A fast-track to a lower valuation
A while back, I spoke with James McCarthy on the 2 Commas podcast. He’s a founder who successfully exited for eight figures, but not without a few battle scars.
In the early Spidertracks days, James and his team built everything. Billing systems, support tools, even their own infrastructure. Stripe didn’t exist. SaaS was new. So they did what most resourceful founders do: they built.
Fast forward to exit prep and that “build everything” mentality? It started to hurt.
Their custom billing engine, once a clever in-house solution, had turned into a liability. It was undocumented, founder-dependent, and downright messy. James called it a *self-built black box.* Buyers see this simply: risk.
This happens more than you think.
I’ve seen it in the trenches: founders stuck in DIY mode, spinning up bespoke systems for things that are easily solved with off-the-shelf tools.
They’re not building value, they’re building technical debt.
Bain & Company’s 2025 report on Maximising Exit Value flagged internal complexity as one of the top reasons deals fall short—or fall apart. When a business relies on founder-held knowledge and one-off systems, buyers back off or negotiate hard.
The mistake most founders make is thinking it's just the business being bought, try this lens on for size; they’re buying confidence in its future without you.
What can you do now?
Exit-ready Ops: Businesses that use off-the-shelf systems and have documented processes command up to 30% higher valuations.
Buy over build: Deloitte found companies that prioritise “buy over build” for non-core functions scale 2.4x faster
Tech debt kills deals: HBR calls technical debt “the silent killer of growth". This is hugely relevant to M&A
The real question isn’t whether you can build it.
It’s whether it helps your business become more valuable or just more complicated.
If you’re wondering where to draw the line; what to build, buy, automate or delegate….I’ve helped dozens of founders make this call (and exit well because of it).
Book a strategy call with me here.
We’ll identify your opportunities plus what buyers really care about.
Cheers,
Josh
P.S. If you're dealing with founder-held systems or custom logic that's starting to feel like a bottleneck, this 2 Commas episode with James McCarthy is worth a listen. Strategic simplicity > clever complexity. Always.
