In this episode, we sit down with Gavin Bell to unpack how he went from solo social media freelancer to building Yatter a paid ads agency he deliberately designed to sell and successfully exiting in just a few years. Gavin breaks down the difference between a lifestyle business and a sellable business, and why most founders say they want an exit but structure their company so nobody would actually buy it.

We get into how he used systems, recurring revenue and team structure to make the agency an asset that could run without him, what really happens during an earn-out, and the uncomfortable emotions that come with selling the “thing” you’ve built your identity around. Gavin also talks about the mental side of entrepreneurship the swings between highs and lows and why the real skill is learning to operate from the middle.

If you’re building an agency or service business and you think you might want to sell one day, this conversation will force you to question whether you’re building something you can ever truly step away from.