Sold For $80 Million - Then Hit Rock Bottom

Moneywise

Hampton

Business, Entrepreneurship, Investing

4.8 • 674 Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What happens when the big exit doesn’t fill the void? Josh Payne thought selling his company for $80 million would be the defining moment of his life. Instead, it sent him into one of the darkest periods he’d ever experienced. Josh’s story is a testament to the complexity of success. As the founder of StackCommerce, Josh grew his company from $0 to $32 million in annual revenue, eventually selling it for a life-changing sum. But with his emotional wellbeing tied so closely to his business success, he found himself struggling to find purpose once his goal was achieved. In this episode, you’ll learn how Josh’s early years in the Midwest shaped his drive for entrepreneurship, what it felt like to grow a company from nothing to millions—and why he struggled when growth slowed, the challenges and emotions of selling his business and suddenly becoming a multi-millionaire, as well as how he found his way out of post-sale depression through therapy, family, and physical challenges like completing an Ironman and why Josh is now building a new company—but this time, with a focus on joy, service, and sustainability. This is Moneywise, a podcast where hosts Sam Parr and Harry Morton are joined by high-net-worth guests to explore exclusive insights into personal finance and lifestyle tailored for other high-net-worth people, or those on their way. They'll get radically transparent about the numbers, revealing things like their burn rates, portfolios, and spending habits. Who is Sam Parr? Sam is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of The Hustle, which he sold to HubSpot in 2021. He's also the co-host of one of the world's top podcasts for entrepreneurs, My First Million. Known for his insightful business acumen and candid communication style, Sam Parr continues to be a prominent figure in the world of media and entrepreneurship. Sam's newest and biggest venture yet is Hampton, which he co-founded in 2022. Check out Sam’s Companies: Hampton Sam’s List Who is Harry Morton? Harry Morton is the CEO of Lower Street, a company specializing in premium podcast production that he founded to transform brand narratives through audio storytelling. His expertise has made Lower Street a leader in the podcast industry, working with diverse clients from startups to Fortune 500 companies to enhance their market presence and audience engagement. This episode also features an interview conducted by Andrew Namanny. Check out his podcast Permission to Shine. This podcast was made for the Hampton community, a private, highly-vetted, peer membership community for founders and CEOs of fast-growing, tech-enabled startups. Chapters: Josh's Finances and Origin Story (02:37) Early Career and Entrepreneurial Drive (06:37) Founding Stack Commerce (08:44) Revenue Growth and Financial Success (08:58) Emotional Struggles and Existential Threats (10:18) The Exit Process (14:04) Post-Exit Realizations (16:14) The Illusion of Financial Fulfillment (18:02) Reassessing Values and Spending (24:36) New Business Ventures and Goals (30:35) Reflections on Success and Fulfillment (34:38) This podcast was produced in partnership with Lower Street and distributed by Morning Brew.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I had pinned my entire existence, my entire life on this one moment.
0:07.6	The exit.
0:08.5	The exit.
0:09.3	It was supposed to fill that hole.
0:12.3	And it just, it didn't.
0:13.6	I couldn't believe it.
0:15.4	Success in life is often subjective, but there's something about business or monetary success
0:20.3	that most people tend to agree on, which is the bigger about business or monetary success that most people
0:21.6	tend to agree on, which is the bigger the business, the more money equals the more success you
0:26.4	have in life. And while that can contribute to your overall life success, it won't make you
0:31.7	exactly feel whole. Although today's guest, Josh Payne, he thought that it could, which meant
0:36.6	that when he finally got his
0:37.8	big exit and sold his company for a ton of money, instead of the euphoric and fulfilling life
0:42.6	event that he was looking for, he got the opposite. I think I slipped into a really dark
0:48.0	period in my life for probably, you know, another year to year and a half, I would say. In today's episode, we're going to talk to Josh.
0:56.7	So Josh sold his company and he made something like $60 million after taxes at a very young age.
1:03.2	And Josh is going to open up, just like we do on every Money Wise episode. He's going to open up on
1:06.9	his finances, his monthly spend, his portfolio and things like that. But we're also going
1:11.6	to talk about that period after he sold. And Josh's story, it's more than just the exit. It's
1:17.7	its entire journey. His emotional well-being, it was tied directly to his business success.
1:23.4	And in this episode, we're going to hear about when it all came to a head and how he got himself
1:27.6	out of it and why this time his new business, he's running it so much differently.
	...

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