Industry veteran Steve Firszt and I barely knew each other when I called him 10 years ago. But I had a plan to share and, as I soon learned, Firszt had a business system perfectly suited for this vision. I wasn’t looking for a business partner, but by the next day, after studying Firszt’s so-called Top-Line Management System (TLM), I called back to say, “OK, you and me, 50-50.” And VITAL Mgmt was born from StarkeyFirszt.
What followed has been a remarkable success. First came the formation of the Bravas Group Coop, a collective of 30-some custom integrators from across the U.S. Together, they learned and implemented the business system, restructured their organizational architecture, and began sharing marketing practices.
Ultimately, 14 of the companies became “Bravas Partners”, committing their future to the VITAL vision of a national network of CI companies now known as Bravas.
We hired The Chicago Corp, an investment banker specializing in roll-ups, to present their plan to potential investors. On August 23, 2019, Bravas LLC was purchased by Presidio Investors, a private equity firm based in Austin, Texas.
It was the first successfully funded dealer roll-up in the history of the CI industry. Today, Bravas continues as the largest luxury residential CI entity in the U.S., and added to their stable of divisions by expanding into more markets, most recently acquiring Avid Home Theater a few months ago.
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VITAL then helped another half-dozen CI companies merge or sell their businesses. In September 2021, we sold the coaching practice to a former client, Matt Bernath, and his business partners including industry icon Jeremy Burkhardt. Vital LLC continues as a leading business advisory/coaching practice serving CEDIA channel companies nationally.
During COVID, the partners collaborated on writing Hitting for the Cycle, a little green book on the productivity tenets of the CI business. It offers 55 management actions and 24 metrics to driving better outcomes. We wanted to leave a small bit of legacy to the people we admire who have passion for this business.
Meanwhile, Firszt and I have become fast friends. We really didn’t know how far our partnership would go, but it’s been the best years of my career, and the friendship will last forever.
“This came together seemingly out of nowhere, as if it was fated to happen. Every day, it’s been more fun than you should have while working,” Firszt adds.
But now, it’s time for us to have more fun while not working. After a great 10-year run together and a collective 80 years in the industry, at year’s end we are stepping away to focus on personal endeavors. At some point you have to move over and let the younger folks solve the really big problems, I’ll say of this industry.
“We’ve had the good fortune to work with hundreds of really great people,” Firszt says. “We’re honored by their trust and friendship.”
Firszt resides in St. Louis, and I share time between San Diego and Amelia Island, Fla. While Steve hopes to spend more time in Italy, I’ll continue engagement with PrepTECH and as a partner in FENCOinvest, another roll-up.
Contact info for each of us can be found at https://www.starkeyfirszt.com/contact-8.
Author Paul Starkey is a partner in industry talent recruitment firm PrepTECH.
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