When Investment Turns Into an Acquisition with John Knific

This week on The Exit: Sometimes timing can change everything. John Knific and his business partners Kate Volzer and Kris Ciccarello 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 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 -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/