We recently caught up with Jeff Huntley,  CEO of T-H Marine,  for a quick Q&A to learn more about his experience with Founders:

We pride ourselves on going beyond the transaction-focused mentality of similar firms in order to focus more on relationship building. How would you describe your relationship with Founders throughout this process?

I truly felt we were on the same team, working as a unit, not as a vendor/client relationship.  I honestly felt they were an extension of my management team.

Were there any significant moments during this process that stood out to you?

The time and effort and care they put in to teaching, coaching, training us for the management presentations was over and above anything I expected and I think it paid off BIG TIME!  A couple of other things:  really realizing and helping us take the issue of cyclicality of our business head on and having very strong insight in final Letter of Intent (LOI) phase

If you were to sell/grow/acquire another business, would you use Founders again? If so, what would be the primary motivation behind that decision?

Yes.  I trust them.  Yes, they have all of the capabilities and skills and knowledge – but the trust and relationship are the most important reason.

What was your biggest concern going into this experience? Was Founders able to alleviate this concern for you? If so, how?

Biggest concerns: we would not get the multiple that I needed to make this work for me personally (alleviated by getting the deal done by more than that multiple) also I was worried that without a CFO and a more polished top management team, that we might not “show” well (Founders played to our strengths and our story and pulled out the best in us – while also helping us choose a great QofE supplier to cover the financial weakness.)

Some business owners choose to handle the selling of their business by themselves. Did you ever consider this option? If so, what made you decide against it. Looking back, do you think you would’ve been able to get a similar result without the help of Founders? Why or why not?

I very briefly considered it, as I had companies chasing me… but after a meeting with Founders, and a great explanation of the “going to market” process and how it truly produces the best outcome, I was sold.   I would not have had the success if I had done it on my own.  I was woefully ignorant about what a deal of this magnitude required in all phases.  So, I am glad Founders was there to make it happen.