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

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.

He bought 51% of a business that was already going down the gurgler… then the GFC hit.
In this episode of 2 Commas, Ray Delany shares the full story behind turning a struggling technology services company into a 5X+ exit. What followed the acquisition wasn’t momentum. It was cash bleed, lost customers, leadership doubt, a global financial crisis, and significant personal upheaval.
Ray walks through what actually changed the trajectory. Shifting from chasing growth to building profitability. Taking full ownership rather than leaning on inherited thinking. Rebuilding credibility with customers. Attracting the right people. Moving early to cloud infrastructure. And learning that selling well often matters more than building something exceptional.
We also explore the original MailMarshall exit, the realities of services multiples, structuring an earn-out, and why values alignment mattered more than squeezing the last dollar from the deal.
This is a grounded conversation about responsibility, resilience, and earning an outcome over a decade.

In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Joaquin Cordero to unpack one of the defining moments of his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons it shaped for everything that followed.
Joaquin has built businesses across twelve countries, often entering industries he’d never worked in before. We talk about how trust is built and broken in partnerships, what happens when misalignment surfaces too late, and how founders learn to assess risk beyond contracts and spreadsheets.
The conversation moves through building in emerging markets, navigating fractured partnerships, stepping out of operations, and designing businesses that create freedom rather than dependency. Joaquin also reflects on how close calls changed his perspective, why service now sits at the centre of his work, and how he’s learned to treat businesses as assets, not anchors.
A thoughtful conversation about judgment, resilience, and playing the long game as a founder.

He started as a police officer, nearly lost everything in his first business, then built and sold a capital-heavy security company before going again.
In this episode of 2 Commas, I sit down with Joshua Parsons to unpack a founder journey shaped by early responsibility, hard-earned judgement, and an obsession with solving problems properly. From policing at 17 to bootstrapping Crosbies Security, learning the real difference between revenue and cash, and building a business that could run without him, Joshua shares the lessons most founders only learn the hard way.
We also explore how one unresolved failure inside his first company led to the creation of Watchful, a software business now scaling rapidly across international markets. This is a practical conversation about resilience, influence, succession, and building businesses that actually hold value.
If you’re thinking about scale, replaceability, or going again after a hard chapter, this episode will land.