Buying an Education Business at the Beginning of a Pandemic

Ahron Oddman is the CEO of PSS, a small business he bought in early 2020 that provides software and learning on demand for school students in America. Ahron has a diverse background, including spending 15 years in the military as a Marine and five years working in sales for a startup. He's also done an MBA at Harvard. 

Through all of that experience, he concluded that the next step for him was to commence a Search. He did a self-funded Search in late 2019 and acquired his business in early 2020, an interesting and challenging time as the world was dealing with the start of the COVID 19 pandemic. 

In this episode, we dig into Ahron's journey and how he came to Search in the first place, where he thinks his attributes and aspirations were a good fit for the model, and a little bit about his experience during the Search process. We also discuss some of the lessons he's learned during the first 18 months in the hot seat running the business that he acquired. 

It's a great conversation. I enjoyed speaking to Ahron. I look forward to catching up with him again in another 12 months when his business continues to grow and even starts to launch some new products. 

Show Notes:

  • 02:03 – Ahron talks about his journey coming to Search, coming through the military, and getting a degree in business.
  • 11:29 – Ahron talk about what are the necessary skill you must develop if you’re planning to start a search in a couple of years, such as Sales, Operation, Accounting, etc.
  • 17:24 – Talks about a leader’s standpoint in changing operation, to not have a debate but rather an interactive conversation on what are the steps that would take the business to new heights.
  • 19:26 – Ahron talk about his business and how he ended up buying the company.
  • 28:03 – Ahron talk about taking steps in the Search process and not just waiting on a perfect business and having another opportunity to pass by.

Connect with Pete: LinkedIn
Connect with Ahron: LinkedIn

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