How Andrew Hulbert Avoided the Post-Exit Crash
What happens after the wire hits your account?
In this episode of Your NEXT, Jerome Myers sits down with Andrew Hulbert, founder of Pareto, who grew a real estate services business from scratch to roughly £50M in revenue and exited for around $100M, retiring at 37. Instead of spiraling into the post-exit slump many founders fear, Andrew built a personal exit plan that protected what most people forget: identity, relationships, health, and meaning.
You will hear what Andrew did before the exit to prepare mentally, how he decompressed immediately after, and why the “bright yellow McLaren moment” taught him something founders rarely admit out loud: the most fulfilling “next” is often simpler, quieter, and more human.
In this conversation, we cover:
1. Why many founders struggle after selling and why Andrew did not
2. Preparing for exit personally, not just financially
3. Working with a business psychologist and the “Exit Island” concept
4. The real collateral damage of exits: stress, relationships, and identity
5. Weight loss, health checks, and staying sharp during the sale process
6. The post-exit trap of status spending and what replaced it
7. Reconnecting with spouse, kids, and neglected friendships
8. Clean exits vs earn-outs and why “clean” can still be emotionally abrupt
9. Investing after exit, and why Andrew bets on entrepreneurs more than ideas
10. The biggest hindsight lesson: invest in the leadership team earlier
Key takeaway:
Prepare your business for the exit, and prepare yourself for the life that comes after it.
Guest: Andrew Hulbert (Pareto)
Connect with Andrew:
LinkedIn: Andrew Hulbert
Instagram: _AndrewHulbert
Host: Jerome Myers
Subscribe for episodes on business exits, post-exit identity, and building a purpose-driven next chapter.
Chapters (YouTube timestamps):
00:00 Intro and Andrew’s exit story
02:35 Retiring at 37 and redefining “success”
05:26 No post-exit dip and “nothing left to prove”
08:19 Preparing mentally: business psychology and Exit Island
13:01 The moment the deal closed and the decompression train
16:08 Gratitude ritual and letting go of the business
18:22 Rebuilding relationships after a decade of 100-hour weeks
22:11 The joy of being present as a full-time dad
24:08 The bright yellow McLaren lesson
26:25 Growing up working class and the chip on the shoulder
28:27 Why anonymity matters after success
30:14 Getting yourself ready for exit, not just the business
33:06 Collateral damage during the sale process
38:02 Significance after exit and choosing the “dad first” season
42:04 Parenting without the nanny model and building a nature legacy
45:40 Separating identity from the business
47:46 Clean exit, and how calls and emails fade
50:29 Post-exit investing approach and backing “raw” founders
56:44 One thing he would do differently: leadership team earlier
1:01:22 No mentor, but elite hiring and the Saturday phone test
1:04:50 Final takeaway for founders preparing to exit
1:06:02 Where to connect with Andrew
1:07:57 Guest recommendations and wrap
Search keywords to help discoverability:
business exit, life after selling a business, post-exit depression, founder identity crisis, exit planning, exit readiness, newly exited operator, entrepreneur mental health, selling a company, clean exit, earn-out, wealth and meaning, purpose after exit, founder’s exit paradox, your next podcast
#BusinessExit #ExitPlanning #Entrepreneurship #FounderJourney #LifeAfterExit #WealthAndMeaning #YourNext #JeromeMyers