HybridHero founder Chris Burke joins Nick Olsen on M&A Mastermind, presented by Cornerstone International Alliance, to talk about what actually breaks a growing business. After 25 years building companies in London, from co-founding the consultancy Brickendon to building HybridHero and now running Aduvo, Chris has watched the same pattern repeat. It is rarely a bad idea or a bad market. It is systems, structure, and people failing to keep pace with growth.
Chris and Nick dig into the stall zone, the rough patch between 10 and 30 million where the founder who got the business this far becomes the reason it cannot go further. They cover owner dependency, why founders confuse control with structure, and why the tech founder who loves the code is often the hardest to move off the keyboard. The line Chris keeps coming back to is simple. Revenue is vanity, structure is value.
The conversation closes on the deal itself. When acquisition beats organic growth, the two filters Chris used to decide what to buy, and a hard warning for any founder selling. The cash you get on day one is the only cash you can count on. Structure of the deal matters as much as structure of the business.
Who is Chris Burke?
Chris Burke has spent 25 years building businesses in London. He co-founded the consultancy Brickendon, which worked with clients like JP Morgan and Citi, built the workplace platform HybridHero, and now runs Aduvo, helping founder-led businesses between 5 and 50 million break through their growth ceiling.
What is the stall zone Chris talks about?
It is the stretch of roughly 10 to 30 million where growth stops. Below 5 million a founder can still run the show alone. At 10 they must clear the decks, outsource functions, and build real infrastructure. Around 30 they can replace themselves day to day and bring in a CEO.
What does owner dependency look like?
The sign is that everything runs through the founder. The fix is to let go of the ego of being the central person. Sometimes a founder steps away for a few weeks and the business flies, because the right people finally get room to step up.
Why does Chris say revenue is vanity and structure is value?
If the business is just you generating revenue off your own time, there is nothing to sell, because there is no business when you step away. Put structure and procedures in place, train people into roles, and let them create the revenue. Then the business has value.
What is the biggest warning for a founder selling their business?
The cash you get on day one is the only cash you can count on. Chris knows two founders who did well on paper but never saw the second payout. In one case a 200 million earn-out vanished because the contract required the founder to stay employed and let the buyer fire him first. Structure of the deal matters as much as structure of the business.