Kurt Nelson

[Boring_Business @BoringBiz_]

Here is the story of how Alpine Investors transformed VHT into a Thoma Bravo add-on

This is a great story of how PE investors in the LMM and MM space can add ton of value in getting a business from one stage to the next in its lifecycle

The Background of VHT

Founded in 1995, VHT (Virtual Hold Technology) is a Ohio-based provider of callback technology for large contact centers

Think when a company's customer service calls you back when a service rep becomes available

That is their technology

The company originally ran on a licensing and maintenance business model
> Businesses paid up front to receive access to this callback technology and service
> Businesses would then pay a percentage of that license fee as maintenance

The M&A Purchase

Alpine started hosting talks with the company in 2017. Their strategy focused on turning the business into a subscription model, driving more predictable SaaS revenue

In 2018, Alpine ended up buying VHT and CEO Matt DiMaria was brought in

For some context on DiMaria and how he was scouted...

DiMaria started his career as a customer support engineer and made leadership positions in product management and marketing

Right before joining VHT, he was serving as a CEO-In-Residence* with Alpine Investors, a SF based firm

*For those that dont know, the CEO-in-Residence program at Alpine places new MBA graduate students into CEO and CXO programs. One of the most sought after programs, even amongst HBS, Wharton etc.

As a PortCo

Changing the culture of a Midwest business with employees who have 22 year tenures was harder than it looks

A few key business changes by Alpine
> Changed the business model to "SaaS-like"
> Updated packaging, pricing and product
> Invested in R&D and brought VHT's technology into cloud-based platform
> Acquired 2 add-on companies to expand functionality in messaging and surveys
> Rebuilt the sales organization and GTM

DiMaria also took Alpine's "PeopleFirst" playbook and added a new executive team, including Matt Moller, Kurt Nelson, Adam Ragauskis, Chris Loeper, and Nick Kennedy

In 2020, VHT had a significant increase in client adoption because more people were using on-call customer service

The investment that Alpine had made to R&D and cloud software finally paid off

In March 2020, the Company received an inbound about a massive deployment of their software. They wanted to go live within a matter of days

DiMaria described that experience as the most stressful in his life. Luckily, the company was ultimately able to get it in time

Some of the other highlights during Alpine's hold period
> 100% revenue growth for 3 consecutive years
> 30% headcount increase and total active clients increase
> Almost entirely recurring revenue business model

In April 2022, the company rebranded to Mindful

In August of 2022, Mindful became a part of Medallia, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company

While the exact financial details never got disclosed, it is safe to say that it was probably a great deal for Alpine

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@jeremycowart We had some of the highest highs

[Jeremy Cowart @jeremycowart]

When Instagram marketing confirms the bittersweetness of it all. Thanks Andy, means a lot.

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@jpinnix Hopefully this is what was once https://t.co/IYqYX8J7Tm

[Nick Sigler @nick_sigler]

Yesterday, @vhtcx launched a new platform (Mindful) along with an updated brand.

While I'm extremely proud to share the design output from the effort, I'm even more proud of the hours of research undertaken by our team to define the new path forward.

https://t.co/7lI61V213C

[Pete Hare @petehare]

Do you want to help us build features used by thousands of internal Apple engineers?

Do you enjoy designing, building, testing, documenting, maintaining and educating engineers about new APIs?

Come work with us on Apple Media Services, we’re hiring!

https://t.co/hewcdCqHee

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@cubstudio @nick_sigler check this out

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@jeremycowart I was looking for the only one that is actually better than this, which is the Bill Gates computer one, but this is all I could find. Oh and our screen shot of our skype call with Pete 🤣

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@jeremycowart Odd, I didn’t see this photo on your website...🤔

[Frank Poore @FrankPoore]

Collaborate with really smart people. It takes a team effort with the right mix of corporate and entrepreneur driven people to really advance an idea. This is what I told @ideamensch about how to bring ideas to life. https://t.co/bJcUw1GgpZ

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@bdesseyn @pegasus_suites #ad #paidpost

[Nick Sigler @nick_sigler]

Such a thrill to see @rockinrio using an interface I worked on with @tysoncadenhead at @Aloompa! https://t.co/yf0xAMiTkM

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@bdesseyn for the beautiful smell of urine

[Aloompa @Aloompa]

If you think attendees go to music festivals to discover new music, you are wrong! Learn more in our latest FDR: https://t.co/NrnjHCGMtq

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@BDesseyn @nick_sigler @Aloompa go home

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@nick_sigler @Aloompa wow that photo is amazing

[Aloompa @Aloompa]

Throwing double dubs to celebrate 4 years with our lead designer @nick_sigler. Thanks for making us nerds look cool

[Aloompa @Aloompa]

new year, new office! 🤙⚓️

[Aloompa @Aloompa]

We’re on @festival_awards shortlist for Best Use of New Technology with our friends @BSTHydePark! #beaconvibes ✌️🙌

[Kurt Nelson @kurtnelson]

@levicole what kind did you get