Simon Hay is the founder of Firefly, one of the UK's top EdTech SaaS businesses.
We discuss Firefly’s 17-year journey, from its humble beginnings when Simon was still in school to its notable exit. Simon shares insights into the formation and growth of Firefly, the challenges faced during funding rounds, their growth strategies, their mergers and acquisitions, and their subsequent successful exit.
Simon also shares the lessons he learned along the way, the significance of focusing on one thing at a time, and the importance of having reliable, predictable future revenue streams.
🔍Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Background
01:37 The Founding Story of Firefly
05:33 Challenges and Successes in Early Growth
06:13 Raising Funding and Scaling the Business
09:40 The Role of Debt Funding and Mergers & Acquisitions
15:19 Growth Channels and Strategies
20:23 The Exit Process and Post-Merger Experience
26:09 Lessons Learned and Advice for Other Founders
27:41 Quick Fire Questions and Conclusion
💡 Key Highlights
- The founding story of Firefly which began when Simon was still in school and how it was built by him and his Co-Founder as a sideline business through various degrees and “real jobs”
- How many employees Firefly had and how many schools were using the software when Simon decided to quit his full-time job to focus solely on the company
- Why Firefly decided to leave their funding round so late and how Simon’s life changed after raising the money
- At what point Firefly raised debt funding
- Whether Firefly acquired any other companies and why
- What growth channels and strategies Firefly adopted post-funding and how COVID affected this
- How Veracross, the company that acquired Firefly, approaches their marketing
- How the exit process occurred
- How long the exit process took from initial contact with the buyer to closing the deal
- The post-merger process for Simon who is now a VP at Veracross
- Whether Simon has acquired any other companies since
- Critical lessons Simon has learnt on his journey
- Simon’s book recommendation to other founders, an entrepreneur he admires, an underrated SaaS tool he uses, and the best piece of advice he has ever received
-- LINKS --
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🔗 Follow Simon:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjehay/
- Website: https://fireflylearning.com/
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