“Infinitely Confident” | Matt Brill’s POTOMAC Experience

We felt like it was smart for us to go with somebody that knows the industry and has the connections. I could try and call the strategics and, you know, leave voicemails with people and hey, I’m Matt Brill from Mr. Mister, but when Paul reaches out, you know, he gets calls.

We talked to Paul first in 2019. There hadn’t been a transaction of a pureplay mosquito business, and so he was excited by that because, you know, he just pest control all the time, so this was something new for him. We felt very confident in his past successes, and just personality wise had a really good feel for him. He’s fun, he’s not — you know, definitely not a boring guy. We learned that, you know, as far as Paul was aware of, that we were the largest of the independent mosquito control companies, which shocked us. We had no idea.

Selling the business — we knew it was going to be a goal, we didn’t know when. Our questions were around the economy. There has to be a recession — we didn’t, you know, global pandemic was not on the bingo card — but during a recession what would happen to our business? Because we didn’t know, because our growth had taken place since 2013 where we’ve been in this booming economy. So what happens if the economy drops out?

You know, the other piece is the stuff that kept me up at night is the fact that we had 35 trucks on the road and, you know, the risk of that — and that scares me. Every accident that we had, I mean, I was terrified. You know, started looking around to see who could we talk to, to find out what the business is worth and what does an exit look like.

So in having the conversations with Paul, his confidence, his ability to get a deal done is ultimately what it is that makes you choose somebody. And that’s why we chose Paul. We were infinitely confident. Even after, you know, we’d have a conversation with the acquirer and like, oh God, that didn’t sound good. In a second, I got it, I’ll fix it — and he does. And he just, he always made it work.

Paul’s fun to talk to, right? I mean, he’s a funny guy. He is clearly extremely knowledgeable about the industry. I mean, we became friends very quickly. I don’t know that that always happens. I think, you know, people appreciate their banker if, you know, they get a deal done right ultimately, that’s the like — if Paul and I became best friends and he couldn’t get a deal done, that I’d have a new friend but then a new banker too. He was able to do both.

And my partner felt the same way. I mean, we really like him. We call each other and talk about not the deal, right? I mean, family, the kids. I still do the same after the deal. I mean, we talk and just shoot the breeze. He’s just — he’s a good guy, become a good friend.