acquired LearnVest for $375M
Alexa von Tobel sold LearnVest to Northwestern Mutual on March 25, 2015, for about $375 million, five years after launching.
“And on our 5th birthday, on March 25th, 2015, sold the business to Northwestern Mutual for about $375 million.”
Alexa von Tobel sold LearnVest to Northwestern Mutual on March 25, 2015, for about $375 million, five years after launching.
“And on our 5th birthday, on March 25th, 2015, sold the business to Northwestern Mutual for about $375 million.”
Despite ~$45M cash and a growing business, von Tobel sold because mission mattered more than ownership: signing up only 40 households a day was a slog, while Northwestern Mutual's 8,000 advisors could take the platform from 100,000 to 5 million families fast.
“Um, but I remember thinking to myself, oh my goodness, Northwestern Mutual has 8,000 financial advisors that passionately care about the mission in the same way I do. That can actually go and use this platform to get to more families faster. And if I really believe in our mission, that's probably the right thing to do actually for this business is if you could tell me that I could go from 100,000 to 5 million in a short period of time and like guarantee that that would happen, like that actually is a better use of what I built.”