Narrowing 150+ Buyers Down to the Right Two: Mark and John’s Story with Baton
Rachel Horner
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7 min read
Inspired by Baton’s owner success stories, here’s how Mark Robohm and John Vaccaro went from 30 years of building Juicyorange to multiple offers, a sale to two hands-on first-time buyers, and a partnership that keeps them involved on their own terms.
About the Business
Industry: Digital Agency / Web Design and Development
Location: New York, NY
Engaged buyers: 151
Go-to-market to signed LOI: About 4.5 months
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The Challenge: Handing Over a Business Built on Relationships
Mark never set out to start an agency. After college in 1994, he spent years as a touring drummer, playing 200 to 250 shows a year. When a fan told the band it needed a website, he built it, and soon he was making sites for $50 apiece on the way to gigs.
John, who worked in the online departments of large media companies, including Nickelodeon, met Mark on a project and kept sending him work. After a layoff in the early 2000s, he joined Juicyorange as Mark’s partner.
Over three decades, the New York agency grew to serve household brands and Fortune 500 companies without ever running an ad. Every client came through a referral, and many became close friends.
“We are always available. And it’s not just the company. It’s both Mark and I, available 24/7, 365 days.” - John Vaccaro
For most of those years, selling wasn’t something either partner thought about. That began to shift after a personal loss, when Mark leaned on his team more than ever before. They took the reins and kept the agency running while he was away, and when he came back, he saw the business differently.
“They had my back. That’s when you really realize you have a bit of a company, as opposed to just a thing that’s yours.” - Mark Robohm
Around the same time, John was dealing with a health issue and wanted more time with his family.
“I don’t want to be 80 years old and that’s when I start to enjoy my life.” - John Vaccaro
Neither of them had sold a business before. “We had no idea what we were getting into, how it would work, what was expected of us,” John said.
They had two priorities:
Find buyers who would run the business locally and take care of the client relationships
Make sure clients and employees were treated well after the sale
From Valuation to Closing: How Baton Found the Right Buyers
A cold email from Baton arrived just weeks after an old friend had mentioned the company to John. He took it as a sign. Baton’s model let them test the waters with a small monthly commitment, and as web developers, they felt at home on the platform right away.
“Uploading a file and then seeing feedback and managing the history of a conversation in a portal like that is very normal for us.” - John Vaccaro
What happened at every stage
Valuation: John kept detailed books, so the numbers were ready to go. When Baton’s valuation came back, they checked it with their accountant. “He’s very familiar with our numbers. He’s like, that’s pretty much spot on.”
Buyer Outreach: They listed shortly before the holidays, despite doubts about the timing. Within the first month, they had about 10 inquiries and a few early offers, and the response caught them off guard. “Immediately we were getting questions about the business and phone calls and people wanting to Zoom with us,” Mark said. “We couldn’t believe there was an appetite for this.” The portal kept every buyer, message, and meeting request in one place. “We would have done that all manually,” John said.
Offer Selection and Negotiation: Many of the early buyers wanted to run the agency remotely or saw it mainly as a revenue stream, which wasn’t what Mark and John were looking for. Then a one-page buyer profile from Sid and Taylor arrived, and it described the agency they had built: honest, transparent, and relationship-based. On their first Zoom call, the buyers’ cameras were on. “I feel like if you are trying to buy someone’s business, you should have your camera on and just be there and excited,” Mark said. Their Baton advisor, Ani, later brought all four together at Baton’s office to work through the numbers in person.
Diligence and Closing Support: Midway through, an SBA rule change left Sid and Taylor unable to get the financing they had planned on. Rather than move on to a bigger offer, Mark and John worked with them on a phased buyout. Ani adapted with them. “Their first reaction was like, oh, we’ve never done that before,” Mark said. “But then they were quick to say, that sounds like a great thing for your particular scenario.”
The Results
Mark and John sold Juicyorange in July 2026 to Sid and Taylor, two first-time buyers based in New York. The deal was structured as a phased buyout, so the founders stay on as partners while ownership changes hands over time.
Most importantly, they found the right people to carry their legacy forward. Mark and John spent three decades earning their clients’ trust, and Sid and Taylor were the only buyers who convinced them they valued that as much as the founders did.
“It felt like we had found the audience that we were looking for. They really get that our value is in the cracks. It’s the fact that the clients really trust us.” - Mark Robohm
The clients have welcomed them, too. “None of our clients have had any negative reaction to new people coming on and helping out,” Mark said. He credits the slow, intentional handoff, with Sid and Taylor getting to know clients alongside the founders.
Mark and John are also excited about where Juicyorange goes next. Sid and Taylor have brought energy, new ideas, and automation to the foundation the founders built, and clients are already seeing more from the agency. John says the learning goes both ways: “They have things that they’ve thought of in the business that Mark and I never would have thought of.”
Through Baton’s competitive outreach, intuitive platform, and end-to-end support, Mark and John:
Drew 151 engaged buyers, 18 meeting requests, and six indications of interest (IOIs)
Handed their clients to new owners the clients were happy to work with
Kept the deal alive through an SBA rule change by restructuring it together
“Quite frankly, there were deals that were worth more than the one we did with Sid and Taylor. But to us, it had to feel right.” - Mark Robohm
What’s Next for Mark and John?
Mark and John haven’t retired just yet. Mark is at the agency every day, introducing clients to Sid and Taylor and what he calls “Juicyorange 2.0.” John went part-time as planned and will become a silent partner. He has moved to Florida, where he’s spending more time with family and pursuing other projects.
“It’s not like selling something and saying, now these people are carrying the torch. It’s like, oh no, now there’s more hands on this torch and we’re all running together. We’re all holding the baton now.” - Mark Robohm
Advice and Lessons for Future Sellers
A setback can make the deal stronger. The SBA rule change could have ended the sale. Instead, working through it together gave both sides a level of trust most partners take years to build. Sid, one of the buyers, put it this way: “The most important thing in terms of establishing a relationship happened when we had to face an adversity together. And we still managed to get through it.”
Keep your books clean. Because John had every number documented, the valuation was accurate from the start and the listing came together quickly.
Don’t be afraid to test the waters. “You can test the waters and then you may say, you know what, this isn’t for me. Or you may say, oh, this is pretty interesting. Let me pursue it,” John said. “And you may even get some offers and say, this isn’t right for me right now. Maybe it’s right in a year.”