Derrick Reimer
@derrickreimer11K followers
Founder of SavvyCal; co-founded Drip, which sold to Leadpages
SavvyCal, Drip, Codetree +2$20K MRR
exit story · 2016 · marketing & seo tools
How Derrick Reimer & Rob Walling Sold Drip to Leadpages (2016)
Drip was built by Derrick Reimer & Rob Walling and sold to Leadpages in 2016.
Key facts
- Buyer
- Leadpages ↗
- Year
- 2016
- Price
- Undisclosed
- Revenue at sale
- —
- Years operated
- 3 years
- Channel
- Broker
The story of Drip
Drip was an email marketing automation platform that Rob Walling (CEO) and Derrick Reimer (CTO) founded in late 2012. It entered beta in June 2013 and launched publicly that November. Growth picked up in 2014 once marketing-automation features were added, helped by well-known early customers and heavy content marketing. In early 2016 the visual Workflows builder put Drip in direct competition with much larger rivals.
In July 2016 Leadpages, which had raised a $27M Series B partly to fund acquisitions, announced Drip as its first acquisition. At the time Drip had more than 1,500 clients and nine employees. FE International was Drip's sole adviser. The broker said the founders had received several approaches, and that running a competitive process got Drip roughly three times the first offer. The price was not disclosed.
Walling, Reimer and other team members joined Leadpages as part of the deal.
Lessons Derrick Reimer & Rob Walling shared
- 1.Rob Walling credited his stair-step path (small one-time-sale products, then buying and growing HitTail, then a SaaS) with giving him the skills, funds and confidence Drip required.
- 2.For a deal of that size and complexity, Walling brought in an experienced M&A adviser from the very start rather than running it alone.
Paraphrased from the maker's public posts and interviews (see sources).
The makers
Rob Walling
@robwalling United States41K followers
Drip founder, MicroConf and TinySeed co-founder, host of Startups for the Rest of Us
TinySeed, MicroConf, Drip
See the Drip product page or Derrick Reimer's full profile, Rob Walling's full profile for everything they have built since.
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Sources
- feinternational.com — feinternational.com/blog/fe-international-advises-on-the-sale-of-drip-to-leadpages
- demandgenreport.com — demandgenreport.com/industry-news/leadpages-acquires-marketing-automation-platform-drip/39
Facts are taken from the maker's and buyer's public statements and press coverage. Prices and revenue are shown only when publicly stated; self-reported figures are not independently verified.
Keep exploring
Drip acquisition FAQ
Who bought Drip?
Drip was acquired by Leadpages in 2016 from Derrick Reimer & Rob Walling.
How much did Drip sell for?
The price was not publicly disclosed.
How long did it take Drip to get acquired?
Drip was sold about 3 years after launch, through a broker (sold through an M&A broker such as FE International or Quiet Light).
What did Derrick Reimer & Rob Walling learn from selling Drip?
Rob Walling credited his stair-step path (small one-time-sale products, then buying and growing HitTail, then a SaaS) with giving him the skills, funds and confidence Drip required. For a deal of that size and complexity, Walling brought in an experienced M&A adviser from the very start rather than running it alone.