He Sold for $200M – Then Watched the Business Implode
Moneywise
Why They Chose Debt to Scale
Kory explains the decision to use leverage, the arbitrage of multiples, and the strategy of buying small firms to add service lines.
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Kory Mitchell built a blue collar asbestos business and sold it for $200M. When he stepped back, everything started to fall apart. A new CEO lost millions. The culture cracked. Kory came back to fix it, then walked away on his own terms. This is what happens when scaling works…until it doesn’t.
Here’s what we talk about:
- Buying blue collar businesses: the unsexy but ultra-profitable path to serious scale
- Why adding debt transformed their trajectory – and nearly broke the company
- What not to do after an exit: the new CEO that lost $12M in 6 projects
- The hidden tax of scale: how managing founders who’ve “already made their money” can kill your business
- How to build trust during M&A, and the warning signs that should make you walk
- Lessons in culture, integration, and the real cost of bad communication
- The burnout that followed a $200M exit, and why Kory walked away
- Sabbaticals, Porsches, and starting over: what post-exit life really looks like
- The secret to finding off-market deals, and why PE firms keep asking Kory for help
- Who shouldn’t do M&A (and why doing it while your house is on fire is a terrible idea)
Cool Links:
- Hampton https://www.joinhampton.com/
- Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/
- Kory Mitchell https://www.linkedin.com/in/korylmitchell
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Chapters:
- (01:54) Growing Up Blue Collar & Family Business Roots
- (03:09) Taking the Leap: Debt and Aggressive Growth
- (05:53) Merging, Scaling, and Learning from Private Equity
- (08:19) Managing People: The Human Side of M&A
- (13:18) Integration and Building Company Culture
- (19:25) The $200M Exit and Stepping Away
- (21:48) Crisis: Post-Sale Struggles and Turnaround
- (25:22) Burnout, Sabbatical, and Starting Over
- (27:47) Lessons Learned: Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Do M&A
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.
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