Exiteers Stephen Critchlow: How Selling My Business Made Me Feel Lost – Until I Found My Real Purpose
Stephen Critchlow built and sold not just one, but two companies. One to a major healthcare software firm, and another that developed wind farms. Both were highly profitable exits. But what happened after the sale?
In this powerful and honest conversation, Rachel and Stephen explore the real story behind the headlines: what it feels like to walk away from a company you've poured decades of your life into, the identity crisis that can follow, and why the biggest exit of your life might leave you feeling completely empty.
Together, they dive into:
- What Stephen calls the Bermuda Triangle of Business Growth and why most companies never make it through
- How to know if you are the right person to scale your business past 20–40 people
- The crushing emotional aftermath of selling a company and losing your purpose
- Why Stephen regrets the timing of his exit from Ascribe and how losing board control changed everything
- What founders must consider before they sell (hint: it’s not the number)
- Why his second exit - a wind farm company - was faster and more lucrative than his first
- How Evergreen Life is using AI, DNA and GP-linked data to add years to people's healthy life expectancy
- And why Stephen believes this UK tech company can rival the likes of Amazon and Google
This isn’t a story about success. It’s a story about intention. About building something that matters, walking away too soon, and then finding the clarity to start again, with purpose at the centre.
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Got a story to tell about your exit?Email us at exiteerspodcast@gmail.com
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