2 Commas: The $multi-million exit show with Josh Comrie

2 Commas: The $multi-million exit show with Josh Comrie

di Josh Comrie

Stagione 5

Yuan Wang: Why charging $150 for nothing beats selling something for $30

He pre-sold a SaaS product for $150 before it even existed — then discovered it was harder to sell the real thing for $30/month once customers could actually touch it. In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Yuan Wang, co‑founder of Studio Ninja, to unpack what bootstrapping really looks like when you choose customers over investors. We talk about the early crowdfunding-style pre-sell (including taking card payments over the phone), the painful first launch that landed with silence, and the rebuild that came from obsessive customer feedback and iteration. Yuan also breaks down how Studio Ninja grew from a niche tool for wedding photographers into a global platform across 70+ countries — driven by SEO, community, and “hero photographers” who became unofficial ambassadors — before eventually being acquired by ImageQuix. We finish with the exit side: what inbound acquisition interest actually looks like, why they turned down an early life-changing offer, and how to keep growing the business while the deal noise swirls in the background.

Vivian Bryant-Taukiri: 23 years in, 6 weeks out: The no earn-out exit

Most founders think selling a business is a transaction. Find a buyer, get a multiple, sign the papers. In reality, it’s an identity shift, a relationship test, and a stress event that shows you what your company is really made of. In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Vivian Bryant‑Taukiri, founder of Brand Spanking, to unpack what it takes to build and scale an experiential marketing agency over 20+ years, and then exit it cleanly. We talk about the shift from “promo girls in Lycra” to modern brand experience, why this is ultimately a people-and-problem-solving business, and how mergers, acquisitions, and COVID pressure-tested everything. This is a practical conversation about partnerships, agency growth, and the reality of selling a service business. You’ll hear what triggered the sale, why a simple offer beat complicated earnouts, and why the most underestimated part of an exit is learning how to sit still after the thing that once defined you is gone.

Why 2026 is the most important year of this millennium

Most founders hear “AI” and think they get it. Smarter emails. Faster content. A few basic automations. In reality, that’s a jet engine being used as a desk fan, and it creates a dangerous illusion of progress. In this episode of 2 Commas, I lay out why 2026 is a once-in-a-generation land grab for Western businesses, and why “power is never given, only taken”. I share the moment that snapped this into focus for me, the traps that keep smart operators stuck (the free-tier trap and the tool-shopping trap), and the real shift that’s happening right now: from assistant to agent, where AI stops answering questions and starts running multi-step workflows. This is a practical call to arms. You’ll leave with a simple three-step approach to take action this week: pick your most expensive recurring problem, define what “solved” actually looks like with a measure attached, then choose one tool and build one workflow end-to-end. Not this quarter. This week. Download the Whitepaper here 👉 https://www.joshcomrie.com/2026

Jeremy Moon: How Icebreaker went from $10M to a $300M brand

Founders often think they can tidy things up when it’s time to sell. In practice, the value is won or lost earlier—depending on how much complexity, weak infrastructure, and preventable errors are allowed to accumulate. In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Jeremy Moon, founder of Icebreaker, to unpack what it takes to build a global brand from New Zealand and then execute a successful acquisition. We cover international expansion, why the “New Zealand advantage” is often a myth offshore, and why hiring local teams matters more than most founders expect. Jeremy also breaks down scaling and profitability, how brand shows up in gross margin, and what changed when he brought in Rob Fyfe as CEO to professionalise the business. We get into exit planning, sale readiness, the M&A process, and how to position a company so it attracts premium buyers and stronger valuation multiples.

Holli Moeini: A balance sheet mistake that could cost you $millions

Most founders assume they will be able to sell their business when the time comes. In reality, many are unprepared and lose significant value during the process. In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with M&A expert and CPA Holli Moeini, author of Finding the Missing Millions in M&A, to unpack why deals fail, how diligence erodes valuations, and what founders must fix long before going to market. We discuss financial readiness, working capital traps, balance sheet risks, and the factors sophisticated buyers evaluate beyond revenue growth. This is a practical conversation about exit planning, business valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and building a company that is truly sale ready, not just profitable on paper.

Rick Agraval: Sold the house, built an 8 figure business, then sold for a maximum multiple!

Selling your home to fund a business is a decision most founders only talk about in theory. In this episode of 2 Commas, Rick Agraval shares the real story behind that moment and the journey that followed. After co-founding his business with his wife, Rick made the bold call to sell their home in order to finance the next stage of growth and keep full ownership of the company. What began as a scrappy, self-funded venture evolved into a fast growing digital marketing and ecommerce growth business. Along the way Rick immersed himself in the mechanics of performance marketing, from Facebook advertising and customer acquisition costs to the systems that drive scalable online sales. We explore the realities of bootstrapping a company, the learning curve of mastering digital advertising, and the mindset required to scale without outside capital. Rick also shares how founder curiosity, relentless self-education, and a willingness to take calculated risks shaped the company’s growth. This is a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, ecommerce growth, performance marketing, and the kind of decisions founders make when everything is on the line.

Nigel Beach: 50 million mandarins a day: Inside a $150M sorting empire

50 million mandarins processed every single day. In this episode of 2 Commas, Nigel Beach shares the story behind Compac, the New Zealand engineering company that quietly became a global leader in automated fruit sorting. Nigel spent more than two decades inside the business, starting as a graduate software engineer and eventually becoming a shareholder as the company expanded across the US, Europe, and South America. What began as a small engineering firm grew into a global technology company processing millions of pieces of fruit every hour. We explore how machine vision transformed the fruit industry, the complexity of building hardware and software at industrial scale, and the strategic decisions that helped Compac grow from around $5M in revenue to $150M before its eventual sale. This is a founder journey shaped by engineering curiosity, relentless problem solving, and decades of incremental innovation in a surprisingly complex global industry.

Stan Murphy: Momentum trumps all: How to create a high growth company

In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Stan Murphy to unpack how he turns underperforming businesses into high-growth companies — and why momentum is the single biggest driver of enterprise value. From qualifying as a fitter and turner in Whakatāne to scaling JR Wholesale Meats to $65M in revenue before its sale to Foodstuffs, Stan shares how he identifies distressed assets, restructures broken systems, and engineers growth in mature industries. We explore how businesses spiral up or down, why exit strategy should shape decisions from day one, how diversification protected the company during COVID, and what buyers actually look for when acquiring a business at scale. If you’re 1–5 years away from selling, considering buying a business, or focused on scaling revenue and valuation, this conversation offers practical insight into business turnaround strategy, growth execution, and building a company that attracts serious capital.

Neil Millar: 160 deals, 113 foreign buyers: What's really happening in NZ M&A

The M&A market is moving again. The question is... who’s ready? In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Neil Millar, Partner of M&A at MinterEllison, to unpack what really happened in 2025 and what it signals for 2026. Global deal volume surged back toward $5 trillion, international buyers are re-entering New Zealand, and private equity still has significant dry powder. At the same time, succession challenges, health-forced exits, board hesitation, and slower processes have shaped a complex local market. We explore what’s driving renewed activity, why some deals stall while others move quickly, how corporate carve-outs are reshaping the landscape, and what regulatory shifts like OIO reform and competition law changes could mean for foreign capital. If you’re 1–3 years away from selling, or simply want to understand how market cycles influence enterprise value, this conversation will give you clarity on timing, preparation, and positioning.

An illegal fence, an angry horse, and a billion-dollar company | 2 Commas by Josh Comrie

In 1937 a horse kept scratching its backside on a farmer's brand new car. That horse accidentally started a company now closing in on a billion dollars a year. The farmer was Bill Gallagher. He wired the magneto off a motorcycle to his car, shocked the horse, and realised he had a business. His first electric fence was illegal, wired straight into the mains until an inspector made him rip it out, which pushed him to invent the world's first battery powered energiser. This is a solo episode on the Gallagher Group, from a Waikato shed to Buckingham Palace, British Gas, and four of the Five Eyes intelligence sites. It is one of the great New Zealand business stories and a genuine masterclass in diversification, succession, and turning what you already know into what you sell next. I get into: How the 1984 Rogernomics reforms wiped out Gallagher's farmer customer base overnight The world-first pivot into perimeter security that saved the company Why the best diversifications sit where your capability meets a rising global tailwind Why they put 10% of revenue into R&D every year, good times or bad Why they handed the CEO role to a 24-year employee, not the next Gallagher Sometimes the next billion dollar business is just your old invention pointed at a new problem. Subscribe to the 2 Commas Journal Order the 2 Commas book Follow Josh on LinkedIn

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