Darryl Pahl is the co-founder of DF/Net Research, a Seattle-based company providing clinical trial data management software and services. Along with his wife and co-founder, Lisa Andrzejczyk, Darryl started the company more than 20 years ago after careers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. They built DF/Net around long-term client relationships in global health and clinical research.
The company runs DFdiscover, an enterprise-grade electronic data capture and management platform used in clinical studies worldwide. With offices in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa, DF/Net has grown to more than 50 employees and is approaching $10M in revenue. Clients range from the U.S. Veterans Administration to nonprofits like PATH and major universities.
Still independent and bootstrapped, DF/Net has made key moves to prepare for the future—liker bringing in a growth-focused CEO, diversifying beyond single-client risk, and shifting legacy software into SaaS and services. Darryl shares the lessons of running conservatively under debt, buying instead of building, and building a global company rooted in relationships and practical execution.
Key Takeaways
- Stability First Growth – Carrying a 10-year SBA loan forced conservative growth and taught the discipline of stability over risky expansion.
- Buying Not Building – Acquiring DataFax brought 35+ new clients overnight and proved that buying legacy software can be smarter than reinventing.
- Services Plus Software – Unlike pure SaaS, DF/Net thrives by combining consulting, hosting, and software in a regulated field.
- Spouse Founders Structure – Their 51/49 ownership split avoided deadlocks and kept marriage and business aligned.
This Interview Is Perfect For
- SaaS founders balancing growth and control
- Founders considering succession or sale
- Bootstrapped entrepreneurs in niche B2B markets
- Anyone curious about global health data and impact-driven tech
Quote from Darryl Pahl, co-founder of DF/Net Research
“The best position to be is to say in three to five years, we would be crazy to sell this company. It’s doing so well, right? That would be the perfect thing. And what we’re not looking for is a giant payout.
“We have a very modest lifestyle. So it’s not like we’re to go out and buy yachts and houses and all this stuff that it’s kind of a case of what would we even do with some giant exit, right?
“It is an asset, it is a business and there’s business aspect. But it has to be the right type of buyer. It has to be the right fit. has to be the right person that or group that is respectful to our clients and our employees and us as owners.
“So the ideal would be to have a luxury of either not selling or being more selective rather than responding to random emails from some financial buyer or search funder.”
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