Connor Tomkies: Aftermath of an Exit: Healing, Reflecting, and Progressing Forward

Apr 4, 2024

Connor Tomkies, founder of SupportNinja, shares his exit journey and preference for buying businesses. Topics include selling a company, lessons learned, Operator Equity, EOS system, managing creative impulse, dealing with sudden wealth, and reflections on ego and success.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Reflections on Past Business Ventures and Current Entrepreneurial Endeavors

02:26 • 19min

Navigating Identity and Wealth Post-Exit

21:10 • 12min

Navigating the Shift in Success Perception

33:23 • 2min

Reflecting on Long-Term Transition and Growth Post-Exit

35:34 • 2min

Exploring Evolution of Career Choices and Business Ventures towards Community Building

37:47 • 2min

Navigating Guilt, Imposter Syndrome, and Personal Growth

39:49 • 6min

Exploring Investment Strategy, Work-Life Balance, and Legacy

45:36 • 5min

Connor Tomkies. He spent 8 years growing and selling SupportNinja, his global talent acquisition firm. Now he focuses on buying great businesses to scale them for exit. This episode delves into Connor’s exit experience, why he prefers to buy a significant portion of a business over angel investing, and how helping out his extended family members turned out to be the most rewarding use of his exit wealth.

_____________________________________________________

Timestamps: 00:00:00: Intro 00:01:16: Welcome 00:01:26: The sale of Support Ninja 00:02:42: The experience of selling a company 00:03:08: Lessons learned from selling the company 00:09:48: The start of Operator Equity 00:10:10: How Operator Equity works 00:12:01: Explanation of EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System) 00:14:22: Experiences with EOS and why it was chosen 00:17:01: Ambitions for Operator Equity 00:17:15: Why Operator Equity was started 00:18:11: Personal love for inception and growth of a company 00:19:27: Investment in mature companies 00:20:33: Managing the creative impulse with mature companies 00:21:11: Beginning of Operator Equity journey 00:21:26: Looking ahead: The future of Operator Equity 00:22:15: Reflections on the impact of ego in business 00:23:04: The notion of fleeting success and the value of the journey 00:23:43: The struggle of self-identity post exit 00:26:13: The evolution of thoughts about money and wealth 00:28:24: The challenges and fears related to sudden wealth 00:31:06: Caution around extending financial security to others 00:31:45: Uncertainty in defining personal success after exit 00:33:22: The impact of financial success on personal relationship 00:35:45: Thoughts on sense of purpose post business exit 00:37:55: Avoiding guilt through conscious actions in business 00:39:56: Managing imposter syndrome and motivation 00:43:02: Expectations and understanding of success from parents' perspective 00:43:55: Discussion about stepping down and operator equity 00:44:23: Thoughts on raising future children and entrepreneurship 00:45:35: Talks on operator equity and investments 00:47:24: Inquiry over work-life balance 00:48:42: Question on personal legacy 00:49:50: Conclusion and best wishes for future projects