DG
General Manager/Operating Partner/VP of Sales/Greater Seattle

Built it from zero, ran it for profit, and sold it on a schedule.

Twenty-eight years as founder and president of a residential security company across two Washington markets. Zero to $2.9M in revenue, about $550K to $600K in owner earnings at its best, a 20-person operation run through three functional managers, and a two-year structured exit that closed in March 2026.

See the owner cycle › Track record ›
Field service operations In-home sales Recurring contracts Sell side exit
Open to the next operating seat
Daric Grosso
Daric Grosso
Founder and President, 1997 to 2026
$0M
Revenue built
$0K
Best year owner earnings
0%
Install margin, from 45%
0%
Sales closed by reps
0
Years owned
The operator

Someone had to answer for every number, and that someone was me.

Home Safety Research opened in October 1997 with no accounts and no book of business. It sold in March 2026.

Between those two dates came the parts that do not fit on a slide. Setting every rep appointment personally off direct mail response. Taking a call on every demonstration to find what a rep was missing in need, want, or urgency. Running two locations 280 miles apart on opposite sides of Washington State. Converting an entire installed equipment line to DSC when Interlogix stopped supplying it, and repricing at the same time for about $70K of additional annual gross profit.

The model was recurring by design. A five-year monitoring agreement went on 100 percent of installations, 95 percent of customers finished the term, and automatic three-year renewals carried average tenure to about nine years against a five-year contract. That base peaked at 3,350 monitored accounts.

From 2016 the business stopped chasing growth and started converting. About 1,575 accounts went out in planned blocks while new sales held net attrition to roughly 175 accounts across the decade. Spokane closed in April 2023 and its 350-account book sold for $409K. The company itself sold in March 2026 for $1.75M including a $120K seller note, and my last month went to transitioning the buyer.

Before any of it: crab seasons on the Bering Sea from 1988 to 1993 that ended with a deck crew reporting to me, and distressed property bought at courthouse auction from 1992 to 1994. Those two taught the same lesson from opposite directions. Never send a crew somewhere you have not been yourself, and know the number before you commit.

Daric Grosso
Auburn and Spokane, WA / 28 years owned
Signature

The owner cycle, 1997 to 2026.

Nine points where the business changed shape. Select a node on the sweep, or use the arrow keys, to read what happened and what it produced.

Origin 1997 / Outer sweep 2026 Node 1 of 9
1997

Opened the doors

Left a sales management seat to start Home Safety Research in October 1997, with no accounts and no book.

Track record

Four decades of work, one thread.

One thread runs through all of it: ownership of the outcome, whether that meant a deck crew in a Bering Sea winter or a buyer sitting across the table.

Home Safety Research, Inc.
Founder and President
Auburn and Spokane, WA
1997 to 202628 years, sold March 2026
  • Grew the company from zero to $2.9M in revenue and about $550K to $600K in owner earnings in its best year, running a 20-person team through a sales manager, a service and installation manager, and an office manager.
  • Lifted installation gross margin from 45 to 59 percent by shifting mix into monitored fire and smoke, then added about $70K of annual gross profit by converting the equipment line to DSC and repricing when Interlogix discontinued supply.
  • Attached a five-year monitoring agreement to 100 percent of installations, with 95 percent of customers completing the term and automatic renewals carrying average tenure to about nine years.
  • Ran the business for profit from 2016 and converted the contracted base into cash on a schedule, selling about 1,575 accounts in planned blocks through 2023 while new sales held net attrition to about 175 accounts across the decade.
  • Held the company through two downturns: 10 percent growth in 2009 and 2010 after the housing crisis, and solvency through the pandemic by cutting to the four top-producing reps.
  • Structured and executed the exit over two years, selling in March 2026 for $1.75M including a $120K seller note, and stayed through April to transition the buyer.
3,350 peak accounts 450 installs per year, 2011 to 2015 $409K Spokane book sale 20-person team
Ameri Tech/Global & American National Security
Sales Representative, then Sales Manager
Greater Seattle, WA
1994 to 1997Promoted to manager in 1995
  • Sold residential and small-business security systems in-home across the Greater Seattle market, earning Salesman of the Month in 11 of 12 months at Ameri Tech/Global.
  • Promoted to Sales Manager at American National Security in 1995, running a sales team for two years before leaving to launch Home Safety Research.
In-home consultative selling Sales team leadership, 1995 to 1997
Family Foreclosure Partnership
Real Estate Investor and Trustee Sale Buyer
King and Pierce Counties, WA
1992 to 1994Courthouse auction
  • Bought 50-plus distressed properties at courthouse auction, running title research and bidding on each before committing capital.
  • Managed each property through closing, rehab, and resale at about 25 percent average return.
Title research and bidding About 25 percent average return
Alaskan Enterprise, Bering Sea crab fleet
Deck Boss
Bering Sea
1988 to 1993King, opilio, and Tanner seasons
  • Advanced from entry level processor through process foreman and deck hand to Deck Boss, supervising a 6 to 8 person deck crew across king, opilio, and Tanner seasons.
  • Stood wheel watch under the captain, learning early that a crew works to the standard it is held to.
6 to 8 person deck crew King, opilio, and Tanner
Where I fit

One business, four working seats.

Owning a company for 28 years means holding all of these at once. Any one of them is a full job somewhere else.

Seat 01

Running the operation

General management of a 20-person field service business through three functional managers, across two locations on opposite sides of the state until they consolidated in 2023.

  • Multi-site and remote location management
  • Field service, installation, scheduling, dispatch
  • Vendor and central station management
  • Workforce decisions under downturn
Seat 02

Building the sales organization

Built a scripted in-home process, a presentation manual, and a live demonstration with two-way central station voice, then coached a nine-rep force against it every week. Reps produced 97 percent of company sales.

  • Average installed sale, $2,800 in 1998 to $5,300 in 2026
  • Direct mail lead generation, 95 percent of the base
  • Weekly training cadence and ride-alongs
  • Quality inspection on every demonstration
Seat 03

Working the dealer channel

Spent 28 years as the independent dealer that manufacturers and central stations sell to, buying from ITI, GE, Interlogix, and DSC and contracting monitoring through Criticom and then Legacy.

  • Equipment pricing and supplier terms
  • Full line conversion under discontinued supply
  • Central station move worth nine free months every three years
  • Account book valuation and transfer
Seat 04

Owning the transaction

Sat on the seller side for two years, structuring the process, closing a location, monetizing the base in blocks, and transitioning the buyer once the papers were signed.

  • Sell side structuring and seller note
  • Planned block sales, 1,575 accounts
  • Location closure and consolidation
  • Buyer transition and handover
Outside verification

Three things someone else decided.

Selection
Seattle Seahawks Hawks Huddle Selected as the only alarm company in the program.
Regulatory review
Washington State Attorney General review Cleared the 2013 to 2014 review of home alarm companies with no findings and no further pursuit.
Individual production
Salesman of the Month, 11 of 12 months Earned at Ameri Tech/Global before moving into sales management in 1995.

Operations

  • Multi-site and remote management
  • Field service and installation
  • Scheduling and dispatch
  • Central station management
  • Supplier conversion

Commercial

  • Pricing and gross margin
  • Sales process design
  • Direct mail lead generation
  • Contract attach and renewal
  • Customer acquisition

Transaction

  • Sell side structuring
  • Account book valuation
  • Block sales and transfer
  • Seller note
  • Buyer transition

Products and systems

  • Intrusion, monitored fire and life safety
  • Video surveillance, medical panic and GPS
  • ITI, GE, Interlogix, DSC
  • Probill, QuickBooks
  • Verizon Connect
Next seat

Twenty-eight years of owning it. Ready to run yours.

General manager, operating partner, dealer and channel leadership, or a sales organization that needs to be built rather than inherited. Based in Greater Seattle.

Based
Greater Seattle, WA
Seeking
General Manager / Operating Partner
Also
VP of Sales / Dealer & Channel
Education
Green River College
90-plus quarter credits, electrical engineering
Email › LinkedIn ›