He Sold for $200M – Then Watched the Business Implode

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Oct 14, 2025

Kory Mitchell, a blue-collar entrepreneur who scaled an asbestos abatement business to a $200M sale, shares his rollercoaster journey in business. He discusses the pitfalls of hiring a CEO who mismatched projects with company strengths, leading to steep losses. Kory also reflects on the true cost of company culture and communication during rapid growth. After burnout post-exit, he emphasizes the importance of mentorship and finding off-market deals, alongside valuable lessons on trust and the human element in M&A.

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00:00 / 00:00

Founders Can Destroy What You Buy

Kory describes deals that went sideways where founders fought and sabotaged the business after a sale.
He recounts an acquired owner secretly funding a competitor and destroying the acquired business's revenue.

00:00 / 00:00

Debt Enables Rapid Arbitrage Growth

Taking on debt unlocked rapid geographic growth by enabling acquisitions and service expansion.
Kory learned small regional buys scaled to much larger valuations when aggregated into a national platform.

00:00 / 00:00

Use Rollover Equity And Earn-Outs

Do structure deals with rollover equity and earn-outs to keep founders incentivized after sale.
Use combined ownership and performance payouts to align founders with future growth.

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Stop making million dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com

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.