OnBoard from $15M bootstrapped revenue to a $100M PE raise: a clean cap table, deal-ready unit economics and the eScribe deal
Paroon Chadha · Onboardmeetings
Published September 1, 2022Paroon Chadha, CEO & Co-Founder OnBoard, shares:
- How to get to a clean cap table
- Getting to scale ready unit economics and being deal ready
- Why their eScribe acquisition made sense
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Paroon Chadha traces OnBoard’s route from bootstrapping toward private-equity outcomes, emphasizing focused product work, a clear ideal customer, customer-led partnerships, capital preparation, and long-term company building.
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“be to actually play The Long ball and stay in it investors and Founders will come and go you could still accurately run this you could still act really take some chips off along the way that's one way to think about it so our first product was an employee collaboration product Ensemble off to a fast start it was bootstrapped got onto the Inc 500 list and we were making money we were actually you know be able to you know take some distributions at the end of”
“you know in your boardroom delivery it's an inexpect an inexpensive product it'll force you to think about you know your board meetings and what you get out of your board uh intentionally most organizations today actually really are dealing with what you see here on this slide you know a bunch of different uh digital duct tape helping you get your board decks out and uh if you want to get intentional get really good in the Board Room which by the way has huge returns right your investors gain in”
“about being able to build that you know Capital helps certainly I think you know you'll realize when you bootstrap you're growing your your goal is to break even at a higher and higher number every year that's essentially what you're doing by taking institutional Capital when you look at that business which is fundamentally very solid and you pour in some fuel on it you'll just see the acceleration happen and I want to see that happen so the first check was actually only five million dollars on the balance sheet I did take”
“in big markets so unless you have a huge potential nobody's going to write a big check so think about that and spend a disproportionate amount of time just figuring out your Tam I also you know prepped really hard as to what would be my growth thesis and the one that my then current board shared with me so when I went out I turned the question around to every one of the firms I was talking to this was a self run process what would you do with this firm if you were actually you know partnering with”
“I do believe uh you know working through the covert cycle what an interesting one just because you couldn't meet them that was a tough part of doing an acquisition last year you really had to do this remotely most of the times and then while we're deploying Capital into onboard business we also had to think about now integrating a team 60 people team out of Toronto that really tested us as well uh so think about some of those pieces uh the key lessons here”
“Close partnership w/ select early customers”
“Is the best growth”
“Unlocking Capital Table & Capital Structure”
“The Deck I Used to Convince PE Firm to Put In $100,000,000”
Video
How to build a $100m Secondary Deck
Founder First PE Playbook - Slide Deck
Paroon Chadha is Co-Founder & CEO of OnBoard and eScribe, online platforms for board and city council meetings for public, private, nonprofit and government sectors. He founded the parent company in 2003 at Purdue University and has headquarters in Indianapolis, with over 5,000 customers across North America, EMEA and APAC. OnBoard ranks as the No. 1 governance platform in online reviews and the No. 2 platform in North America by units sold. The company has been on Inc.500 and Inc. 5000 lists in the past.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
22 passages
Paroon Chadha CEO & Co-Founder OnBoard Founder500, Sept 2022 Founder First PE Playbook …Growing from $15m Revenue Bootstrapper to $400m PE Valuation
The talk moves from bootstrapping to private equity and then acquisition. It will cover early customer partnerships, targeted positioning, scale-ready economics, fundraising, and the eScribe deal.
Over the Next 20 Minutes: Get to a clean cap table Close partnership w/ select early customers I’m going to show you BOOTSTRAP $15M $100M PE ACQUISITION Highly targeted segmentation & Key Partnerships Maniacally focused on “Best Product” Get to scale ready unit economics and being deal ready Why some secondary was important to me Key 8 slides for a decisive fundraising process Why eScribe acquisition made sense The hardest part of the negotiation Why paying 10x for ~$5m ARR felt fair
The timeline traces a shift from OnSemble to OnBoard, then to private equity funding and acquisition. A 2016 carve-out produced $2-$3M per year, and a 2021 raise of $100M funded growth, secondary liquidity, and M&A.
Company Trajectory 2012 Pivot to second product OnBoard using Debt and Accrued Capital 2009 Growth stalled, as all customers were in Financial Sector 2018 Raised first PE money to pay off past investors + $5M 2016 Carve Out - Cash Cow Business producing $2-$3M/year 2021 Divested the business as this was off-center for growth thesis 2021 Raised $100M for Growth Acceleration, Secondary & M&A. Acquired eScribe 2008 Ist Product (OnSemble) growth story - INC. 500 2003
OnBoard revenue rises from $1m in 2005 to $38m in 2022, with the sharpest gains in the final years shown. The bars mark $1m in 2005, $7m in 2017, $15m in 2019, and $38m in 2022.
OnBoard Revenue Growth
The company attributes its bootstrap growth to customer partnerships, focused targeting, and product quality. It concentrated on compliance-heavy verticals, partnered with respected organizations, and emphasized easy adoption and a board intelligence platform.
Bootstrapped to $15M Stay honest till value is derived by early customers Stick to your knitting and "exploit" where it is accretive - FI "Explore" only in directions that compound early gains – Extranet Cleaned up the Cap Table for being “Investable” CUSTOMER PARTNERSHIPS FOCUSED TARGETING & PARTNERSHIPS BEST PRODUCT Compliance Anchored verticals – finance, Healthcare, non-profits, Pubcos. Borrowed equity from highly respected partners – vertically focused Competitive white space was undoubtedly UX and ease-of-use Maniacally focused on building a "Board Intelligence Platform" Focused on ease of adoption – “Same day Implementation” Used Debt to buy back Non-Performing Founder Equity
The central argument is that a great product is the best growth hack. The accompanying meeting-software example connects product usefulness with customer adoption.
A great product Is the best growth hack
The product strategy brings meeting, document, storage, and collaboration tools into one board-workflow experience. The slide frames integration and first-time user experience as ways to make the product easier to adopt.
OnBoard Revenue Growth How We Think About Building Best Product … Best Growth Hack is a great product 2020 # EverythingWithin #FTUX
The first customer arrived in 2004 at $30K ARR, with an office and operations advisor who later became a debt partner. The first 100 customers were all financial services institutions.
First Customer : 2004 $30K ARR Office i/f & Ops advisor Eventual debt partner First 100 Customers - all Financial Services Institutions
OnBoard used partnerships and co-selling with category organizations to reach adjacent markets. The examples span associations, higher education, credit unions, community banks, and nonprofits.
Borrow Established Credibility …partner & co-sell w/ top-tier category orgs Associations Higher Education Credit Unions Community Banks Non-profit
Institutional capital was used to pay off debt, expand the market, design the organization for scale, accelerate growth, and invest in product innovation. These priorities connect financing to operational readiness and product development.
Unlocking Capital Table & Capital Structure Need for Institutional Capital
A partner-led go-to-market motion helped OnBoard reach more than 3,000 customers across industries. The slide groups its customer base into financial services, foundations, nonprofits, education, technology, healthcare, government, and associations.
2010 - 2020
The product dashboard combines agenda balance, meeting analytics, time management, and recommended actions. It uses retrospective and prospective mix plus section-level comparisons to suggest where a board meeting could spend more or less time.
The customer mix extends beyond financial services: the slide lists 600+ financial services customers, 500+ other nonprofits, and 450+ in technology and other sectors. Foundations, higher education, healthcare, and associations each show 200+, while government shows 300+.
The fundraising case combines scale-ready unit economics, a compelling market, and a focused team. The process also prioritized employee liquidity, bold investment, transparent communication, partnership fit, and clean term sheets.
Why We Raised $100M from PE Tell a great numbers story; should make the use of funds a no-brainer About the company you keep – focused on the team we built Bigtime investments are about bigtime TAM – target rich environment! June 2021: Preparation, Key Considerations, and the Process SCALE READY UNIT ECONOMICS WHY A SECONDARY WAS IMPORTANT HOW I RAN THE PROCESS Refuel self and long-time EEs for longevity Make big bold bets in the business w/out hedging Create a culture of proven high financial return for Pathfinders Radically transparent – with investors and participating team Courted firms that closely watched our results for 2 yrs. Focus on Partnership & Fit – not just on just valuation Speed and clean term sheets ONLY
The slide presents OnBoard as ready to scale, pairing its growth thesis with recurring revenue and customer metrics. It highlights $14.5M ARR, 40% ARR growth, 78% gross margin, 102% net renewal, and 1,700+ customers.
Our Unit Economics … ready to scale Can’t Scale Bad Unit Economics Pressure test your own growth thesis
The deck moved from the hook and market opportunity through customer acquisition, proof, competition, team, beliefs, and advantages. The eight-part sequence gives investors a structured view of the company.
The Deck I Used to Convince PE Firm to Put In $100,000,000 The Hook Market How we get customers Proof its working Competition Your team What we believe Our Advantages
After investment, the company added leadership and support systems, including 2 C-level executives, 4 VPs, and 5 directors. It also developed a new product vision, strengthened board governance, and formalized hiring, forecasting, and budgeting.
Post-Investment Highlights Talent Acquisition dramatically different (2 C-Levels, 4 VPs, 5 Directors) Product Vision 2.0 developed Real support for Executive Team (Assistants, Coaches, Consultants, Ops) Next-level board meetings and QBRs Governance oversight w/ Audit, Compensation and M&A committees Rigorous Hiring plan, Forecasting and Budgeting across regions
The eScribe logo marks the transition from post-investment operating changes to the acquisition story.
OnBoard paid about 10x ARR for eScribe to complement its board-meeting business and add access to Canada and Toronto talent. The deal also required culture-fit assessment, founder incentive alignment, and balancing integration with investment in OnBoard.
Paid ~10x ARR to Acquire eScribe Complement to core business (Board Meetings) Opened reputable access to new geos (Canada) Added access to the scalable talent pool in Toronto … why we did the deal STRATEGIC RATIONALE THE HARDEST PART VALUATION LOGIC Assessing culture fit under COVID restrictions Taking on a Founder led culture and aligning incentives Balancing fast capital deployment in OnBoard, while integrating eScribe Bulking up fast was important for our space Makes us uniquely “full spectrum” on board mgmt & Governance Leveraging our strengths while accelerating learning x 2
The eScribe process underscored the need to retain employees, customers, and partners while moving quickly. The company recommends an executive bench for acquisitions above 20% of ARR, with its M&A committee reviewing targets and integration every two weeks.
Found eScribe through Due Diligence by our PE partners Lessons Learnt Retaining Employees, Customers, and Partners needs a lot of quick decisions M&A committee now meets every 2 weeks, thinking through various targets, org capabilities and ongoing integration progress Need Executive bench for executing any Acquisition > 20% of your ARR THINK BIG MOVE FAST KEEP GOING
The recap returns to the progression from bootstrapping to private equity and acquisition. It emphasizes choosing a focused niche, scaling after product fit, and taking a long-term view.
Over the Last 20 minutes… Keep cap table clean Close partnership w/ select early customers I showed you: BOOTSTRAP $15M $100M PE ACQUISITION Highly targeted segmentation & Key Partnerships Maniacally focused on “Best Product” Get to scale ready unit economics and being deal ready Why some secondary was important to me Key 8 slides for a decisive fundraising process Why eScribe acquisition made sense The hardest part of the negotiation Why paying 10x for ~$5m ARR felt fair Niches bring Riches Nail it & then Scale it Benefits of playing long Ball
Paroon Chadha closes the presentation by thanking the audience. The slide identifies him as OnBoard’s CEO and co-founder.
Sept 2022 Paroon Chadha CEO & Co-founder of OnBoard