Mini Chief #328: Buying versus building a business with Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts

The Inner Chief

“My mantra is first you build it, then you buy it. Finding product-market fit with a startup is by far the hardest thing in the world, but when you buy a company, you probably skip that.”

This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts.

His full episode is titled Why unhappiness is a requirement for entrepreneurialism, switching seats from CEO to Chair.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/328 👂

DOWNLOAD THE CHIEF MAKER GUIDE FOR SENIOR LEADERS ON HOW TO HAVE DIFFICULT PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS: chiefmaker.com/difficult

Joel is the CEO of Harvest Hosts, a membership program that connects RVers (caravaners) with unique overnight experiences at 5,000+ wineries, farms, breweries, museums, golf courses and other interesting destinations in the US and Canada.

Earlier in his career, after stints in investment banking and in media organisations, he founded Storyblocks, the world’s first stock media subscription service, which was purchased by private equity firm Great Hill Partners in June 2020.

Joel has been named one of the "Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25" by BusinessWeek Magazine, and "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" by the United States Small Business Administration, and "Entrepreneur of the Year" for the Greater Washington DC Region by Ernst & Young, and also recognised on the Inc. "30 Under 30" list.

When he isn't working, Joel is outside as much as possible with his family in Vail, Colorado. He is proud to be a member of Vail Mountain Rescue, the search and rescue team for Eagle County.

In the full episode we talk about:

✅ How in high school he hosted a show where he interviewed celebrities, athletes, politicians and Fortune 500 CEOs, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Steve Forbes.

✅ Switching seats from CEO to Chair at Storyblocks, and why burnout forced such a move.

✅ The incredible operational principles which help him achieve success but also balance in life, and

✅ How he took Harvest Hosts from a solid business and on an explosive growth trajectory, and why he suggests building a business first, and buying thereafter.

Thanks to former guest, Shane Russell, for introducing me to Joel.

Deal hope,

Greg

Connecting with Joel Holland

You can connect with Joel via LinkedIn, and you can view the Harvest Hosts website.

Books and resources

• Storyblocks - a stock media company

• All Trails - an app for hiking

Similar Episodes on buying companies

• Jaimie Fuller, former CEO of SKINS on coping with rapid growth

• Julie Mathers, CEO of Snuggle Hunny on first-mover advantage

• Ben Simon, Partner of Rose Partners on diffusing heated negotiations and identifying red flags during a deal

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