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Episode 135

When Investment Turns Into an Acquisition with John Knific

This week on The Exit: Sometimes timing can change everything. John Knific and his business partner started Wisr.io, a digital platform allowing colleges and universities to create private, university-branded networks for their students, in 2016. In early 2020, the business was doing well, but then Covid hit. Campuses started shutting down, and being one of the only virtual connectivity solutions available for students, Wisr.io saw astronomical growth. In 45 days, the business generated double the revenue they had made in the past three years with a team of just six people. The business kept growing, and John and his business partner started to look for investment but what they ended up with was an acquisition. In 2021 a potential partner made them a compelling offer that ultimately resulted in an exit… Listen to hear the full story. 

John Knific is a serial entrepreneur who has built two venture-backed SaaS companies. He co-founded Wisr.io, which was acquired by the Education Advisory Board (EAB) in 2021. Post acquisition, he served as Managing Director of Product for EAB for two years, overseeing solutions that serve 2,500 universities. In 2023, he left EAB to launch K2 Venture Partners with fellow Wisr co-founder Kris Ciccarello.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnknific/

Acquired Company: https://eab.com/wisr/

 

His current company: https://www.k2vp.com/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: flippa.com/freevaluation 

YOUR HOST

Steve McGarry

An entrepreneur, content creator, and investor based in sunny Tampa, Florida. In 2015, while living in San Francisco, Steve sold his first fintech startup LendLayer to Max Levchin’s (founder of PayPal) consumer finance company Affirm.

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