# From a pulled IPO in 2008 to a $263M sale · Worth Owning · Horizon

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![](/images/guests/peter-hwang.jpg)Worth OwningEp. 09Peter Hwang

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Worth Owning · Episode 09

# From a pulled IPO in 2008 to a $263M sale

Hosted by **Krystyn Harrison** · With **Peter Hwang**, Founder, Global Faces and NewstrikeDec 2025 · 72 min

0:001:12:00

Watch or listen on[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-hwang-4-exits-5-industries-and-the-journey/id1830558138)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jueqOQbKfCiq40rs7rIlE)[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh9rTBaj9xg)

## He lost a public listing overnight, then sold twice in 12 months

Overview

Peter Hwang has built and exited four companies across five industries. In 2008 his home retrofit company had close to 15,000 customers, a $15 million run rate and a signed term sheet to go public, until the housing crash pulled the deal by email. The company was $3 million in debt, his house was double mortgaged, and his wife Cindy was 6 months pregnant.

Peter walks through the rebuild: two years restructuring that business back to profitability, two quiet years consulting, then Global Faces, a face-to-face fundraising agency that was first to sign up donors on tablets and built a data asset private equity wanted. He then led cannabis brand Newstrike, partnered with the Tragically Hip, to a $263 million sale to Hexo. His rule: build a good business for optionality, and the exit will come.

Then the part most exit stories skip. After the Newstrike takeover, Peter checked his phone at 2 a.m. and found nobody needed him. He calls it the arrival fallacy: the pinnacle never feels the way you expect. Now building again in a market he calls harder than 2008, his advice to owners is to let go of the need to control every outcome, and keep a partner who can calm the waters.

Chapters

What you’ll learn

01Why market timing ranks ahead of execution and the idea

02How a data asset raised a buyer’s interest

03Why building for optionality beats building to sell

04How to let go of control after the exit

Where does your business stand today?

[Get your Optionality Score →](/optionality-score)

## More on the episode

Episode 09Dec 2025 · 72 min

Note: Krystyn, Matt and their guests may hold interests in companies discussed in this episode. Worth Owning is not financial, legal, tax or investment advice, and is for informational purposes only. Do your own research and speak with your own professionals before making any financial decision.

[Where this shows up in your businessBuilding a business buyers come looking for?The Exit Partnership builds the value, the options and the plan for after, with a Partner who has sold before.See the Exit Partnership →](/exit-partnership)

![Peter Hwang](/images/guests/peter-hwang.jpg)

Guest

Peter Hwang

Founder, Global Faces and Newstrike

Peter Hwang has built and exited four companies across five industries, including Global Faces, sold to private equity, and Newstrike, sold to Hexo for $263 million. He is now building Tre’dish, a grocery delivery startup that offers up to 25% savings against the big three grocers.

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