On the exit that builds itself

The best way to build something sellable is to stop trying to sell it.

People obsess over the exit far too early. They structure the business around the eventual sale, optimise for the story a buyer might want to hear, contort the whole thing toward an outcome that may be years away and may never come. It's the tail wagging the dog.

Here's the quieter truth. A business that runs without you and pays you well is already sellable. You don't have to do anything special to make it attractive. The two things a buyer actually wants – it works without the founder, and it makes money – are the same two things you'd want for yourself anyway.

So build for absence and build for profit. Get those right and the exit assembles itself in the background, with no effort spent chasing it.

And notice the order. Sellable is a by-product. Profitable is the goal. A profitable business you never sell is a wonderful thing to own. A sellable business that doesn't make money is just a tidy way to lose slowly.

Build it to run and pay. The sale takes care of itself.