E69: "Just Ask, Was Good or Bad": Kevin Simonson on His Second Exit, Selling adMixt to Interluxe Group

Kevin Simonson has now sold two agencies. The first — Metric Digital to Wpromote in 2020. The second — adMixt to Interluxe Group, announced this week. And he came on In/Organic Live the same week the deal closed to talk about what's actually different the second time around.Christian and Ayelet sat down with Kevin — outgoing CEO of adMixt, now President of Performance Marketing at Interluxe Group — for an unusually candid conversation about deal structure, integration, and why the headline multiple tells you almost nothing about whether a deal was good.What we cover: Why Kevin took the adMixt CEO seat (a turnaround that wasn't actually broken), how a single text from a friend on a Mountain Gate board started the whole process, why there was no formal auction and the buyer recommended his own banker, why a strategic that didn't already offer his service line was the more interesting buyer, the "do no harm" integration approach — no title mapping, no email changes until 2027, how deal structures have shifted from 2020 to 2026 (equity loans, rollover treatment, the 2022 law change), and why Kevin now just asks friends "was it good or bad?" instead of asking about the multiple.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:12 — Welcome and guest intro: Kevin Simonson, outgoing CEO of adMixt0:45 — Kevin's background: iProspect intern to Metric Digital to Wpromote to adMixt1:39 — What adMixt does: "we get people to buy things on the internet"2:07 — Why adMixt is different — they built their own media buying software3:03 — Who is Interluxe Group? Experiential, media, and PR for luxury brands4:02 — The Mountain Gate connection and how a single text started the deal4:50 — Reverse due diligence: why trusted relationships de-risked the process5:52 — No formal process: how the strategic buyer side reached out and stayed updated quarterly6:46 — Why the buyer recommended Palazzo as Kevin's banker7:26 — Why Interluxe was the right buyer: a brand-new service line vs. overlap at Wpromote9:29 — The "do no harm" integration: no title mapping, no email changes, slow roll to 202710:10 — Deal structure: how it's changed from 2020 to 2026 (and the 2022 law change)11:14 — Ayelet on the legal mechanics: asset vs. stock vs. membership interest purchase12:56 — Why the multiple lies: "just ask if it was good or bad"13:43 — Why structure matters more than the headline EV14:07 — Mountain Gate's acquisition tear and the standing invite to Shamrock15:11 — Kevin's credit to founder Zach and the foundation that made adMixt worth buying16:15 — Why this was an excellent turnaround, well landed🎙️ Guest: Kevin Simonson, President of Performance Marketing, Interluxe Grouphttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsimonson/Connect with Christian and AyeletAyelet’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.