Tim Metzner's next act: Fireroad
Since leaving Coterie, co-founder Tim Metzner has turned his attention to a new venture, Fireroad. It's “a culmination” of several ideas he’s had throughout his career, he said.
Before Coterie, Metzner was the co-founder and partner at Differential, a high-growth startup studio, one of the country's first, which spun out Cincinnati unicorn Astronomer. Its former development shop, also known as Differential, is now a separate 41-employee downtown-based company.
Fireroad is part search fund (which will acquire small businesses), part “Warren-Buffett-style” holding company and part venture studio, where new startup ideas will be created/validated with founders plugged in to run and scale them.
He’s coined it a “BuildCo,” a company that builds “moonshot ideas” using profits from its long-held small businesses — like Differential but on steroids.
“I have so much passion and energy for creating great jobs and careers for people, and I love the idea of buy, build and hold forever. That will be the secret sauce for us,” he said. “If it's a great company that's cash flowing, let's hold on to that asset and continue to make it a great place and add jobs and use cash flow from those companies to start more things.”
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“Our goal is to find great founders, great operators and owners who don't want to ride off into the sunset,” he said. “They want to keep building. They just need an opportunity to partner with someone who can add technology and strategy and vision.”