Chris Burke joins Heather Parsons on C-Suite Secrets, a show about what actually moves the needle for founders and operators. Chris has spent 25 years in London building businesses with his own money rather than advising from the sidelines. He founded Brickendon, a global consultancy that ran the kind of bank programs that cannot fail for clients like JP Morgan and Citi, and grew it to roughly a quarter of a billion in sales with no funding. In 2018 he launched HybridHero, now live in 40 countries.
The line that gives the episode its title is blunt, and Chris heard it about his own company early on. If a buyer looks at your business and the business is you, then it has no value. What you have is a glorified job. That single piece of feedback changed how he built everything after it.
He and Heather get into the practical side. Why structure and systems matter more than chasing sales, how to spot the moment you became the bottleneck, why culture decides which deals are worth doing, how to hire people who are better than you, and how early you need to start planning an exit. He also shares the one secret he wishes someone had told him before he started.
Why does an owner-dependent business have no value?
Because a buyer is not purchasing a company, they are purchasing a job. Chris was told exactly this about his own consultancy early on: it has no value if you are not in it. The fix is to build the structure, people and processes so the business keeps running when you step out.
How early should a founder start planning an exit?
Roughly three years before you want to leave. You need that time to remove yourself from the day to day so the business can stand on its own. The exit itself can then take anywhere from six months to four or five years, depending on the business and the terms you agree.
What is a simple test for whether you own a business or a job?
Can you take a three week holiday without it falling apart? Chris and Heather both use that as the litmus test. As Chris puts it, if you are the escalation path that is fine, but if you are the decision path, it is not.
What matters more when scaling, sales or structure?
Chris argues structure, which he admits is a slightly controversial view. Systems, processes and the right people are what let a business grow beyond its founder. Without them you hit a bottleneck, and more often than not the bottleneck is the founder.
Why do acquisitions fall apart?
Culture, more than the numbers. Chris walked away from a deal that fit perfectly on market, geography and client base because the target ran a command and control culture with no empowerment. He judged culture the hardest thing of all to change, so the deal was not worth doing.