Growth-X began as an internal LinkedIn automation script built to help another startup find users with almost no marketing budget. Over time, it became a B2B lead-generation business that generated millions in revenue and helped sales teams initiate more conversations.
After nearly a decade of building the company, Riccardo Pisano and his co-founder Roy Mor sold Growth-X through Acquire.com. For Riccardo, the sale became a life-changing exit, turning years of work into the freedom to step away, travel, and think about what he wanted to build next.
In this episode, he shares how a simple growth workaround became a real company, why the acquisition process required more than buyer interest, and what founders can learn from preparing a valuable business for sale.
Building a Growth Channel Without a Marketing Budget
Before Growth-X became a business with millions in revenue, it began with a simple constraint. In 2015, Riccardo and his cofounder were working on another startup called PROsimity. They were near the end of their first round of funding and had almost no money left for marketing.
LinkedIn became the channel they could still afford to test. The team began using LinkedIn to reach potential users directly, and people responded better than expected. Those replies showed Riccardo that LinkedIn could become more than a networking platform. It could become a way to start real business conversations.
Riccardo then built a simple internal tool to make that outreach more efficient, yet it helped PROsimity generate thousands of signups for free. At the time, it was not a company or even a product idea. It was just the fastest way to solve their own growth problem.
Later, PROsimity failed to raise its next round. However, the outreach system had already caught attention. Investors had seen what it could do, and their interest gave Riccardo and Roy a reason to revisit the script.
Validating Growth-X Before Building It
That investor interest gave Roy a reason to call Riccardo. At the time, Riccardo had stepped away after years of work on PROsimity and was taking a break in the Philippines. Roy saw something different in the script: people who had watched it work now wanted to use it themselves.
Riccardo was open to the idea, but he did not want to build from hope again. This time, he gave Roy one condition. He would not write a line of code until there was money in the bank.
A few weeks later, Roy came back with paying customers and screenshots to prove it. Only then did Riccardo return, start coding, and help release the first Growth-X beta about a month later. Before Growth-X became a full product, it already had what many startups spend months trying to find: real demand.
Building a Business That Generated Millions
That early demand gave Growth-X a stronger start than many products get. However, the company did not stay in the beta stage for long. Over the years, it grew from a validated LinkedIn outreach tool into a lead generation business that generated millions in revenue.
The business model was simple. Growth-X charged a monthly fee for each LinkedIn user on the platform. In the early years, the team could charge around $500 per user per month because enterprise-level LinkedIn outreach solutions were still rare. Later, as the market changed, pricing moved closer to $100 per user per month. Even then, the value remained clear. Growth-X helped companies find prospects, start conversations, and create more sales opportunities through LinkedIn.
The customer base included large corporations and mid-sized companies. Still, Riccardo saw the strongest fit with companies that had raised a Series A round and were ready to scale. These businesses had real sales targets, but they also needed a repeatable way to reach more buyers.
That made sales teams a natural market. Growth-X often entered through a VP, who would then bring in the rest of the sales reps. By that point, Growth-X was no longer just a clever script or a useful product. It was a real business with meaningful revenue, and selling it could become a life-changing outcome for its founders.
Turning Years of Work Into a Life-Changing Exit
That potential mattered because Growth-X was no longer an early experiment. Riccardo and Roy had spent nearly a decade turning a scrappy growth system into a real company. Selling it was not just a way to move on. It was a way to turn years of work into a meaningful outcome.
Riccardo understood why the business still had room to grow. However, he also knew what kind of work gave him the most energy. He saw himself as a builder, especially in the stage where founders take an idea from zero and prove that it can become something valuable.
Growth-X had already passed that stage. The next chapter required more management, more scale, and a different kind of focus from its owners. For some founders, that phase is exciting. For Riccardo and Roy, it was a sign that someone else might be better suited to lead the company forward.
That made the sale feel bigger than a normal transition. Growth-X had created value for customers, generated meaningful revenue, and reached a point where a new owner could take it further. For Riccardo, selling through Acquire.com opened the door to freedom, time, and the next chapter of his life.
Preparing the Business for Buyers
That kind of outcome still required more than a strong business. Once Riccardo and Roy decided to sell, they had to turn Growth-X into a company buyers could understand, review, and trust. The business had generated real revenue, but the sale still depended on how clearly they could present it.
For Riccardo, that meant learning a different skill set. Building Growth-X had required product instincts, growth experience, and customer focus. However, selling it required clean financials, organized documentation, and clear answers during diligence.
The process showed him that buyer interest alone does not close a deal. Growth-X attracted serious conversations, but buyers needed proof of how the company worked, where revenue came from, and what they would be taking over. Without that structure, even a valuable business could become harder to acquire.
Growth-X went through three signed deals before one closed. The first two did not fall apart because the business lacked potential. The issue was preparation, especially the documentation buyers needed before they could feel confident moving forward.
The third buyer became the right fit because he saw a clear future for the product. He wanted to integrate Growth-X into his own solution, which gave Riccardo confidence that the company would keep growing after the sale. In the end, preparation helped turn years of revenue, product work, and customer value into the exit Riccardo had been working toward.
What This Business Sale Shows Founders
That buyer fit mattered because Growth-X had become more than a useful product. It had generated millions in revenue, served a clear market, and reached the point where the right acquisition could turn years of work into a life-changing exit.
- Pay attention to what customers respond to: The strongest opportunity sometimes comes from a process, not the original product.
- Validation is stronger when customers commit before you build: Riccardo waited for money in the bank before writing the first version of Growth-X.
- Revenue creates value, but preparation makes a sale possible: Buyers still need clean financials, solid documentation, and clear answers during diligence.
- Founder-market fit can change over time: The work that excites you in the early stage may not be the work you want after years of operating the business.
- The right buyer can shape the outcome: Strategic fit helped Growth-X move into its next chapter while giving Riccardo and Roy the freedom to start building again.
Growth-X changed ownership, but the sale did more than close one business. It turned a scrappy growth tool into a meaningful exit and gave the founders space to decide what they wanted to build next.
What’s Next
After the sale, Riccardo took nearly a year away from operating a company. He traveled, practiced kitesurfing, completed several Vipassana meditation retreats, and gave himself time to reconsider what he wanted from his next venture.
That reset also changed how he thinks about new ventures. In the past, revenue potential was one of his main filters for choosing what to build. Now, impact comes first, especially as he explores tools and ideas that could help other founders make better decisions about their own paths.
He is also building something new that started with a personal question. In that way, it follows a familiar pattern. Growth-X also began as a tool built for his own needs before it became valuable to other people. As he builds that next venture, founders can find Riccardo, his work, and the best way to reach him through his personal website at riccardopisano.com.
For founders considering a sale, Guided by Acquire helps clarify what is ready, what needs work, and how to prepare before going to market.
Growth-X is now part of a new growth story, while Riccardo focuses on building his next venture and advising other founders. Watch the full episode on YouTube and follow the guest: