Tech entrepreneur sells firm — without meeting buyer in person

The acquisition of Tampa tech entrepreneur Peter Dobler’s 55-employee IT support business came with an unusual twist that could only be found in the pandemic: Dobler didn’t meet his counterpart, the CEO of the company that bought his business, until after the deal closed. It was an entirely virtual sale — down to a Microsoft Teams video call at closing where each side, with attorneys present, clicked through and approved a bevy of papers through DocuSign.

Dobler flew out to Colorado in late September, a few weeks after Denver-based Spinnaker Support acquired his business, Tampa-based Dobler Consulting. “When we sat around that day, we all talked about how this was the first time we actually met in person,” Dobler tells Coffee Talk.