2 Commas: The $multi-million exit show with Josh Comrie

Most founders assume they will be able to sell their business when the time comes. In reality, many are unprepared and lose significant value during the process.
In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with M&A expert and CPA Holli Moeini, author of Finding the Missing Millions in M&A, to unpack why deals fail, how diligence erodes valuations, and what founders must fix long before going to market. We discuss financial readiness, working capital traps, balance sheet risks, and the factors sophisticated buyers evaluate beyond revenue growth.
This is a practical conversation about exit planning, business valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and building a company that is truly sale ready, not just profitable on paper.

Selling your home to fund a business is a decision most founders only talk about in theory.
In this episode of 2 Commas, Rick Agraval shares the real story behind that moment and the journey that followed. After co-founding his business with his wife, Rick made the bold call to sell their home in order to finance the next stage of growth and keep full ownership of the company.
What began as a scrappy, self-funded venture evolved into a fast growing digital marketing and ecommerce growth business. Along the way Rick immersed himself in the mechanics of performance marketing, from Facebook advertising and customer acquisition costs to the systems that drive scalable online sales.
We explore the realities of bootstrapping a company, the learning curve of mastering digital advertising, and the mindset required to scale without outside capital. Rick also shares how founder curiosity, relentless self-education, and a willingness to take calculated risks shaped the company’s growth.
This is a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, ecommerce growth, performance marketing, and the kind of decisions founders make when everything is on the line.

50 million mandarins processed every single day.
In this episode of 2 Commas, Nigel Beach shares the story behind Compac, the New Zealand engineering company that quietly became a global leader in automated fruit sorting.
Nigel spent more than two decades inside the business, starting as a graduate software engineer and eventually becoming a shareholder as the company expanded across the US, Europe, and South America. What began as a small engineering firm grew into a global technology company processing millions of pieces of fruit every hour.
We explore how machine vision transformed the fruit industry, the complexity of building hardware and software at industrial scale, and the strategic decisions that helped Compac grow from around $5M in revenue to $150M before its eventual sale.
This is a founder journey shaped by engineering curiosity, relentless problem solving, and decades of incremental innovation in a surprisingly complex global industry.

In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Stan Murphy to unpack how he turns underperforming businesses into high-growth companies — and why momentum is the single biggest driver of enterprise value.
From qualifying as a fitter and turner in Whakatāne to scaling JR Wholesale Meats to $65M in revenue before its sale to Foodstuffs, Stan shares how he identifies distressed assets, restructures broken systems, and engineers growth in mature industries.
We explore how businesses spiral up or down, why exit strategy should shape decisions from day one, how diversification protected the company during COVID, and what buyers actually look for when acquiring a business at scale.
If you’re 1–5 years away from selling, considering buying a business, or focused on scaling revenue and valuation, this conversation offers practical insight into business turnaround strategy, growth execution, and building a company that attracts serious capital.

The M&A market is moving again. The question is... who’s ready?
In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Neil Millar, Partner of M&A at MinterEllison, to unpack what really happened in 2025 and what it signals for 2026.
Global deal volume surged back toward $5 trillion, international buyers are re-entering New Zealand, and private equity still has significant dry powder. At the same time, succession challenges, health-forced exits, board hesitation, and slower processes have shaped a complex local market.
We explore what’s driving renewed activity, why some deals stall while others move quickly, how corporate carve-outs are reshaping the landscape, and what regulatory shifts like OIO reform and competition law changes could mean for foreign capital.
If you’re 1–3 years away from selling, or simply want to understand how market cycles influence enterprise value, this conversation will give you clarity on timing, preparation, and positioning.