How to Acquire and Exit a Digital Brand Without Ever Running It

St. Petersburg, FL – September 14, 2025 – There may be no greater misnomer than calling digital brand acquisition “passive investing.” 

After all, according to Harvard Business Review, the 70-90% of acquisitions that fail represent billions in lost capital, 

Destroyed businesses, and shattered investor confidence.

But these investors are facing challenges on par with their outsized ambitions: rapid market changes, complex operational requirements, 

And the stark reality that buying a business and running one require completely different skill sets.

Fortunately, there’s a clear roadmap for meeting those challenges, according to the founder of Trend Hijacking (Dolapo Adedayo), speaking about their recent $32.5M in documented acquisition success.

“Investors are navigating a landscape where success isn’t just about finding good deals,” said the founder. 

“It’s about having the operational expertise to actually scale what you buy.”

Why digital brand acquisitions matter, —and why most fail

In the e-commerce space alone, over $400 billion worth of businesses change hands annually. 

Trend Hijacking has spent years listening to, learning from, and collaborating with both investors and business owners because they recognize how critical a proper acquisition strategy is to long-term wealth building.

Guided by the conviction that you can do well by doing good deals, Trend Hijacking sees the unique potential that every undervalued digital brand brings to the market, 

And is focused on proven systems and operational expertise to unlock that potential.

“When investors win on acquisitions,” said the founder. “Everyone wins.”

The company’s ongoing research and relationships with players across the ecosystem has consistently revealed that there are three critical areas where investors need support to succeed with digital brand acquisitions.

The three pillars of acquisition success

1. Access to below-market deals

The biggest barrier to profitable acquisitions is finding businesses priced correctly for their actual potential. 

The traditional deal flow that most investors rely on is more geared toward either huge private equity transactions or overpriced marketplace listings. 

Since many investors do not naturally have access to motivated sellers, there is an even greater emphasis across the industry to develop private deal networks that are more accessible, efficient and better priced.

“Really successful acquisitions start with finding sellers who are burned out and ready to exit below market value,” said the founder.

As part of their support for investors who want to acquire digital brands, 

Trend Hijacking is working with its private network to power new opportunities that expand access to quality deals through exclusive relationships. 

By facilitating direct connections between motivated sellers and qualified buyers, this approach creates new avenues for acquiring e-commerce businesses at the discounts required to generate meaningful returns. 

These private deal networks can also help investors establish track records in order to access even better opportunities, 

Which is particularly useful for those newer investors with limited acquisition experience.

2. Smoothing out the operational complexity

While the digitalization of business and commerce continues to grow and become more complex, 

The good news for investors is that operational systems that previously were only available to large corporations are now widely accessible through specialized partnerships.

“90% of successful digital brand scaling comes down to proven advertising systems,” said the founder, citing internal case study data, 

And these systems are often tailored to the business’s specific vertical, whether that be fashion, home goods, or consumer electronics.

The source of growth is also increasingly systematic. 

Recent data shows that by 2024, over 80% of their successful acquisitions relied primarily on automated advertising systems rather than manual campaign management. 

Simply put: “Every acquisition is now a systems business,” said the founder.

All of which makes it imperative that investors have access to proven operational frameworks. 

Today’s influx of advertising platforms and optimization requirements can be overwhelming – so much so that according to industry research, 75% of failed acquisitions cite “operational complexity” as a primary factor.

For busy investors where time is precious, a streamlined partnership experience is critical to manage their growing portfolios. 

Programs like their Acquisition Partnership are emerging to meet this need – providing comprehensive operational management that brings essential scaling tools together under one roof. 

The partnership delivers an all-in-one solution of proven systems and dedicated expertise to help investors acquire, 

Enhance and profitably exit their digital brand investments.

3. Strategic exit planning

Of course, the acquisition acceleration has meant greater focus on exit strategies and maximum returns. 

Consider this compelling statistic: nearly 90% of successful digital brand acquisitions in their portfolio achieved 3-5x EBITDA exit multiples within 24 months—and of those, the average return exceeded 400%.

While market conditions were not always the only factor in those successes, it nonetheless underscores that strategic exit planning from day one is critical.

For just that reason, Trend Hijacking builds every acquisition around eventual exit optimization, 

Enabling partners to position, prioritize and execute profitable exits for their digital brand portfolio. 

They also provide ongoing market analysis, buyer network access and transaction services to help maximize exit valuations. 

Through their proven framework developed across hundreds of successful exits, investors can access systematic approaches to exit timing and buyer identification that create premium valuation outcomes.

As the digital acquisition landscape evolves at a rapid pace, positioning investments with ongoing optimization, 

Strategic enhancement and systematic exit preparation are essential to achieving maximum returns and building long-term wealth.

The road ahead: What the market wants

Arguably, the biggest part of building acquisition success is understanding shifts in market dynamics. 

And buyers are becoming more reliant on—and expectant of—proven operational track records and systematic approaches to growth.

Research shows that sophisticated acquirers, particularly, expect the businesses they purchase to demonstrate scalable systems, predictable growth patterns, and defensible competitive advantages. 

They’re 2.5 times more likely than individual buyers to pay premium multiples for businesses with documented operational excellence. 

And nearly half of them say they prefer working with sellers who have clear succession and transition plans.

“You need completely systematic and proven operational frameworks,” said the founder. “Sophisticated buyers won’t pay premium multiples for businesses that depend entirely on founder involvement.”

Investors are also increasingly looking for partnerships as much as pure returns. 

The market for collaborative acquisition approaches is growing, and there’s an opportunity for investors to tap into proven expertise rather than trying to learn everything themselves, said the founder. 

By embracing partnership models, operational support, and systematic approaches, they can increase success rates and capture maximum value from their investment capital.

“Investors are navigating a landscape where success isn’t just about finding good deals, it’s about having the operational expertise to actually scale what you buy.”

—Founder, Trend Hijacking

There is also a myriad of other fast-moving market dynamics that investors need to think about…

Automated advertising systems, for example, promise to transform how businesses scale, optimize, and compete. 

By bringing proven automation into their acquisitions, investors can unlock greater efficiencies, make more intelligent scaling decisions in real time, optimize their returns—all while reducing operational complexity in the process.

Many investors today operate without the systems, expertise, and support needed to manage acquisition complexity and scale with confidence. 

This is why it’s so important they not only are strategic in selecting opportunities, but also work with proven partners in navigating operational requirements. 

To do so, investors can turn to programs like Trend Hijacking’s Acquisition Partnership, which provides systematic deal sourcing, operational expertise and strategic exit planning to help them invest smarter, scale faster and exit stronger with confidence in today’s market.

“Digital brand acquisitions may be diverse in size and sector, but investor goals are universal,” the founder said. 

“Our approach is building systematic solutions that are proven, scalable and designed to meet investors where they are.”

Real results from real partnerships

Take the recent case of a UK e-commerce brand that a partner acquired through the program. 

The numbers at acquisition were challenging: $300K monthly revenue, 1.6x advertising returns, and fragmented marketing across multiple ineffective campaigns.

But something remarkable happened after applying their systematic approach.

Within the first month, they had restructured the entire advertising strategy using proven frameworks. “We weren’t reinventing anything,” explains their operations director. 

“We applied the same battle-tested systems that have worked across our 300+ successful acquisitions.”

The transformation was dramatic:

• Month 1: Returns improved to 1.8-1.9x (immediately profitable)
• Month 4: Returns jumped to over 3.0x
• Month 8: Monthly revenue reached $2M with 20% profit margins
• Total profit generated: Over $700K

The investors never managed daily operations. 

They simply provided capital and followed the proven partnership framework.

“What convinced us to move forward was their end-to-end approach,” says one partner investor. “From deal sourcing to exit optimization, they provided systems we couldn’t replicate ourselves.”

Another partnership success emerged from the fashion vertical, where seasonal complexity typically intimidates investors. 

Through their systematic Google Shopping approach, the results exceeded all expectations:

• Total investment: $80,000 in advertising
• Revenue generated: $400,000
• Overall returns: 5.0x (67% above the 3.0x target)
• Recent performance: $4,800 generating $24,000 monthly

“Fashion e-commerce was completely outside our expertise,” admits the partner investor. 

“But that’s exactly why this partnership model works, —you don’t need expertise in every vertical when working with proven systems.”

Limited partnership opportunities available

Due to the intensive, systematic nature of their partnership approach, Trend Hijacking only works with a select number of qualified investors each quarter…

This is a deliberate choice that maintains quality and ensures proper support for each partnership.

For investors ready to access proven acquisition systems without operational complexity, partnership applications are being evaluated through their qualification process at trendhijacking.com.

About Trend Hijacking

Founded to address the systematic challenges in digital brand acquisitions, Trend Hijacking has developed proven partnership programs for investors seeking systematic exposure to e-commerce growth opportunities. With $32.5M in documented success and systematic approaches refined across hundreds of transactions, they specialize in systematic deal sourcing, operational scaling, and strategic exit optimization.

Media Contact: Trend Hijacking
[email protected]
+1 213 632 3209 (US)
+44 20 3287 7320 (UK)