Why 17.5% of Owners Are Burnt Out and Want to Sell | Built to Sell Radio

More owners than ever say they are simply tired. A look at 10,255 PREScore™ assessments over six years found that 17.5% pointed to burnout, not retirement, as the number one reason they want out.

So the question went to two people who spend their days on the buy side, valuing companies and deciding what to pay. Lee McCabe is a private equity veteran who advises PE firms on the businesses they acquire. Jason Swenk built marketing agencies and spent time acquiring them. In this episode, you discover how to tell whether burnout is a signal to sell or a problem worth fixing first, and how a buyer prices the difference either way.

You’ll learn:

– Why a private equity advisor tells portfolio companies to do nothing about AI until one thing is in place

– The industries where AI quietly raises a company’s value instead of erasing it

– The reframe that turns a roofing owner into a lead generation business worth more to a buyer

– Why a 22-year-old armed with AI still can’t replicate 30 years of brand equity overnight

– A 30-minute exercise on a single sheet of paper that tells you whether burnout means sell or fix

– How staying on after the sale, when you are already checked out, can quietly cost you your earn-out

– What founder dependence signals to a buyer, and exactly what it takes off your price

Show Note & Links

Lee’s first episode
Jason’s first episode
Claymore Partners

Connect with Lee on LinkedIn
Jason’s Website

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn

Definitions

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Jason Swenk & Lee McCabe

Jason Swenk is a prominent digital marketing agency coach and founder of Agency Mastery 360. He built and sold a multi-million dollar agency, and now helps other agency owners scale their businesses. Swenk is known for his 8-system framework for agency growth and hosts the Smart Agency Master Class Podcast.

Lee McCabe is a seasoned digital executive with global experience driving growth, innovation, and transformation across leading technology and commerce companies. Currently an Operating Partner at AEA Investors, he has held senior leadership roles at Alibaba Group, Meta (Facebook), and Expedia, where he specialized in scaling businesses, forging strategic partnerships, and building high-performing teams. With an MBA from Warwick Business School and a strong background in media and marketing, Lee brings a unique blend of strategic vision and hands-on expertise to help companies thrive in rapidly evolving markets.