORT

We're working on our next report (here are all the reports we've published so far), and deciding between these two angles:

A. Lean teams that sold for millions

B. Companies that sold with the contractor-only model (no employees)

Which one would you most want to get your hands on?

Press reply to let us know.