028: Getting Acquired for $100M & Scaling VC-Backed Startups with Henrik Johansson

Henrik Johansson is a serial tech entrepreneur and expert at scaling startups. He has built 5 venture-backed companies to date, including the promotional products company, Boundless, which he grew into a $100M business before getting acquired by Zazzle. Now, as the co-founder and CEO of Gembah, he’s leading the world’s first global marketplace for product development that allows anyone to create new products from end-to-end. Henrik has repeatedly built world-class teams, culture, and scalable processes/infrastructure, so I really wanted to talk to him about his overall experience. In this episode, he shares the story of how he built Boundless into a 9-figure business—including how he navigated the perils of the 2008 market collapse with no funding.  We dig into the world of VC-funded companies, the power of cultivating strong relationships, major roles/responsibilities of a CEO, and how he turned an internal piece of software into a completely separate entity before getting acquired. Key Takeaways with Henrik Johansson What to do when the markets shift and your VC-backed company loses its funding? The importance of building relationships early on with potential buyers of your startup. How does the role of a CEO differ between bootstrapped and VC funded companies? How Henrik’s company leveraged an internal piece of software to spin-off an entirely new VC funded business. Starting Gembah, the world’s first global marketplace for product development that allows anyone to create new products from scratch. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥