Robin Kovitz·April 2, 2026

From Small Acquisition to $30m Industry Leader | Robin Kovitz Interview

Robin Kovitz is a former investment banker and private equity professional (HBS MBA) who left a Bay Street career in 2011 to become a self-funded searcher, motivated by wanting flexibility as a new mother without sacrificing professional ambition. After a four-year search — during which she personally drove to industrial parks, met thousands of owners, and developed her three non-negotiables (no customer concentration, recurring customers, high scalability) — she acquired Baskets With an I, a Toronto-based gift basket manufacturer and e-commerce brand, in October 2014. The deal involved two separate M&A transactions with 50/50 founding partners who had fallen out, with Robin taking a majority stake. The business was operationally immature at acquisition, requiring a near-turnaround, forced facility relocation in year one, and years of owner-operated 20-hour days before she could build a real leadership team. Over 12 years she grew the company from 12 employees to well over 100, shifted from a mostly B2B catalog model to roughly 50/50 B2B and D2C e-commerce, completed five tuck-in acquisitions (most recently a large competitor in 2025), and reached a reported ~$30m revenue figure with ambitions for $100m. She is a B Corp-certified long-term holder with no intention to sell, drawing inspiration from Constellation Software's autonomous acquisition philosophy and a childhood watching her father build and eventually sell a meat-processing company.

Deal facts

multiple: 3-5x EBITDA (general range cited as reasonable by guest)
sde ebitda: low-to-mid six figures (host estimate, not confirmed by guest)
revenue: ~$1-2m at acquisition (host estimate); ~$30m reported figure at time of interview
financing structure: Self-funded with personal savings, home equity, and borrowed family/friends funds; one-third equity / one-third debt / one-third seller note structure referenced as framework
notes: Acquired October 2014. Two separate M&A transactions (one with selling 50% partner, one with retaining minority partner). Guest declined to confirm specific financials publicly. Business was 12 employees at acquisition. Guest subsequently acquired 5 gift basket companies total: two small tuck-ins in 2018 and a large competitor acquired in summer 2025.

Why this business

Robin wanted flexibility as a new mother while leveraging her finance and PE background. She sought a business with no customer concentration, recurring repeat customers, and high scalability. She discovered Baskets With an I while conducting industry diligence on a different company, connected with the founders, and was called years later when the 50/50 founding partners had a falling out and needed an investor to facilitate a buyout. She was drawn to the gift basket industry's complexity as a barrier to scale and its large but fragmented TAM, likening it to the multi-billion dollar flower industry.

What's working

Recurring B2B and D2C customer base with high repeat purchase rates and low customer concentration
Money-back guarantee as a differentiator and trust-builder that competitors cannot easily replicate
Roll-up acquisition strategy — five gift basket companies acquired since 2014, with each tuck-in contributing something unique (design talent, outbound sales approach)
Operating leverage from large facilities that cover fixed costs early and generate near-gross-margin contribution on incremental revenue
50/50 B2B and D2C split developed through COVID, diversifying revenue streams
Husband (corporate lawyer) joining the business enabling low-cost M&A execution
B Corp certification aligning with long-term stakeholder value philosophy
Brand equity in Baskets With an I domain and brand identity built since founders acquired it in ~1995
Complexity of the gift basket supply chain (multi-recipient shipping, bill-of-materials per basket, ERP) acting as a competitive moat against smaller operators

What's hard

Business was operationally unsophisticated at acquisition — no shared file systems, no KPIs, no contact list; required a near-turnaround
Retaining minority partner (original co-founder) created friction; had to buy her out much earlier than planned, straining cash flow
Forced to move facilities within first year of ownership due to expiring lease and landlord refusing short-term renewal — high risk but ultimately positive
Severe seasonality (Q4 Christmas dominates) creates operational complexity and requires large year-round facilities that sit underutilized
Self-funded structure meant no capital buffer; had to perform every function personally for years, working 20-hour days
Rising cost of digital customer acquisition in e-commerce compressing margins
Physical inventory/manufacturing model requires repeated facility, team, and systems investments at each growth stage
Took four years to find and close on a business during search — longer than typical and emotionally difficult
Work-life balance goals have not fully been met; describes herself as a workaholic who missed time with children

Notable quotes

I would say it was a turnaround. There was just so much to do, and I think ultimately that was really hard for the owner that stayed, right? Because it's their baby.

I don't want to own, you know, a couple million dollar business for my whole life. I wanted to build, you know, a business with hundreds of millions of sales like my dad did.

For me, I think if you are all in all the time as an entrepreneur, you need to love it or otherwise you're going to hate it.

I always say we're an accidental e-commerce business. So, when we were mostly B2B, there was this huge shift... and we really shifted from B2B to D2C. And through COVID we accidentally grew this like big D2C business that we've been able to hold on to.