Returning to work: Oxford EMBA and advising founders

My guest today is Alexis Sikorsky. An entrepreneur who bootstrapped, scaled, and ultimately sold a company in a 9-figure exit.

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We cover:
00:00 Sponsor: CapitalPad
01:36 Who is Alexis Sikorsky
02:03 Early entrepreneurship
03:59 First ISP & internet café in West Africa
05:12 Conflict with government & partner’s death
07:05 Buys training company
07:43 1999–2000: founding the software dev firm
09:20 Buying assets of Logical Access
09:37 On failures & lessons (politics, client concentration)
12:35 “I can’t be employed” mindset / drive to continue
13:06 2008 peak: €11–12M revenue, €3M profit
14:31 “The grind” years: cuts, mortgages, survival
15:17 Private equity calls
16:35 The very optimistic 2-year plan
17:22 The deal: ~11x EBITDA, 85% cash now / 15% later
18:59 Final personal exit; later strategic sale (undisclosed 9 figures)
19:30 Sponsor: ETA Europe newsletter
20:41 “If I had 2023 wisdom in 2003…”
21:22 How much runway to hold; agility for black swans
22:23 Fear, resilience, and hiring “good people” too late
24:59 Personality under stress; heart attack joke
28:07 Why post-PE period was the best
28:13 “Did you sell to the right people?”
28:29 Strengths & weaknesses
30:00 Life after exit
34:31 What retirement actually felt like
35:01 Happiness, safety, safari/diving; minimal “stuff”
39:52 Founders often don’t know their own company
40:52 Know your numbers monthly
43:28 “Fire yourself” from most tasks as CEO
44:51 “What’s your number?” conversation
45:37 Grow to sell vs. morphing into a bank
47:50 Growth vs. lifestyle businesses
50:16 Execute phase cadence
51:08 Best growth levers (context-dependent)
52:03 M&A focus for this audience
52:17 Why M&A is the fast/cheap shortcut
54:01 Leverage math in euros (LBO example)
56:08 PE myths
1:01:05 Negotiate your own contract & non-compete
1:01:23 Managing time during diligence
1:02:21 Readiness test: 1-week no-phone vacation
1:02:37 How to diligence PE (ask for 5, call the others)
1:06:59 What buyers saw that he didn’t
1:10:41 Why founders often under-sell
1:10:55 Nominal EBITDA explained
1:12:13 Over-management at €100M valuations
1:12:35 Where clients fail in execution
1:14:21 Black swans & an online pivot to €100M
1:16:28 Quickfire wrap
1:17:33 Best investing advice (fundamentals over price)

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This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.