From Disaster to Triumph
Some of the biggest returns can come from turnarounds at the time of management change.
In the 1660’s, London was the third-largest city in the Western world, behind only Paris and Constantinople. God was angry at London, so he sent plague and fire to destroy the city.
First, the Great Plague of London hit in 1665. It killed 100,000 people over 18 months, one quarter of London’s population. The very next year, in 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed 80% of the city, leaving 100,000 residents homeless.
The fire began in the early hours of September 2nd in a bakery on Pudding Lane. It quickly spread due to the dry summer conditions. Fanned by strong easterly winds, the fire raged uncontrollably for four days. In the end it destroyed more than 13,000 homes, 87 churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, and numerous civic buildings. Remarkably, the death toll was minimal, but the devastation left 1/3 of the population homeless and the city in ruins.
In the aftermath, London faced the daunting challenge of reconstruction. Two men at the forefront of the city's rebirth were Christopher Wren, an architect, and Robert Hooke, a scientist and engineer. Their collaboration and vision helped lay the foundation for the modern city we see today.
Wren, already an esteemed academic and professor of astronomy, had developed a passion for architecture. He saw the fire as an opportunity to redesign London into a grand, modern metropolis with wide boulevards, public squares, and monumental buildings inspired by the Renaissance cities of Europe.
He quickly submitted plans for a rebuilt London, emphasizing a grid layout to replace the medieval street pattern. However, due to the complexity of land ownership and the urgency to rebuild, Wren's ambitious plan never happened. Instead, the city was reconstructed largely along its existing street lines.
Despite these setbacks, Wren left a profound architectural legacy. Most notably, he undertook the redesign of St. Paul's Cathedral, which had been destroyed in the fire. The new cathedral, completed in 1711 (45 years later), became a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture and remains one of London's most iconic landmarks. Wren was also responsible for designing or rebuilding 51 parish churches, each reflecting his skill in blending classical and innovative designs.
Meanwhile, Robert Hooke, a polymath and Wren's contemporary, played an equally crucial role in the rebuilding effort. As the City of London's Surveyor, Hooke was responsible for laying out the new streets and ensuring the safe reconstruction of buildings. He devised practical solutions for the rebuilding process, including setting standardized building regulations to reduce the risk of future fires. Hooke's work extended beyond logistics; he also collaborated with Wren on several architectural projects, blending his engineering expertise with Wren's artistic vision.
The two complemented each other: Wren with his visionary designs and Hooke with his scientific precision and practical problem-solving skills. They both had high standards which reshaped London from disaster to triumph.
The destruction and rebuilding of London is like a new management team stepping into a mismanaged business and turning it around. A turnaround management team must cut expenses, sell off unprofitable, vanity, and non-core assets until its left with a foundation in which it can grow from.
Some of the biggest returns can come from turnarounds at the time of management change. These times are normally at peak disappointment and despair. If the new management team is successful, and that's a big IF, an investor can fully benefit from multiple expansion as a distressed deep value stock transitions to value, then to GARP, then potentially to Growth multiples.
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Here are a few examples of companies profiled on MicroCapClub that were profiled in the early innings of a turnaround:
D-BOX Technologies Inc. (DBO.TO) - Profiled by member Iqbal_WHYUNO on May 6, 2025, at $0.15 per share, now $0.84 per share. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
The initial catalyst for the turnaround occurred in June of 2023, when Daniel Marks of Stonehouse Capital pressured management to reshuffle the board. They conceded and Daniel Marks and Naveen Prasad were added to the board.
Then in June 2025, D-BOX underwent a significant leadership shakeup. Naveen Prasad, a seasoned media and restructuring executive (formerly of VICE Media Canada and Elevation Pictures), was appointed interim CEO. Prasad replaced long-time CEO Sébastien Mailhot with a mandate for "disciplined execution."
Since taking over, Prasad has overhauled the executive suite, appointing a new CFO (David Reid) and a new Chief Commercial Officer (Scott Sherr) to focus on aggressive market expansion rather than just managing existing accounts. The transformation is already visible in the numbers. In the most recent quarter, revenues soared 33% and profits almost doubled year over year. While the stock was a "penny stock" for years, it has seen a dramatic re-rating in 2025 and early 2026.
Aluula Composites (AUUA.V) - Profiled by member lockstockbarrel on August 6th, 2025, at $1.11, now $3.60 per share. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
The turnaround was sparked by the appointment of Sage Berryman as CEO in February 2024. Berryman, a specialist in corporate transitions, recognized that the company's real value wasn't in making end-products, but in its patented, glue-free composite material.
Berryman executed a "burn the boats" strategy. She divested the company’s retail brand, Ocean Rodeo, to eliminate a conflict of interest with other gear manufacturers. This allowed Aluula to position itself as a neutral ingredient brand becoming the "Intel Inside" or "Gore-Tex" of high-performance composites. The market's re-rating of Aluula has been aggressive over the last year as they moved from "research project" to "commercial scale."
SANUWAVE Health (SNWV) – Profiled by Ian Cassel on October 23, 2024, at $14.25 per share, now $25. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
Sanuwave acquired UltraMIST in 2020 and since then it’s quickly become 95% of the company’s revenue and profit. Ultramist uses ultrasound waves to treat wounds making the process pain free since it makes no physical contact with the wound. But by 2023 Sanuwave $30 million EV dumpster fire of a share structure. 1 billion shares outstanding, another 2 billion worth of dilution from convertibles/warrants, and a pile of debt in forbearance.
The catalyst was when Morgan Frank stepped in as CEO in May of 2023 to protect his investment when the company was on the verge bankruptcy. He negotiated extensions on the debt and replaced much of the workforce, all of the C-Suite, and almost all of the sales force. In late 2024, he recapitalized the company converting warrants and convertible notes into common stock, executed a 1-375 reverse split, while also raising $10 million in new capital while backstopping it with his own money.
The stock has tripled since the recapitalization, and with past skeletons now buried, Morgan and the board are focused on profitable growth.
TSS Inc, (TSSI) - Profiled member Maj on August 20th, 2018, at $0.60, now $9 per share. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
The turnaround was ignited by Darryll Dewan, who took over as CEO in November 2022. A former executive at Dell and IBM, Dewan brought "big tech" operational discipline to a company that had previously been a sleepy, low-margin reseller.
TSSI was historically a low-margin hardware reseller with stagnant growth and a tiny balance sheet that couldn't handle large contracts. Dewan pivoted the company away from simple hardware resale toward Systems Integration (AI Rack Integration). He bet the company's future on a new, massive 213,000-square-foot facility in Georgetown, Texas, specifically designed to build and test the complex, liquid-cooled server racks required for AI.
Zedcor (ZDC.V) - Profiled by member Philippsgui on December 10th, 2023, at $0.65, now $6 per share. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
The transformation was architected by Todd Ziniuk (CEO), who took the helm in 2018. He recognized that renting "mats and pipes" to oil rigs was a race to the bottom. The company was entirely dependent on the volatile oil and gas cycle. When oil prices dropped, Zedcor’s equipment sat idle, and its debt became unsustainable.
Ziniuk pivoted the company toward Mobile Security. He took their existing light towers, stripped them down, and retrofitted them with high-definition cameras, AI-at-the-edge sensors, and 24/7 live monitoring capabilities (branded as MobileyeZ™).
Since 2022, Zedcor (ZDC.V) has transitioned from a Canadian-centric firm to a North American leader in AI-driven security. Revenue exploded from $22.1 million in 2022 to an estimated $51 million+ in 2025 while Adjusted EBITDA nearly doubled, growing from $7.6 million to over $14.8 million (9-month 2025).
Ascent Industries (ACNT) - Profiled by member ODC on March 6th, 2023, at $9.80 per share, now $17 per share. View original profile and ongoing discussion here.
Ascent Industries is a classic "sum-of-the-parts" turnaround that has recently completed its most critical stage: shedding underperforming businesses to focus on a high-margin winner.
The turnaround began in earnest when Bryan Kitchen was appointed CEO February 2024, after becoming President of the chemicals division in September of 2023. Kitchen is a veteran of the specialty chemicals industry, and his strategy was radical: stop trying to fix the broken parts and sell them instead. For years, Ascent was a "di-worsified" mess. It had a volatile, capital-intensive steel pipe (tubular) business that dragged down a much better specialty chemicals business.
In 2025, Kitchen successfully divested all tubular assets, including the sale of Bristol Metals. This turned Ascent into a "pure-play" specialty chemicals company. The company is moving away from low-margin commodities to a "CaaS" model. In December 2025, they secured a new $10M+ contract that alone represents 15% growth over their trailing revenue, with margins higher than the company average.
After the 2025 divestitures, Ascent eliminated its debt. As of late 2025, they held roughly $58 million in cash, a massive war chest for a company with a $160M market cap.
BluMetric (BLM.V) - Profiled by member Tom Fedichin on July 21, 2024, at $0.47, now $1.30 per share. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
BluMetric Environmental is a "transformation-in-progress" story. Historically known as a steady but slow-moving environmental consultancy, the company has recently pivoted into a high-growth WaterTech provider while becoming a vertically integrated water solutions company.
The turnaround has been led by CEO Scott MacFabe. He first shut down unprofitable divisions, then rebuilt the company balance sheet, and now is expanding the business. In 2024 and 2025, MacFabe executed a "growth-by-acquisition" strategy to help diversify away from lumpy Canadian government contracts.
A key catalyst was the 2024 acquisition of Gemini Water (U.S.-based) for 4x EV/EBITDA, which gave BluMetric a manufacturing foothold in the United States and the Caribbean. In December 2025, BluMetric closed a massive acquisition of DS Consultants at 5x EV/EBITDA, a leading Ontario-based engineering firm. This move is designed to double their "Professional Services" footprint while providing a cross-selling platform for their water technologies.
The market began to re-rate BluMetric as its revenue profile shifted from Canadian focused "linear consulting" to a vertically integrated water solutions and technology company providing consulting, engineering, infrastructure, water technology, as well as operation and maintenance anywhere in North America.
Koil Energy (KLNG) - Profiled by member otcdig on November 8th, 2024, at $1.39, now at $2.25 per share. View the original profile and ongoing discussion here.
Koil Energy an "under-the-radar" subsea services company that has undergone a complete identity shift over the last three years. Formerly known as Deep Down, Inc., the company rebranded to Koil Energy in 2022 to signal its transition from a traditional oil and gas hardware supplier to a broader subsea technology and renewable energy partner. The turnaround occurred when Erik Wiik was appointed as President and CEO in early 2024. Wiik, a subsea industry veteran, previously served as Regional President for North America at Aker Solutions.
The company was historically seen as a niche fabrication shop with inconsistent revenue and a heavy reliance on a few major Gulf of America oil projects. Wiik shifted Koil from a simple equipment maker to a strategic services partner. He set out on a 3-year strategic plan to increase sales within its current set of customers while also expanding their products and services into new basins. KLNG is growing its business while the rest of the industry is contracting which proves they are taking market share.
The story of London’s 17th-century devastation and subsequent rebirth serves as a powerful reminder that the greatest opportunities are often forged in the wake of total disaster. These dark moments provide the opportunity for great leadership and visionaries like Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke to step into the abyss and help shape a better future.
In the same way, the most compelling investment opportunities frequently emerge when the sky is darkest (or in flames). When a business has been mismanaged and valuation hits rock bottom it is sometimes a catalyst for new leadership to emerge. At MicroCapClub, our members do a phenomenal job of "turning over rocks" to uncover these transformational moments. The ultimate trigger for value creation is often the arrival of new management or an activist investor stepping into a disaster to engineer a triumph.
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