Dinner No. 01 · Toronto

ForOwnersOnly.

Eight seats. Buyers not invited.

A private dinner to learn what your company is worth, and how to make it worth more. By application only.

Request an invitation

Fri, Jan 22 · Toronto · 6 to 9pm · On us

For you if

You own a company doing $2M to $100M in revenue, in any industry.

You see a sale, a step back or a new partner in the next five years.

You want straight answers, and you'll act on what you hear.

Not for you if

You're not an owner or partner in the business.

You want validation, not honesty.

You're here to network or sell.

The old rule

Grow revenue and the value will follow.

The new rule

Be your own buyer.

Judge your company the way someone paying for it would. Build the version they'd pay the most for. Let it compound, then decide.

Revenue is what you earn. Value is what someone would pay for what you've built. They are not the same number, and only one of them gives you options: keep it, step back, or sell, on your terms. We call that Owner Optionality™.

Krystyn Harrison, co-founder of Horizon, with guests at an Owner Dinner — What almost every owner tells us"I don't know what my business is worth, and I have no one to ask."

The laws of Owner Optionality™

Law 01 · Think in value

A $6 latte can cost you $7,500.

Every dollar you spend is priced twice: once when it leaves your account, and again when a buyer multiplies what's left. See both, and nothing in your business is small again.

Served as the first course. You learn to see your profit the way a buyer prices it, and where it leaks.

THE DAILY GRIND

Receipt #0250 · Every workday

Oat latte$6.00× 250 workdays$1,500 / yr× 5 multiple$7,500

Cost to your value$7,500

Thank you. Come again tomorrow.

That's one latte. Now add the software nobody uses, the discount you never took back, the client who always pays late.

The question you'll learn to askDoes this make the business more valuable?Ask it before every hire, every price, every new client. Owners who do stop building a job and start building an asset.

The next two laws, at a glance

Law 02 · Pull levers that compound02Do fewer things. Do them first.A buyer arrives with three moves, in order, and keeps the upside they create. Find yours first, and pull them before someone else does.Served as the second course. You pick your few moves first, so the upside stays with you.

Law 03 · Built to outlast you03Build what doesn't need you.A company that depends on its owner is a job with a price tag. The owner who's optional chooses the moment.Served as the main course. You test how your company runs with you out of the room.

Learn to speak the buyer's language

Buyers do deals for a living. Most owners do one, once.

Whoever speaks the language sets the terms.

What the buyer saysWhat it means for you

"Subject to diligence."The number on the page is where they start, not where you finish.

"Normalized EBITDA."Your profit, after a buyer has argued every add-back.

"Working capital peg."Cash you leave in the business at close. Set it wrong and it comes off your price.

"Part of it is paid over time."Some of your price depends on targets, after you have stopped running the company.

By dessert, you'll start to speak it too.

At the head of the table

Every host has been inside an exit.

Your hosts have sat on both sides of the table: three exits, more than 30 acquisitions run from the buyer's side, and over $1B in shareholder value created. At Horizon, they help owners know what their business is worth and build it to be worth more, whether they sell or not.

Host · Co-founder & CEOKrystyn HarrisonHas built, run and sold companies, including years as an operator inside a PE backed rollup that reached a $1B valuation.

Host · Co-founder & PresidentMatt HarrisonOperator inside the same $1B rollup. Leads the deal side at Horizon and knows what gets priced up, and what gets priced down.

Host · Chief Business OfficerAndrea MathesonSpent years as the buyer: diligence on 30+ acquisitions at CGI. Then built Proponix to $175M US ARR and sold it to ANZ, Barclays and BMO.

Reserved · Guest of honourAn exited owner, from outside Horizon.Hover to turn the card

Place cardRevealed to confirmed guests.

Guest of honour · Exited ownerTo be revealedBuilt a company, sold it, and lived the years after. With no stake in Horizon, they tell it straight: what built the value, what the process was really like, and what wealth does to a life.

A fair question

Why host these dinners?

Owners around the table at an outdoor Owner Dinner, one in a For Owners Only sweatshirt

Because this education is hard to get, and most owners get it too late.

Most owners learn how buyers think in the middle of a deal. By then, it's too late to fix what they find. Buyers walk in with the tools, the playbook and years of practice. We want owners to have the same, so more of you build a better business, and more exits end well.

We'll cover both sides: the business, and the personal. What it's worth, what moves the number, and what you want your life to look like after. One good idea from this table can be a million-dollar decision. For most owners, it's worth far more.

And yes, we play the long game. Once you see your company this way, you can't unsee it. We expect many of you will want to build it with us one day. We're patient. When you're ready, we'll be here.

Value first. Always.

Request an invitation

To begin

The welcome

Drinks, introductions, and one question waiting at your seat.

First course · Law 01

Think in value

Where your profit leaks, priced the way a buyer would price it.

Second course · Law 02

Pull levers that compound

Your three moves, in order, before a buyer finds them.

Main course · Law 03

Built to outlast you

How your company runs with you out of the room.

Dessert

Life after

Our guest of honour on wealth, identity, and what changes.

To close

The last word

Each owner names one thing they'll go and find out.

Horizon House Rules

A good dinner has a purpose, and a few rules.

Ours is simple: eight owners leave knowing more about what their business is worth than when they sat down. Everything about the night is designed around that.

You leave with a clear view of what a buyer would value in your company, and seven owners you can call for the next five years.

01
Every seat is chosen
We read every application and set the table by hand, so you sit beside owners you can learn from.
02
What's said here stays here
Share numbers and names freely. Nothing leaves the room with your name on it.
03
Phones away
One evening, fully present. The business will still be there at nine.
04
Everyone gets a turn
The best answer in the room is often from the quietest person. We make space for it.
05
No selling
Nobody pitches anything at this table. That rule applies to us too.

Questions owners ask

What does it cost?

Nothing. You're our guest. Horizon covers dinner and drinks for every owner at the table.

Will anyone try to sell me something?

I'm not in Toronto. Can I still come?

Do I have to share my numbers?

Can my business partner come too?

Where is it, and what if I can no longer make it?

Dinner No. 01 · Friday, January 22 · Eight seats

Give us three hours. We'll even the table.

Buyers do deals for a living. Most owners do one, once. Leave speaking their language.

About 3 minutes