Podcast: Moneywise (LS 54 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)
Episode: I Built a $9M Company And Got Nothing
Pub date: 2025-11-18

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Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com

Kevin Bartchlett built a $9M compost toilet company from the ground up – and walked away with nothing. No contract, no payout, just a handshake. That blind faith turned into a hard lesson in trust that cost him everything – and now, the reason he’s rebuilding on his own terms.

Here’s what we talk about:

• Building a $9M business from scratch – with zero equity in writing
• The moment he realized his million-dollar payday was gone
• How a $9M sale turned into $0 overnight
• What “sweat equity” really means when it’s only a handshake
• How trusting the wrong partner cost him ownership and peace of mind
• Why he still refuses to be angry about it
• What he’s building next (yep, it involves flying cars)
• The lesson behind it all: if you’re going to bet on yourself, go all in

Cool Links:

• Hampton https://www.joinhampton.com/
• Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/
• Kevin Bartchlett https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-a-bartchlett-262233ba/ 

Sponsors:

• Get a team of AI agents that run compliance for you at delve.co/moneywise
• Achieve your dream body with dailybodycoach.com/moneywise
• Join 700+ founders hiring A-players in Latin America at hirewithnear.com/moneywise

Chapters:

• (1:58) Building a Compostable Toilet Empire – The Dream of a Big Exit
• (3:22) When Expectations & Reality Collide
• (4:24) Picking Up the Pieces: What Happens After the Deal
• (6:01) The True Cost of Not Getting It in Writing
• (9:41) Why Compostable Toilets?
• (11:21) Meeting His Future Partner & Early Roles
• (14:56) Overinvested, Under-Rewarded: The Ownership Dilemma
• (20:28) Chasing Success, Counting the Cost
• (22:28) The Road to Resignation
• (24:49) Finding Empathy for His Partner
• (27:02) New Ventures: Flying Cars
• (29:12) Reflections – Betting on Yourself

This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.

Your Host: Harry Morton

• Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
• Co-parents a cow named Eliza.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Hampton, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.