Kyle Poll: The Family Entertainment Pass Operator

Kyle Poll seemed to have the perfect corporate career. After earning an MBA from BYU, he worked at American Express in New York. Then he spent nine years at LinkedIn, eventually leading the North American sales team for LinkedIn Learning. He then moved to Gympass (now Wellhub), helping grow its US revenue from $10 million to $100 million in 3 years.

Despite enjoying a high income, Poll felt something was missing. He wanted control of his destiny and more time with his five children. Inspired by the book Buy Then Build and podcasts like Acquiring Minds, he decided to leave his W2 career and buy a business.

Poll initially tried searching part-time while working his demanding job. He found a promising construction equipment rental business but realized he couldn't conduct proper due diligence while employed. Faced with a choice, he quit his job to search full-time, giving himself a one-year runway.

His search strategy evolved from looking at random businesses to focusing on Utah-based opportunities. He networked aggressively with 70 local brokers, treating them as his "most important clients," he revealed in one appearance on the Acquiring Minds podcast.

After losing a deal for an online education business by just $50,000, Poll attended an ETA conference at BYU. There, a chance encounter at a Utah Jazz game changed everything. He met TC Krueger, one of the founders of GetOut Pass, a local family entertainment pass business. Krueger mentioned they might be looking for a buyer.

The acquisition of GetOut Pass was anything but smooth. It died multiple times.

The First Death: Poll lined up investors and negotiated an LOI. On the day of signing, one of the three partners got cold feet and decided he wanted to buy the business himself instead. Poll was devastated, having to tell his kids the deal was off.

The Resurrection: A month later, the partner changed his mind again, realizing he wanted to exit. The deal was back on.

The Valuation Crash: During financial due diligence, the Quality of Earnings (QofE) report revealed a major issue: The business ran on cash-basis accounting, recognizing revenue immediately when a pass was sold (often during Q4 holiday sales). However, the expenses (paying venues) occurred over the following 12 months.

Poll refused to give up. He met with the three owners and proposed a new solution. He knew that Greybull Stewardship, a private equity firm that owned Pogo Pass, GetOut Pass's main rival, had been interested in acquiring it.

Poll arranged a lunch with the CEO of Greybull and a GetOutPass founder, and they walked away with a handshake deal on a three-way merger:

The result was a complex transaction where Poll acquired GetOut Pass and merged it with Pogo Pass, becoming the CEO and a minority owner of the combined entity.

The combined business, now rebranded as GetOut, is a subscription pass for family entertainment.

Product: Customers buy an annual pass that grants them free admission to venues like amusement parks, zoos, and bowling alleys.

Venues: Venues partner with GetOut to acquire new customers. Most venues do not charge GetOut for admission, viewing the pass holders as marketing leads who will spend money on food, upgrades, and return visits. Only marquee venues (like major theme parks) are paid a fee.

Scale: The combined entity operates in 32 markets across the US with over 300,000 members and 2,300 venue partners.

Revenue: GetOut Pass alone was generating ~$15 million in revenue at the time of the merger.

Poll is now eight months into the integration. His primary focus has been on merging two cultures that previously viewed each other as enemies. He held an offsite with leaders from both companies to align on a new mission: "To unite families by creating forever memories."

Strategically, Poll is leveraging the best of both companies: Pogo Pass has a "mom army" of affiliate marketers selling passes via social media. GetOut Pass has developed sophisticated digital marketing (Meta/Google ads)

By combining these go-to-market strategies and moving to a unified tech platform, Poll aims to deepen penetration in existing markets rather than expanding to new ones. His moat is substantial: a competitor would have to sign up 2,000+ venues to compete, a massive cold-start problem that GetOut has already solved.