The Next Chapter

When I was in 2008, I joined together with one of my most close friends at the time. Stu McLaren and I combined our skills together and created Member.

We had NO idea we would embark on an amazing and unimaginable journey. WordPress is expanding at a rapid rate. It was a thrilling time. It was unclear, however there was a lot of evidence that WordPress would surpass both Joomla and Drupal.

To put this into context, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were turning heads as newcomers on the music scene. Some of the current members were still in elementary school back when we first established ourselves.

In the internet marketing world, discussions about membership sites were all the rage. There weren't numerous options for creating an online membership website using WordPress. Many development companies concentrated on themes. Thus, the premium plug-in market was essentially non-existent.

We saw this as an opportunity and acted immediately. Mike Lopez was our Jedi programmer, who was able to create whatever that we asked him to create. He built the first version of Member on his own in less than 3 months.

Like my prior software businesses, we saw an opportunity to create an effective solution to this commonly encountered issue. Needless to say, Member saw some RAPID Growth. The first year, the majority of sales came from words of mouth. We grew for well over an entire year prior to spending a dime on advertising.

They are the possibilities that the entrepreneur hopes to take advantage of.

At the beginning of our journey, we received our first request for information about selling the business. The response was very flattering, however they were seeking well-established brands where the founder is ready to go home. We were fresh and full of life and enthusiasm, therefore it made no sense.

In the end, the initial inquiry provided a strong confirmation. The member was always "Built to sell" and there were people who were interested.

After the initial inquiry I was talking to a friend who I also considered a trusted advisor. His entrepreneurial experience includes owning several different businesses. One of those is a Venture Capital Firm. He also had sold other firms previously. It's no surprise that this man is an expert.

My friend gave me a helpful point of wisdom. He explained, "the secret to selling your business is to find out who is buying and make sure that everything you do about your company an ideal fit."

The advice made a lot of sense to me but there were some tiny issues. When you're working with a partner you're never building an organization that only one of the partners wants. You're building what the partners are able to agree on to build. The second reason is that we cannot find the buyer.

There was a time when Stu and I decided to make Mike the minority partner. It was probably in 2010.

The landscape changed dramatically in the latter half of 2014. Stu determined to follow his love of teaching and focus specifically on training people to grow successful membership sites. Mike as well as I both remained at the software firm.

Suddenly, I became the largest shareholder along with the Member. It was scary as well as thrilling at the same time.

Our leadership team and I made a visit to Colorado to concentrate on preparing.

It became clear that we needed to do some reconfiguring. It was time to put aside the focus on what we've achieved in the past and get focused on what we can achieve in the near future. Personally, I needed to stop thinking about building a company I thought someone would want to buy and begin thinking about the sort of company I'd want to own.

The past several months have shown me many things. A simple one is that Isolation kills entrepreneurs. Running a business can be quite lonely at moments. It is essential to have connections and relationships that will aid in bringing balance and order to the business.

It is impossible to predict how a relationship can turn into an actual relationship...

I had the pleasure of meeting Micah Mitchell at a conference. At the time, he was a partner with an individual who had the same software as Member. A lot of people would have thought the company to be a serious competitor. I didn't think much of it and just felt like I was an admirer of his and I'd like to get acquainted with him.

Fast forward a few years and Micah had left his previous partnership and started a company called Memberium. It was also the case that people considered him even more of a competitor now. The only thing I could say was that I loved him.

It was further confirmed when I bumped into him during the security checkpoint at the airport. The two of us had a good time discussing the things both of us were doing with our businesses and then, we discovered that the seats we'd been given close to one another on the plane. Is this just a ploy? Surely, someone lined this up. Nope, it was completely random.

On that exact trip, we also began brainstorming about the ultimate April Fool's day joke in which we announced that Micah recently acquired Member. We laughed that it could be referred to as Memberium. It is possible to add 360 to the name just to make it more interesting. Some people who read this might be able to understand.

The first time I was given seat in front of my software competitor (thanks Delta!) became a lasting friendship. We would get together every month to discuss business issues over dinner for the next couple of years. Sadly, our meetings ended when my family and I returned to Tennessee. There were many great relationships in Utah as well. It was hard leaving them behind.

I love creating software. It's thrilling to see the idea realized is exhilarating. It's especially exhilarating when you work with an amazing team and the product grows more than you ever thought that it could be. One great example would be our most recent release for the Courses Add-Ons to Member.

Although it's as exciting as it sounds, the reality is that it's also demanding. As soon as you cross the 1-yard mark and you're nearing time to score, you can also be running in a state of exhaustion from all the hard work.

As we wrapped with the creation and plan to launch the product, I was feeling extremely tired. I started to realise that the best option was to seek out a true marketing partner. A partner that understood the market and could help me move my Member to the next level. I've made a few calls to some of my most trusted business acquaintances. My wife reminded me that Micah ought to be on the shortlist. I promised my wife to call him back the following day.

Just before I contacted Micah, he randomly sent me an SMS message. It was similar to sitting with Micah on the plane. Sometimes you just know events happen because of a purpose.

Discussions grew to an idea to sell Member to Micah's business MemberShipper who is also the one that is supporting Memberium. It turns out what we were building through Member was exactly what MemberShipper was looking to expand their portfolio.

Over the years I've received a lot of inquires about selling my business. The majority of them didn't feel like they were. It was very important for me to have Member continue as a growing name. I also wanted to make sure our amazing team would be taken care of.

Every step of the way was becoming more clear this was the most beneficial next step for Member, the team and the many thousands of amazing customers who have stayed with us for so long.

I'm incredibly thankful for the leaders on both side. They have been working hard to make this transition as effortless as it can be for me. It's quite impressive to see all of them working together.

One of the most frequent questions I get currently is "What's the next step in your life?".

While I do think I'd do really well retiring, what do I need really is a break. I am planning to take some much-needed personal time off.

What does all this mean when you're a member customer?

To put it in a nutshell, you can be sure that the team will continue offering new ideas and the Member platform is constantly being developed and improved. It's not going anywhere.

I am committed to working alongside Micah as well as the rest of the team for a whole year. They have put me into a position that could easily be called my ideal job. I'm the new "Director of Strategic Partnerships" for both brands that are owned by MemberShipper.

You can expect to meet me at many events in the near future. My own personal goal is to offer the most value possible in the coming year. I am excited to watch Member advance further with Micah's leadership.

Who knows, I may be around for much more time than you imagined.

I've never felt better in regards to the future of member than I do now. The company is just beginning to get started.

You can read Micah's full statement on the acquisition right here.

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