Mar 05, 2025
Steven Raucher has always been driven by a mission much bigger than building a business. From the earliest days of RapidDeploy, his goal was clear: creating a Next Gen 911 solution that supports the unified emergency response journey and drives better outcomes in mission-critical situations. RapidDeploy joined the Edison portfolio in January 2023 and has grown immensely over the past two years. But as every founder knows, "the number of things that have to go right to get to the finish line on a deal is extraordinary."
Now, after successfully leading RapidDeploy through an acquisition, Steven shares what it really takes to scale a high-impact company.
1. Build for the Long Game, Not the Quick Exit
A year prior to the acquisition, Steven projected where RapidDeploy would end up. “Eight and a half years ago, sitting in Cape Town, I told Brett that this particular strategic was going to buy us one day,” he said. This clarity shaped how he ran the company.
Instead of chasing short-term wins, Steven focused on building long-term value. “This is not like I’m gonna [sell to] a private equity play and they’re slicing and dicing and squeezing the lemon,” he explained. Instead, the goal was to find a buyer who understood RapidDeploy’s mission and would support its continued growth.
Steven's advice to founders? Have a vision for where your company belongs—and make decisions with that endgame in mind.
2. Step Back to Scale
Like many first-time founders, Steven fell into what Chris calls the "Founder Sales Model"—when CEOs feel as though they have to be superheroes. "Before [Edison Partners] invested, all the big deals or 'wins of RapidDeploy' were pretty catered to me winning a big deal. And then the sales team would just kind of fill in the pockets in the middle."
“At no point did I feel I could take my foot off the gas,” he admitted. Every major deal depended on him, and it wasn’t sustainable. The turning point came when he realized the business needed a true sales engine, not just a founder who could close deals. “Without Casey [Myers], we would not have fixed our growth engine."
3. Prioritize Operators on your Board
If you know Edison, you know how we feel about board seats. "Operators out-numbering investors on a board is never a bad thing." If investors are concerned about control, that's a conversation for the deal docs.
Your board also isn't your babysitter. Instead, look at your board as leverage. The bottom line is that you're making the call, but they're there to help!
4. Documentation is a Competitive Advantage
When it came time for the acquisition, RapidDeploy had one major advantage: a meticulously organized company.
“I can dump 2000 documents tomorrow,” Steven told his board. Thanks to years of disciplined documentation, due diligence moved quickly, allowing the deal to close without unnecessary delays. “We took our program managers out of their day jobs and we ran a program office and just moved everything out of confluence into documentation.”
Don’t wait until an acquisition is on the table to get your team in order. Treat documentation as an investment—you'll be glad you did!
RapidDeploy’s story is a masterclass in long-term thinking, strategic scaling, and execution.
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