#126: From Startup to Selling to GoDaddy

Alex McClafferty moved to the U.S. to join WP Curve in 2013. He poured his heart and soul into the company and grew the company to incredible heights. Slowly Alex and his business partner went their separate ways and GoDaddy came a-courting.

Alex describes what it was like to sit down with one of the biggest companies in the internet space. He also goes into how he approached such a big deal and when it was time for him to move on. Alex left a lot of money on the table when he left GoDaddy. He explains why he left and what he would say to other people in a similar situation.

What you will learn:

• Alex’s early career and move to the U.S.
• How Dan and Alex built WP Curve.
• When to dissolve a partnership.
• Alex’s advice for people having partner issues.
• How Alex prepared for his meetings with GoDaddy.
• The importance of building a great M&A team.
• How Alex worked with GoDaddy to make the deal go smoother.
• The ups and downs of M&A.
• Why Alex exited GoDaddy before his earn-out was completed.
• The 2 questions you should ask yourself before changing jobs.
• Alex’s final thoughts.

Takeaways:

1. Alex took a lot of risk with his deal with GoDaddy. If you do your homework and prepare for the meetings you will walk away with a better deal and relationship.
2. If you ever decide to walk away from a business deal, make sure you really consider what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Links and Resources:

GEXP Collaborative
Productize.co
Alex’s email

About Alex:

Alex McClafferty coaches founders of SaaS & productized service companies. In 2013, he joined WP Curve when the company was doing $478 in monthly revenue. By 2015, the company built a remote team around the world and grew revenue to $1MM ARR.

In December 2016, GoDaddy acquired WP Curve.

With the help of a rockstar team at GoDaddy, the WP Curve team, rebuilt and then relaunched the product as WP Premium Support. Alex left GoDaddy in 2018 to pursue business coaching full-time.