Oliver Palmer helped start a mobile app development agency in Sydney, Australia that built simple apps for early mobile phones. When the iPhone launched, Tigerspike grew very fast by creating branded mobile apps for large companies with its high-end design and development services. Tigerspike grew into a large company with 400 employees and offices in Sydney, Singapore, New York. and London.
Tigerspike also created its own software product—a mobile application development platform with subscription fees—to try to transition into a product-based company to grow faster with VC funding. This was difficult as they prioritized their urgent custom software projects for big clients and chronically underfunded their software product development
Tigerspike eventually raised $11M of outside funding from strategic partners and kept growing. The software platform also grew, but Tigerspike never made the full transition to a product-first software company. They sold the company in 2017 for $85 million. Oliver is open about their vision and their challenges as they grew Tigerspike into a large and successful global company.
Best quote from Oliver:
“When we finally sold the company, we knew it was the right time. None of us were thinking, ‘Gosh, let’s give it another year,’ or ‘Let’s hold on for two more years.’
“We felt that it reached the end of that. There was a lot of consolidation in the mobile industry and many of our competitors had been bought. We’d seen some get not-great deals and we’d seen others get really good deals.
“All of the founders were in our late forties and not ready to retire completely and do nothing. But it gave us long enough to try something else and to be there for the next thing if we wanted to. Or we could decide we just wanted to sit back and play golf.”
In this episode, Oliver explains:
- How their mobile app design and development agency grew into a large global provider serving large companies
- Why they created a SaaS software platform product to grow faster and make their company more valuable
- How they struggled to invest in and grow their software app with their “addiction” to services revenue and custom development
- How potential VC investors viewed their services and product revenue streams
- Why they eventually took investment from strategic partners
- How they sold the company and what it felt like for founders to make that transition
- What he’s working on now to help practically-funded software startup founders in Australia and Southeast Asia
Tigerspike Company Facts
- Founded: 2005
- Description: Global mobile app design, development, and digital transformation services company that created a mobile app platform product
- Number of Employees: 400
- Funding: Self-funded and services revenues, then raised $11M funding from a strategic investor and then a financial investor
- Acquisition: Tigerspike was acquired by Concentrix in 2017 for $85M
- HQ Location: Sydney, Australia
