This week on The Exit: Luke Cooper, General Partner at Latimer Ventures, discusses his journey from poverty to law school and eventually becoming a successful entrepreneur and investor. Luke recounts his first major exit with a defense contractor, followed by a challenging acquisition of an ice cream company during the 2008 financial crisis. His biggest success came with Fixt, a mobile device repair startup he founded and sold to Assurant in 2020. Luke emphasizes the importance of building relationships with potential acquirers early, understanding company culture in M&A deals, and navigating the complexities of the acquisition process. Luke Cooper is currently the Founding Managing Partner of Latimer Ventures, and was the original founder and CEO of Fixt, which he exited in 2020. Before moving into entrepreneurship, Mr. Cooper started his career as an attorney at DLA Piper and then at State Farm. Luke’s first entrepreneurial experience was joining Caldwell Technology Solutions, and guided them to a $60 million exit. His second entrepreneurship experience was with Brigham's Ice Cream, a 100-year-old ice cream manufacturer and restaurant chain, which eventually was sold to HP Hood, a food and dairy giant. LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/lukecooperbaltimore Websites - https://www.fixt.co/ - https://www.latimer.vc/ For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/