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The Exit - Presented By Flippa

From Startups to the Stock Exchange: How Callum Laing Took 100 Companies Public and Redefined the Exit Gam

The Exit - Presented By Flippa

The Exit - Presented By Flippa

Technology

5.0420 Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth? With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business. You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit -- In this episode of The Exit, host Steve sits down with Callum Laing, partner at Unity Group, author, and serial entrepreneur who has helped take more than 100 companies public. With decades of experience across Asia, Europe, and beyond, Callum shares his contrarian approach to growth, exits, and how founders can use the capital markets as a scaling tool, not just a finish line. From his first recruitment business during the dot-com boom to running a global group that helps small businesses access public market advantages. Callum has seen it all, from booms, busts to breakthroughs. He explains why most entrepreneurs under-optimize for profit when gearing up to sell, how boards can fast-track business maturity, and why timing the market is less about prediction and more about preparation. Callum’s insights extend beyond valuation multiples. He talks candidly about common M&A mistakes, the power of strategic positioning, and why founders should sell “as soon as they can” to regain their most valuable resources: time and capital. This episode is a masterclass in scaling smart, negotiating with leverage, and learning faster through failure. -- Callum Laing is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and M&A specialist with over two decades of experience building and scaling companies across multiple industries. As a Partner at Unity Group and Founder of the Global Investment Leaders Directive (GILD) and the Veblen Director Programme, he helps business owners unlock liquidity, accelerate growth, and gain access to global capital markets. A passionate advocate for ethical capitalism and entrepreneur-led innovation, Callum has worked extensively with private equity firms, family offices, and public markets to bridge the gap between fast-growing private enterprises and institutional investors. LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/callumlaing/ Website - https://callumlaing.com/ -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Before we get into the exit today, I want to talk about the certified M&A advisors that are on Flippa.

0:06.1

If you are an operator right now running a business and you're thinking about exiting,

0:10.8

you are going to want to get a free online business valuation on the exit landing page.

0:16.7

Without a doubt, it is the smartest thing you can do to start a process and get yourself organized.

0:23.0

So you're going to go to the URL, flippa.com, slash exit, to check out more, and let's jump into

0:28.1

the interview.

0:29.3

Below and welcome to the exit presented by Flipup, the number one platform to buy and sell online

0:34.2

businesses.

0:35.2

Flipa manages over a billion in deal value annually and combines

0:39.4

expert buy and sell side advisory with its market leading valuation tool, deal room,

0:43.9

off market offering, market insights, an AI-based deal-by-deal matching engine. Now for the exit.

0:50.9

The exit is a 30-minute podcast featuring awesome entrepreneurs who have been there and they

0:54.8

have done it. The exit talks to operators who have bought and sold businesses of all different sizes.

1:00.3

You learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits. It's a world

1:05.1

occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. On this episode of the exit, I sit down with

1:10.4

Callum Lang, and this is a fantastic,

1:12.8

wide-ranging conversation about not only taking over 100 companies public, but really about

1:19.0

a lot of mistakes that not only has Callum made, but I've made, and many people have made while

1:25.1

in the trenches of entrepreneurship. So one of my favorite parts of this conversation is really talking about how to maximize

1:31.9

value.

1:32.6

And there's so much knowledge that Callum shares around maximizing the value of your business

1:39.4

and a really good piece to share was around how if your company is going to exit for multiple

...

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