Real businesses. Real problems. Real results.

BACKGROUND

Rick Alden, the founder of Skullcandy, first came up with his business idea in 2003 on a chairlift in Park City, Utah – he was listening to music when his phone rang. The existing technology required that he take off the earphones, turn off the MP3 player, find his phone, and answer it in order to talk. Rick decided that there must be a better way and Skullcandy was born with a spliced earphone jack that could be used for a phone and an MP3 player at the same time and a switch to go between the two. Since then Skullcandy has been a leading audio brand that reflects the collision of the music, fashion, and action sports lifestyles. Their brand and distinctive logo symbolize youth and rebellion, and embody their motto, “Every revolution needs a soundtrack.” Skullcandy products are sold in the United States and in more than 70 other countries around the world. They pioneered the distribution of headphones in specialty retailers focused on action sports and the youth lifestyle. Through this channel, they reach consumer influencers, individuals who help establish and maintain the credibility and authenticity of their brand. Building on this foundation, they have successfully expanded their distribution to select consumer electronics, mass, sporting goods, and mobile phone retailers.

CHALLENGE

Skullcandy needed controls in place to help manage its coming growth. Before seeking help from Ampleo, Skullcandy’s accounting records were contained within Rick’s personal bank account which his wife maintained for them. In addition, they knew they would need access to capital and needed a partner to assist them.

SOLUTION

Once engaged, Ampleo helped Rick separate the business from his personal finances, and start to track and better control inventory, purchasing, and collections. Over the course of the five years that Ampleo was engaged at Skullcandy, Ampleo provided an outsourced Controller and CFO to help Skullcandy set up its first accounts receivable factoring line, secure equity capital from local angel investors, forecast cash flows and operational growth, and manage revenue growth of over 7200% – often exceeding 300% annual growth rates. Ampleo also helped Skullcandy secure its first traditional bank line of credit with Zion’s First National Bank, just months after completing its first profitable year of operations. Ampleo’s CFO quickly became the CEO’s strategic finance partner, frequently being called into meetings to discuss important strategic ideas or decisions. Once Skullcandy’s growth required a full-time CFO, Ampleo helped in the process by recruiting, interviewing, and presenting management with multiple qualified candidates. When Ampleo presented Rick with two candidates for VP Finance, Rick said, “You can’t leave…you’re my Rent-A-FO”.

CONTINUED SUCCESS

Skullcandy continued its growth and went public in 2011 with a valuation of $500 million. They currently trade on the NASDAQ (SKUL).

BACKGROUND

Simplus is a Platinum Salesforce Partner and provider of Quote-to-Cash implementations. They provide enterprise-wide digital transformation through advisory, implementation, change management, custom configuration, and managed services.

CHALLENGE

The CEO of Simplus needed a trusted and experienced partner as he contemplated securing growth capital, and wanted greater visibility into the financial future.

SOLUTION

Ampleo helped the finance team learn to more accurately and efficiently forecast the business, and provide experience through a fundraising process. With the confidence gained and reliability demonstrated, the full-time controller has now replaced Ampleo as the top finance professional internally and occasionally still reaches out for specific assistance where gaps still remain.

Background

Originally founded in the Sawtooth Mountain Range near Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1983, Sawtooth Software started as a computer interviewing software before shifting to web-based surveys in the early 2000s. The company currently provides online surveys that mimic shopping experiences by asking respondents to choose among varying products described by features and price to help determine what drives buyer choices.

Challenge

Justin Luster, Sawtooth Software’s SVP of product and marketing, joined the company in 2000 with a background in computer science. Over his 24 years at the company, Justin transitioned from product management to overseeing marketing. Despite the company’s long history and expertise in software development, Sawtooth Software lacked a strong marketing presence, which became a challenge when Justin was asked to lead marketing efforts.

As the only “marketer” on the team, Justin needed guidance and expert advice to help get Sawtooth Software’s marketing efforts off the ground. “Even though we have been in business for a long time, we were a bunch of nerds running a business and lacked the sales and marketing expertise,” he says. Justin knew that he needed support to build a solid marketing foundation—however, given Sawtooth Software’s limited resources, hiring a full-time marketing professional was not an immediate option.

Engaging with Ampleo

Justin reached out to Ampleo for fractional marketing support after being recommended by multiple colleagues. While Justin remained in charge of the marketing efforts, Ampleo’s CMO helped analyze existing efforts like blogs and webinars and created a system for growing those programs.

Ampleo also helped Justin set up critical marketing channels, define strategies, and identify key campaigns that could drive results, such as events and building case studies. By fostering collaboration between marketing and sales, Ampleo improved communication, reporting, and results. Justin says, “The biggest benefit I saw from working with Ampleo is that I could spend time with and get advice from someone who has a lot of experience. Something we didn’t have previously.”

Results

After a year of laying the groundwork and building the initial marketing strategies, Sawtooth Software began to grow and needed a full-time marketing hire. Ampleo’s CMO leveraged her network to recommend a strong candidate for the position.

Justin reflects positively on the transition: “Ampleo helped us get on our feet and get to the next step, and when Ampleo recognized that we needed a full-time person, our CMO was supportive of that and helped us grow to the point where we no longer needed Ampleo’s services.”

Ampleo’s guidance and flexibility allowed Sawtooth Software to seamlessly transition from relying on Ampleo to having a dedicated, in-house marketing resource.

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EMBEDDED HR SUPPORT THAT EVOLVED WITH THE BUSINESS
Listen Technologies transforms HR from reactive chaos to strategic clarity

Download the full PDF here: Listen Technologies Case Study

INTRODUCTION

Listen Technologies is a global leader in assistive listening and audio communication systems, helping people overcome barriers related to hearing loss, language, and noise. As the company scaled, CEO Maile Keone knew HR couldn’t be left to chance. After more than 18+ months without dedicated HR leadership and evolving hiring needs, President & CEO Maile Keone turned to Ampleo HR for support.

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CHALLENGE

During a period of growth and organizational transition, Listen Technologies operated without internal HR leadership for over a year. With no dedicated HR leader in place, Maile was managing benefits questions, compliance risks, and employee issues on her own—while driving a fast-growing product strategy. The result: HR was reactive, fragmented, and pulling her away from higher-impact work.

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SOLUTION

Referred by Ampleo Finance, Maile reconnected with Abby Martin and quickly saw a difference. Abby’s deep expertise, empathy, and flexibility stood out. The engagement began with a search—then evolved into a part-time placement with Chris Lynford, who proved to be such a strong fit that the company ultimately hired her full-time.

Chris integrated quickly, bringing structure and professionalism from the start:

RESULTS

Rapid risk reduction: Legal and compliance gaps surfaced and prioritized within weeks

Increased leadership bandwidth: Maile shifted HR tasks off her desk and back into the right hands

Clearer HR roadmap: Defined the right level of support needed—including a transition to full-time HR

Employee confidence restored: Chris became a trusted, in-house-level presence

Strategic shift: From reactive firefighting to proactive HR planning

CONCLUSION

Ampleo HR helped Listen Technologies move from HR uncertainty to confidence and clarity. What started as a flexible solution quickly became essential—so much so that the part-time resource became a full-time hire. With a trusted HR foundation in place, the company is scaling forward with focus, backed by a partner that delivers just-right support at every stage.

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BACKGROUND

In 2007, Rudy Larsen started Lawn Butler, a lawn care and maintenance company. Over the next 5 years, they evolved to focus exclusively on commercial maintenance and they acquired a company that performed commercial installs. Today, Lawn Butler is the largest landscaping, snow removal, and outdoor equipment installation company in the state of Utah.

CHALLENGE

During Lawn Butler’s early stages of growth, they relied upon the cash flows generated from their business rather than raising capital. Their rapid growth led to accelerating and increasing working capital demands with 90-120 days to collect receivables, leaving them in a cash crunch. This placed immense pressure on management due to their large payroll obligations. Lawn Butler used a simple budgeting process to manage the business but knew they needed a five-year forecasting model to better understand their cash flows. At the time, however, their current controller didn’t have much experience forecasting and Lawn Butler couldn’t afford to hire a full-time CFO with higher expertise.

SOLUTION

In 2016, Lawn Butler hired an Ampleo outsourced CFO for 15-20 hours a week. Ampleo stepped in and built a budget and 5-year forecasting model that strategically took into account different business scenarios. In Lawn Butler’s business, snow removal is a large portion of their revenue. Depending on the amount of snowfall in a given year would potentially put a lot of strain on the model. Putting everything into the new model and following Ampleo’s expertise and advice, allowed Lawn Butler to manage their cash flows and be more disciplined about their growth instead of constantly putting themselves in cash pinches. To this day they still use, add to, and build out this budget and model which helped as they grew from $30K to $20M annually before they sold the company. According to Rudy, “Hiring Ampleo wasn’t only good for our business but for my mental health as the CEO. Getting into a situation where we grew a ton but then were struggling to make payroll put a lot of pressure on me. Ampleo relieved a lot of that pressure.”

CONTINUED SUCCESS

Lawn Butler had many detailed, thoughtful and strategic conversations with Ampleo about if they should raise capital. After considering all the pros and cons, they ultimately decided that through discipline they could succeed on their own without raising capital. Because Lawn Butler never raised any capital and operated solely on the cash flows generated from their company, when they sold their company, they generated a 128,000% return on their money. That was an increase of 11,000% a year from their initial investment to what their exit was. Rudy said, “The expertise we received from hiring Ampleo was worth way more than what we actually paid them.”

Lalani Steel is a steel wholesale distributor located in Fontana, CA. Ampleo was hired by Lalani Steel on the advice of the secured lender to create and administer a loan recovery plan.

Working with management, a recovery plan was created and reviewed with stakeholders including the owners, secured lenders, trade vendors, employees, and other stakeholders. The recommended plan called for the liquidation of non-performing inventory and fixed assets. Ampleo oversaw the implementation of the recovery plan. The secured lenders were repaid in full, and the recovery plan was accomplished out-of-court, with the company continuing as a going concern.

BACKGROUND

Founded in 2011, Jane is a boutique marketplace featuring the latest in women’s fashion trends, accessories, home decor, children’s clothing, and more. With an industry-leading e-commerce platform, Jane empowers small businesses around the country – both online sellers and brick-and-mortar shops – and helps customers stay on trend, all at amazing prices. Featuring hundreds of new products every day, Jane has everything you need to live your best, most stylish life. Six-time Inc. 5000 winner, Jane is also ranked in the Utah Business Fastest Growing Companies and a recipient of the Best Workplaces’ Great Place to Work Award.

CHALLENGE

During the first four years, Jane experienced amazing growth and was number 11 on the Inc 500 list. However, it was tough for them to keep pace and deal with the new challenges that came. Jane had a small full-time finance team and the CEO wanted a financial strategist and mentor.

SOLUTION

In 2015, Ampleo helped firm up financial reporting processes, expand analytics skills internally and sit on the executive committee. The finance team and its reporting are now a trusted source of information and strategic decision-making for the company. By assisting Jane to understand its key metrics and performance, Ampleo helped improve its ultimate valuation and get ready for its first round of private equity funding.

CONTINUED SUCCESS

A six-time Inc. 5000 winner, Jane is also ranked on the Utah Business Fastest Growing Companies and a recipient of Best Workplaces’ Great Place to Work Award.

BACKGROUND

InWhatLanguage is a young, rapidly expanding tech-enabled translation services company.

CHALLENGE

Bootstrapped from the start, the founder and management team needed capital and financial guidance in order to achieve the company’s growth objectives.

SOLUTION

They hired Ampleo to mentor its accounting and finance team, provide financial leadership to the CEO and management team, and assist in securing growth capital. Ampleo helped develop a long-term financial plan, use the plan to secure non-dilutive growth capital on attractive terms, implement an annual detailed operating budget, bring its financials into compliance with GAAP, and assist management in making sound decisions as it grows the company.

Ampleo administered the assets of InQpharm North America, LLC pursuant to an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (see case #180906024 in the Third Judicial District Court for the County of Salt Lake, State of Utah). Ampleo liquidated the assets consisting of inventory (health and wellness products), fixed assets and equipment, and goodwill, and distributed the proceeds from the sale of the assets to creditors through a prescribed claims administration process. Ampleo also pursued claims against certain customers that acted negligently in the performance of their duties on behalf of the estate’s creditors.