November 5, 2024 • 7 mins
In this episode of the Tech M&A Podcast, Corum speaks with Ashley Moore, former CEO of Spatialest, a GIS-based SaaS company. They discuss Ashley's journey from being a non-executive director to CEO, the challenges of operating a Northern Ireland company with US customers, and the decision to engage Corum for the M&A process. Ashley shares insights on life after selling the business, the importance of being prepared for the due diligence process, and offers advice for CEOs considering an exit strategy.
00:00 Introduction to Tech M&A Podcast
00:35 The Journey of Spatialest
02:55 Choosing Corum for the M&A Process
04:46 Life After Selling a Business
05:42 Advice for CEOs Considering M&A
06:11 Final Words of Wisdom
Takeaways:
- Ashley transitioned from non-executive director to CEO of Spatialest.
- Spatialest focused on software for local government in the US.
- The company originated from a university research project.
- Choosing Corum was crucial due to lack of time and expertise.
- Market changes prompted the need for a strategic exit.
- Life after selling includes more personal time and new opportunities.
- Preparation is key for a successful M&A process.
- Understanding market dynamics is essential for CEOs.
- Due diligence processes can expose weaknesses in company operations.
- Confidence and perseverance are vital in business.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Tech &A Podcast.
presented by the Quorum Group.
Welcome to the Tech &A podcast.
Here we dive into the strategies, challenges, and candid stories of tech entrepreneurs whohave successfully sold their companies.
(00:22):
Today, I'm joined by guest Ashley Moore, who engaged Coram to sell his GIS-based SaaScompany, Spatialist.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, Ashley.
Thank you for having me.
To start, just tell me a little bit about yourself and your company.
I was the CEO of Spatialist up until the company was sold last year.
(00:46):
I got involved with Spatialist initially through the University of Ulster in Corian,Northern Ireland.
I was working with the university on a program to commercialize technology.
the spinning out from the university, we had seen the very beneficial economic impacts.
in America and we wanted to replicate that in Northern Ireland.
So I was introduced to Spatialist.
(01:08):
I was asked to go on as non-executive director, which I did for 18 months.
And then my term was up and I moved on.
And then they were doing a funding round and they came back to me and said, would you havea look at this?
And I took a look at it and decided I would invest in the funding round and took thatround.
And then I got more actively involved in the company.
(01:31):
Going forward that they ended up managing the company, what we did one more funding round.
The production spaces was to write software for local government in America so that theycould analyze and share all the vast amounts of property information they have so they
could raise tax, property tax and communicate with citizens.
(01:53):
And this project started as a tech transfer from University of Ulster, is that right?
Yes, that's right.
It started as a university project.
It was a research project to write a program to simultaneously value lots of differentproperties based on best local comparables, thousands of properties at a time.
(02:14):
And of course, the largest homogenous property market in world is the United States.
And so this is slightly before my time that the guys took their ideas to the States andeventually got traction and went from there.
So
That's how we ended up in the peculiar situation of being an Northern Ireland company with100 % of our customers in the US.
(02:35):
I can understand how that would create some challenges.
So how did you learn about Coram?
I learned about Coram.
I was beginning to think of a process that would lead us towards a partnership and talk abit more about why we needed to do that.
And I started doing some research in the marketplace and Coram's name came up a couple oftimes.
(02:55):
and I think I reached out to the company, sent me some information.
I then sat in a couple of virtual meetings.
We spoke and then I went to a conference that you were running in London.
To be honest, up until that point, I had thought we could run the process ourselves, but Icame to the realization that that would not be possible for us to do.
(03:17):
We didn't have the time, the skill sets or just the contacts.
to do that properly and we made the decision to run with Cora.
So what was your motivation for going into the process?
Was it time?
Was it pressure from shareholders?
It was an amalgamation of things.
Obviously, you should be aware of what's happening in your marketplace and I could seethat after a period of maybe 10 years when there was relative stability, money was coming
(03:44):
into GovTech.
Our competitors were being acquired by larger companies.
capital was being brought into those companies and it was making it, or going to make itharder for us to compete.
So I could see that things were happening in the marketplace.
Also from the company perspective, I could see that we needed to scale more quickly tomake the most of our highly valuable IP.
(04:08):
And by continuing to just operate in our own, I thought that was in jeopardy and also inconjunction with the other shareholders.
we thought it was a good time to start considering an exit.
So the big question, what's life looking like after selling the business?
Life's great.
I have more time, of course.
(04:29):
I've spent time traveling.
I've spent time with my family.
I'm actually trying to get better at golf.
That's maybe one thing I'll not get there with, but life's good.
But if you still have some energy, it's not necessarily the end of the story.
And me personally, I am starting to look at other opportunities going forward.
(04:52):
And I now have time and capital to be choosy about what I do.
That's great.
And with this experience in mind, what advice would you give to CEOs today that areconsidering going through an &A process?
Think carefully about what you're trying to achieve.
And you have to make sure that your company and the metrics
(05:13):
that you can talk about associated with your company or in line with what the marketneeds.
mean, one of the things I did actually slightly before Coram and with Coram was to get amuch better understanding of the type of people who might be in the marketplace to partner
with us, what type of things they might be looking for and make sure that our companyorganisation and our accountability, our finances and our legal structure was all in a
(05:40):
very good place to deal with that.
because the diligence process can be very exacting.
And if you've been a bit slack or loose in running your company and in terms of thoseitems, that's going to get exposed.
So I would say have a very good understanding of your marketplace, what the other peopleare doing in the marketplace, how that might impact on you, but also make sure that your
(06:06):
company is in very good shape so that you have a great story to tell.
Thank you.
That's great.
Do you have any final words of wisdom for our audience before we let you go?
Business is tough, let's be honest.
I've spoken to several other businesses since our transaction and I've explained to themthat it's great and it's a great day when it happens.
(06:29):
But there's many wins and disappointments up to that point and I just think the thing isto have confidence in yourself and your company and keep going because you achieve the
right result.
Thank you so much, Ashley.
Thank you.
Thank you for tuning in to the Tech &A Podcast.
(06:50):
If you enjoyed the show, please share it with your friends, colleagues and fellowentrepreneurs.
We release new episodes every two weeks, so make sure to subscribe and stay up to date onour latest interviews and tech &A research.
And if you have any suggestions or topics you'd like us to cover, please reach out us onsocial media or email us at info at Coram group.com.
(07:11):
Join us again next time for more inspirational stories and practical tips from techfounders who have successfully navigated the exits of their companies.
Welcome to the Tech &A Podcast.
presented by the Quorum Group.
Welcome to the Tech &A podcast.
Here we dive into the strategies, challenges, and candid stories of tech entrepreneurs whohave successfully sold their companies.
(00:22):
Today, I'm joined by guest Ashley Moore, who engaged Coram to sell his GIS-based SaaScompany, Spatialist.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, Ashley.
Thank you for having me.
To start, just tell me a little bit about yourself and your company.
I was the CEO of Spatialist up until the company was sold last year.
(00:46):
I got involved with Spatialist initially through the University of Ulster in Corian,Northern Ireland.
I was working with the university on a program to commercialize technology.
the spinning out from the university, we had seen the very beneficial economic impacts.
in America and we wanted to replicate that in Northern Ireland.
So I was introduced to Spatialist.
(01:08):
I was asked to go on as non-executive director, which I did for 18 months.
And then my term was up and I moved on.
And then they were doing a funding round and they came back to me and said, would you havea look at this?
And I took a look at it and decided I would invest in the funding round and took thatround.
And then I got more actively involved in the company.
(01:31):
Going forward that they ended up managing the company, what we did one more funding round.
The production spaces was to write software for local government in America so that theycould analyze and share all the vast amounts of property information they have so they
could raise tax, property tax and communicate with citizens.
(01:53):
And this project started as a tech transfer from University of Ulster, is that right?
Yes, that's right.
It started as a university project.
It was a research project to write a program to simultaneously value lots of differentproperties based on best local comparables, thousands of properties at a time.
(02:14):
And of course, the largest homogenous property market in world is the United States.
And so this is slightly before my time that the guys took their ideas to the States andeventually got traction and went from there.
So
That's how we ended up in the peculiar situation of being an Northern Ireland company with100 % of our customers in the US.
(02:35):
I can understand how that would create some challenges.
So how did you learn about Coram?
I learned about Coram.
I was beginning to think of a process that would lead us towards a partnership and talk abit more about why we needed to do that.
And I started doing some research in the marketplace and Coram's name came up a couple oftimes.
(02:55):
and I think I reached out to the company, sent me some information.
I then sat in a couple of virtual meetings.
We spoke and then I went to a conference that you were running in London.
To be honest, up until that point, I had thought we could run the process ourselves, but Icame to the realization that that would not be possible for us to do.
(03:17):
We didn't have the time, the skill sets or just the contacts.
to do that properly and we made the decision to run with Cora.
So what was your motivation for going into the process?
Was it time?
Was it pressure from shareholders?
It was an amalgamation of things.
Obviously, you should be aware of what's happening in your marketplace and I could seethat after a period of maybe 10 years when there was relative stability, money was coming
(03:44):
into GovTech.
Our competitors were being acquired by larger companies.
capital was being brought into those companies and it was making it, or going to make itharder for us to compete.
So I could see that things were happening in the marketplace.
Also from the company perspective, I could see that we needed to scale more quickly tomake the most of our highly valuable IP.
(04:08):
And by continuing to just operate in our own, I thought that was in jeopardy and also inconjunction with the other shareholders.
we thought it was a good time to start considering an exit.
So the big question, what's life looking like after selling the business?
Life's great.
I have more time, of course.
(04:29):
I've spent time traveling.
I've spent time with my family.
I'm actually trying to get better at golf.
That's maybe one thing I'll not get there with, but life's good.
But if you still have some energy, it's not necessarily the end of the story.
And me personally, I am starting to look at other opportunities going forward.
(04:52):
And I now have time and capital to be choosy about what I do.
That's great.
And with this experience in mind, what advice would you give to CEOs today that areconsidering going through an &A process?
Think carefully about what you're trying to achieve.
And you have to make sure that your company and the metrics
(05:13):
that you can talk about associated with your company or in line with what the marketneeds.
mean, one of the things I did actually slightly before Coram and with Coram was to get amuch better understanding of the type of people who might be in the marketplace to partner
with us, what type of things they might be looking for and make sure that our companyorganisation and our accountability, our finances and our legal structure was all in a
(05:40):
very good place to deal with that.
because the diligence process can be very exacting.
And if you've been a bit slack or loose in running your company and in terms of thoseitems, that's going to get exposed.
So I would say have a very good understanding of your marketplace, what the other peopleare doing in the marketplace, how that might impact on you, but also make sure that your
(06:06):
company is in very good shape so that you have a great story to tell.
Thank you.
That's great.
Do you have any final words of wisdom for our audience before we let you go?
Business is tough, let's be honest.
I've spoken to several other businesses since our transaction and I've explained to themthat it's great and it's a great day when it happens.
(06:29):
But there's many wins and disappointments up to that point and I just think the thing isto have confidence in yourself and your company and keep going because you achieve the
right result.
Thank you so much, Ashley.
Thank you.
Thank you for tuning in to the Tech &A Podcast.
(06:50):
If you enjoyed the show, please share it with your friends, colleagues and fellowentrepreneurs.
We release new episodes every two weeks, so make sure to subscribe and stay up to date onour latest interviews and tech &A research.
And if you have any suggestions or topics you'd like us to cover, please reach out us onsocial media or email us at info at Coram group.com.
(07:11):
Join us again next time for more inspirational stories and practical tips from techfounders who have successfully navigated the exits of their companies.
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