Exitwise Productions

Colin Hodge built a dating app so viral it hit one million users in three and a half months — then got sued, kicked off the App Store, acquired by a company in Asia, and sold off in a fire sale when his acquirer panicked mid-IPO. So Colin bought it back. Then he 10X'd it.

In this episode, Colin shares the full story with Exitwise Managing Partner Todd Sullivan: from fixing computers at 15 in Pennsylvania, to Microsoft, to launching Bang with Friends at the dawn of the smartphone era. He breaks down the costly mistake of going into M&A pre-revenue, how fast things changed once he finally turned on monetization (zero to $75K/month), and what it felt like to watch his own company get divested like a footnote during someone else's IPO process.

Colin also gets into the psychology of M&A that most people skip over: why founders need an honest mirror held up to them before they go to market, how he now helps other founders grow and exit smarter, and how his Amazon bestseller Outrageous Startup Growth started as a way to document his playbook and ended up helping him scale the business beyond himself.

Whether you're pre-revenue and wondering when to monetize, stuck navigating your first acquirer conversation, or trying to understand what buyers are really looking for, this one's packed with hard-won lessons from someone who's been on every side of the M&A table.

Learn more about Colin and connect with Exitwise: https://exitwise.com/founders/colin-hodge

Thinking about selling your business? Visit https://exitwise.com

Get Colin's book Outrageous Startup Growth: https://colinhodge.com