Joseph Soelberg successfully closes on Point B Communications, a full-stack digital agency.

Meet the new owner

Joe grew up in Provo, Utah before attending Brigham Young University where he studied advertising and marketing communications. During college, he started his first business, Peak Marketing, where he secured a contract with a local oil change and auto repair shop to handle their marketing.

After graduating from BYU, Joe spent nearly a decade in the medical device industry, where he worked in sales and led several divisions. In 2011, he completed his MBA at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, with a focus on marketing. With an MBA in hand, Joe then worked at a couple of Fortune 500 companies in marketing and pricing before returning to his entrepreneurial roots.

For as long as Joe can remember, he had a deep passion for design and aesthetics. He also loved entrepreneurship, dating back to the marketing business he started in college. He knew that going from "zero to one" took a lot of time and had many risks. Instead, Joe decided to buy an operating business.

In 2019, Joe bought his first business—a design communications agency called SONNY+ASH—and never looked back. Since his initial acquisition, Joe has achieved year-over-year growth for the agency, including during and after the COVID pandemic.

SONNY+ASH was an ideal first acquisition for Joe, combining his interest in design and his skill set in running commercial organizations. Putting his own capital to use, Joe was able to learn the ropes of buying a business on a relatively small scale. 

With one acquisition under his belt, Joe had his eyes set on pursuing a larger acquisition in the digital agency space, this time using outside investor capital and SBA financing. 

After a thorough search, reviewing hundreds of potential agencies, Joe went under contract with Point B Communications earlier this year. He leveraged a variety of financing sources to close the deal, including the SBA 7(a) loan program, investor equity, a seller’s note, a small equity roll, and management equity from Joe’s firm, Oak Tree Group. The deal officially closed in July 2024.

The work Main Street did in putting together a pitch deck was outstanding. They know how to get work done quickly and accurately and most importantly to present it in a way that is attractive to investors. Main Street was tremendously helpful as a sounding board on presenting to investors, going so far as to run mock pitches and providing detailed feedback on what they have seen work in the past. After working with them, I sounded like myself but better! Highly recommended for even the most experienced pitchers.

Joseph Soelberg
Owner, Point B Communications

If you ever find Joe not working at Point B, chances are it'll be in the outdoors. Joe loves spending time hiking with his family.

About the business

Point B Communications is a full-stack digital agency based in Chicago, Il. Founded in 1974, the firm has built a reputation for quality design work, particularly in branding. 

Joe was particularly attracted to the branding focus at Point B, as it’s a great wedge into a long-term relationship with clients. Branding is often the first big need a company has ahead of other marketing and advertising work. By helping a company shape its brand and tell its story, Point B is well positioned to help them execute website design, search engine optimization, and digital campaigns.

One thing that sets Point B apart is its in-house production studio along with proprietary collateral printing and editing solutions. With over 60 different customers, Point B serves a variety of industries but has particular penetration in senior living, hospitality/tourism, and apparel.

The company has 23 full-time employees organized into 6 different departments: administration, account service, media, production, creative and interactive. Two of the original partners are staying on as part of the acquisition and will continue leading Point B under the next generation of ownership.

If you’re in need of branding, marketing, or advertising services, you can check out Point B’s work here.

Partnering with Main Street Securities

Joe teamed up with Main Street Securities LLC, a Mainshares-affiliated FINRA-member broker-dealer, to prepare for his capital raise on the Mainshares platform. The Main Street team helped Joe roadmap his acquisition and drive to a successful close.

In addition to helping Joe prepare investor materials, Main Street played an active role in analyzing historic returns to build a realistic pro forma based on a number of growth scenarios and helping to structure the capital stack (e.g., debt, investor equity, rolled equity, etc).

The core focus was telling the narrative of Joe’s background and why he is a great fit to succeed as the CEO and owner of Point B. 

Along the way, Joe held an investor webinar to walk prospective investors through the deal and answer any questions.

Joe was an engaged and knowledgeable partner throughout the entire process. Working with him on the Point B acquisition aligned with our mission to provide talented owner-operators with access to capital to purchase small businesses from retiring owners.

Rich Ramassini
CEO, Main Street Securities

Once investors committed, the Main Street team helped to coordinate with the SBA lender to ensure all compliance needs were met and then ran point on the necessary regulatory filings.

This deal was structured as a 506(c) offering, raising preferred equity with a 12% preferred return and a 1.50x step up.

What's next for Joe and Point B Communications

Now that Joe has successfully closed on the acquisition, he will step into the owner-operator role at the agency leading strategic direction and the next phase of the company's growth.

On the investor side, Joe will be using Mainshares’ investor management tools to send investor distributions, provide information updates to investors, and deliver financial reports on Point B. 

Will Fry, CEO of Mainshares will be joining Joe at the MBBI industry conference to discuss the state of SMB acquisitions and how issuers can raise capital and manage investors.  

Refer business owners for advertising needs

Everyone needs a good ad agency, but many business owners are confused about who to choose, or worse, if they've chosen the right agency. Point B is an agency that listens to clients and helps them to achieve their communications goals, whether it is to increase leads, sales, or drive awareness.

Reach out to us

If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to use at success@mainshares.com.