Nick Bradley

Most founders leave millions on the table when they exit. Not because they built bad businesses - because they optimized for revenue instead of enterprise value.

I bridge the gap between founder-led businesses and investor-grade companies. I work exclusively with founders targeting 8-9 figure exits, and with PE firms and Family Offices optimizing their portfolio - applying the same strategic and operational frameworks to both.

The difference comes down to infrastructure. Buyers pay premiums for businesses that run on systems, not heroics. Where leadership is developed, not dependent on the founder. Where growth is predictable and margins are protected.

This isn’t 6-month “exit prep.” It’s 12-36 month transformation work - installing the operational rigor, financial discipline, and strategic planning that institutional buyers demand and PE sponsors require from portfolio companies.

My Background:

I spent 10 years as a Private Equity CEO and Operating Partner across 27 transactions totaling $5B+ in exits. I’ve sat on both sides of the table - building businesses and evaluating them for acquisition. I’m also the author of “Exit for Millions”, the #1 bestseller on building businesses for premium exits.

How We Work:

FOUNDERS

Building enterprise value: 12-month group mentoring program for scale-stage founders focused on creating predictable revenue, leveraged operations, and consistent cash flow.

Preparing for exit: 30-day intensive showing what your business is worth today, what it could be worth, what’s limiting value, and the roadmap to close the gap.

INVESTORS 

Operating partner engagements for portfolio companies needing growth, scale, turnaround work, or exit optimization.

Our mission: To build and install the infrastructure and discipline that compounds enterprise value.

📧 nick@highvalueexit.com

CEO & Founder, Exit Specialist / Business Scale-Up Mentor

We Help Successful CEOs, Founders, & Entrepreneurs Build High Value, High-Impact, Exitable Businesses.

​Our passion is empowering growth-minded business owners to scale rapidly towards a high-value exit and ultimately, freedom.

That’s why we’ve developed exclusive masterminds, full-service partnerships, and dedicated support to accelerate your impact, and give you back the power and control you deserve.

Our Scale-to-Sale Methodology is the result of 60+ years of combined experience with private equity firms and business transactions, designed specifically for rapid scale toward financial independence.

In working with us, you will gain the focus, direction, and momentum to intentionally and consistently grow your company’s value…

Giving you the leverage and power you need to generate rapid, impressive growth, and with it, the freedom to live your life on your terms.

Three words PE firms repeat constantly:

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

If your business doesn’t tick all three boxes, they walk.

Here’s what each actually means:

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲:

Not “we had a great quarter.” But “we can forecast revenue 90 days ahead within 10% accuracy.”

Revenue isn’t random. It’s systematic. You know where it comes from and when.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲:

Not “our founder landed an incredible deal.” But “our process generates 40-60 qualified leads monthly regardless of who’s running it.”

Success isn’t heroic. It’s documented. Anyone following the system gets the same result.

𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲:

Not “we’re growing fast by burning cash.” But “we’re profitable at scale and our unit economics prove it.”

Growth doesn’t require founder sacrifice. The business funds its own expansion.

PE firms are militaristic about this.

Randomness is risk. Uncertainty is risk. Risk kills multiples.

I’ve watched them walk from $30M EBITDA businesses because revenue was unpredictable.

And I’ve watched them pay premium for $8M EBITDA businesses because everything was systematic.

𝗜𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? 𝗢𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲?

#PrivateEquity #BusinessSystems #PredictableRevenue #ScaleUp #InvestorGrade #SystematicGrowth #ExitStrategy

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Brendan McGurgan

▶︎ WHAT DO I DO?
I Inspire, Connect and Enable ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose.

▶︎ MY CLIENTS ISSUES
My clients have ambition to scale but are stuck, fallen out of love with their business, lack the belief in themselves and the know-how to scale.

▶︎ WHO ARE MY CLIENTS?
Founders, CEO’s & leaders of companies (£1m - £100m in revenue with teams of 10 – 500 people). I also coach & mentor CEO's of larger companies (max 4 per year). 

▶︎ HOW I BRING VALUE TO CLIENTS
I co-host a 12 month scaling programme (ScaleX Accelerator). Aligned to our proven 10 Principle ScaleX Framework, we deliver a transformational programme to support personal and business scaling. https://simplescaling.com/scalex-framework.

Co-author of the Amazon best seller, Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles To 10x Your Business, a step guide to scaling with purpose, regular keynote speaker and host of the acclaimed ScaleX Insider Podcast.

▶︎ WHAT OTHERS SAY
Gareth Morrison, CEO, Lava Group
It's life-changing. It's going to challenge you in every way and push you to really grow yourself and your team. I have no doubt that the ScaleX™ Accelerator Programme will help any business.

Patrick Woods, Managing Director, Linwoods Health Foods
I would definitely recommend this programme to 2nd generation leaders who are working alongside the founders, first generation or parents. It has been invaluable in helping me to navigate that. 

▶︎ MY BACKGROUND
For my entire career I have had lead roles within scaling businesses. Most recently, during 17 years with CDE Group, 12 as CEO, I helped the company achieve 25x revenue growth and become an industry leader. During my time as CEO the company delivered almost £500m ($750m) cum revenue and £50m ($75m) cum profit, scaled from 15 to almost 700 employees spanning 6 continents and exported to more than 100 countries.
 
In 2020 I co-founded Simple Scaling and co-authored the Amazon Best-Seller, Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles to 10x your business cited by Kirkus as comprehensive concrete counsel for business leaders. 

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Director. In 2016, I was awarded the Institute of Directors, UK Young Director and overall, UK Director of the Year. 

Outside of work I enjoy all sports. I hold a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and have previously competed in triathlon (completing Mallorca 70.3 IM in 2019). In 2021 I graduated as a Wim Hof Method Instructor a method I have come to love and practice daily.
  
▶︎ CONTACT: 
bmcgurgan@simplescaling.com.

Director and Founder

At Simple Scaling, it is our vision to build a thriving community of ambitious leaders of SMEs around the world, centred on our unified, globally recognised scaling framework, ScaleX™. 

The specific and different requirements of scaleups require their leaders to have a clear understanding of the mechanisms that drive sustainable scaling. It is this that drives us to inspire, connect and educate ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose.

We work ambitiously for our clients bringing innovative thinking, challenge, authenticity and spirit.
Our scaling blueprint has been built for ambitious leaders by ambitious leaders who have scaled businesses to £100m Revenue globally.

This morning, I was in the studio wrapping up Season 18 of ScaleX Insider with the wonderful Claire Colvin.
Another season finished.
Hours of scaling insights that reminded me why we started the podcast in the first place.
No noise.
No theory.
But real thinking, real experience, real lessons for leaders with ambition to scale. Over 200 hours of content I wish I had 20 years ago!

As prep begins for Season 19, I'd like to open this up.

Who would you love to see on the podcast next?

Think:
People who’ve actually built and scaled.
Voices that challenge conventional wisdom.
Thinkers, operators, investors who see around corners!

Drop a name (or two) below.
If they align, we’ll go after them.

Season 19 is about raising the bar. #simplescales

"I keep looking for the adult in the room."

I have a confession.

Sometimes, in high-stakes meetings, I still catch myself looking around for the "adult in the room." The person who knows all the answers. The person who has it all figured out.

And then the terrifying realisation hits me:

I am the adult in the room.

My business partner Claire Colvin shared this exact feeling on our latest episode of ScaleX Insider. She talked about the "Grey Suit Syndrome." That pressure to walk into a boardroom and strip away everything that makes you you, just to fit a mould of what a "professional" should look like.

We grow up thinking that "business" is this serious place where serious people do serious things. We think that as we get older, we’ll magically acquire this "wisdom" that eliminates doubt.

That is, frankly, bullshit.

The older I get, the more I realise that no one has it all figured out. We are all just figuring it out, day by day, problem by problem.

The leaders who actually scale successfully aren't the ones who pretend to be perfect. They are the ones who:

- Admit what they don't know.
- Surround themselves with people smarter than them.
- Refuse to wear the "armour" of professionalism at the expense of their authenticity.

Your team doesn't need a perfect leader in a grey suit. They need a human being who is brave enough to say, "I don't know the answer, but we’re going to figure it out together."

Stop waiting for the adult in the room to show up. It’s you.

#ImposterSyndrome #Authenticity #LeadershipDevelopment #SME #ScaleXInsider

The cycle of working late

You are working late because you are tired. You are tired because you are working late.

It is the "Founder's Paradox."

We stay up until midnight to "clear the decks." We think we are being productive. But Mollie Eastman, Sleep Is A Skill revealed an interesting metric on the podcast this week: Sleep Age.

You have a chronological age. You have a biological age. And you have a Sleep Age.

If you are 35 but sleeping like a 55-year-old (fragmented, low HRV, high heart rate), your cognitive performance drops to that level.

So that email you sent at midnight? It probably took you 3x longer than it should have. And the decision you made the next morning? It was likely reactive, not strategic.

Mollie's advice to leaders is simple but hard: Treat your sleep like a shareholder meeting.

You wouldn't skip a board meeting because you "didn't have time." Don't skip your recovery.

If you want to scale your business, you have to scale your capacity to recover.
Catch the full episode with Mollie Eastman to find out your Sleep Age.

#Leadership #Productivity #Sleep #Wellbeing

Most leaders stay in the safety of the "known." 

They manage what they can see. The P&L. The team. The daily fires. 

But Nancy Duarte (CEO of Duarte, Inc.) says that is not leadership. That is just operations. "As leaders, it is our requirement to be scouts. We must live between the known and the unknown." 

She told me on ScaleX Insider that this is a scary precipice. You are standing on the edge. 
• Looking for the smoke (danger). 
• Looking for the sunrise (opportunity). 

If you are only looking down at your feet, you will miss both. Nancy’s advice is to embrace the discomfort of the "unknown." To go out ahead of your team and bring back the map. "People can't anticipate the future," she says. 

"So you have to communicate it in a way that creates longing in them to help you get there." If you feel like you are just "managing" right now, ask yourself: When was the last time I climbed the tower and looked at the horizon? The team needs a manager. But the business needs a scout. 

Catch the full episode with Nancy Duarte for the full framework. 

#Leadership #Vision #Strategy #Future

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

How many times have you said that? Business leaders everywhere wear it like a badge of honour. "I'm a night owl." "I'm grinding."

But this is what I learned from Mollie Eastman, Sleep Is A Skill on ScaleX Insider: You aren't grinding. You are surviving.

Mollie calls it "Sleep Breakdown." It starts small. You work late. You check emails in bed. You wake up tired but power through with coffee.

Then the cracks appear. 
• Decision fatigue. 
• Short temper with the team. 
• The inability to hold a big vision because you are just trying to get through the day.

"When you are sleep deprived," Mollie says, "you lose the ability to be the driver of your own life. You become a passenger to your stress."

But fixing it isn't just about "going to bed early." In this clip, Mollie breaks down the exact tools she uses to engineer perfect sleep:

- The "Lux" Rule: Why your office lighting (300 lux) is destroying your sleep, and why you need 10,000 lux to produce melatonin.
- The "Anchor" Habit: Why a consistent wake-up time matters more than bedtime.
- The Tech Stack: The specific apps (Circadian Life, Dminder) she uses to track "light nutrition."

If you are a leader trying to scale a business, your #1 asset isn't your strategy. 

It's your brain. Watch the video to learn how to protect it.

#Leadership #Sleep #HighPerformance #Burnout

Most people reach the edge of their beliefs and back down.

We operate within the pathways we have built. We stay where it is safe. We stay where we know the answers.

But you cannot scale a business inside your comfort zone.

In our Season 18 wrap-up, my co-founder Claire Colvin shared an insight from Jim Murphy that captures the struggle of every ambitious leader.

He argues that "Inner Excellence" is not about perfecting what you already know. It is about expanding your view of life.

It is about exposing yourself to people who think differently than you do. It is about realising that high performance is not surrounding yourself with people who look and sound like you. It is about learning to work brilliantly with people who don't.

If you feel like you have hit a ceiling, it is likely because you have reached the edge of your current understanding.

You have two choices. Back down. Or build a new path.

In this clip, Claire breaks down her top three takeaways from the season. She covers this concept of inner excellence, the "3 Rs" of connection, and the one basic human need we often forget as leaders.

Take a listen. 

#ScaleUp #Leadership #GrowthMindset #SimpleScaling

Courage is scaling with wet pants.

Dan Sullivan summed it up perfectly:

Fear is wetting your pants. Courage is scaling with wet pants.

I was talking this through with my business partner, Claire Colvin, as we were recapping Season 18 of the ScaleX Podcast, and we had one of those moments that made us laugh… then nod… then go quiet.

Because it’s true. Courage isn’t confidence.

It’s moving forward while your nervous system is screaming at you to sit back down.

Every real step up in business comes with that feeling from hiring before you feel ready, letting go of control or putting your name to something bigger than you’ve done before.

If it doesn’t feel uncomfortable, it probably isn’t growth.

Another guest this season, Ranjay Gulati, echoed the same truth from a different angle. If you want to do something meaningful in the world, fear doesn’t disappear. You learn to carry it.

So if scaling feels a bit shaky at times, that’s not a warning sign.

That’s courage, doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

#ScaleXPodcast #Leadership #ScalingUp #FounderReality

Many SME leaders treat the future like a destination they have no hand in. 

"We'll get there when we get there."

Nancy Duarte (CEO of Duarte, Inc.) creates it….having scouted it out before hand.

"As leaders, it is our job to be scouts. We live between the known and the unknown."

On ScaleX Insider, she shared the exact ritual she uses to predict the future of her company.

Every November, she disappears. No team. No email. Just a notebook. She asks two questions (based on the Book of Nehemiah):

- The Trowel (Building): What are we constructing? What is the opportunity?
- The Sword (Defending): Who is coming for us? What needs to be fixed?

She calls it "offensive building and defensive protecting."

For years, she even invented a fake competitor, a "scrappy young MBA", just to keep her team from getting complacent when they were winning.

If you are just "operating" your business, you aren't leading it. You are the park ranger in the tower. You need to be looking for smoke (danger) and looking for the sunrise (opportunity).

The future doesn't just happen to your business. You don’t build it in black and white. You build it in full colour or you defend against it.

Watch the full clip to see how she does it. 

#Leadership #Vision #Strategy

Most vision statements are empty. "To be the leading provider of X."
Who cares? Your team certainly doesn't.

On this week's ScaleX Insider, Nancy Duarte shared a framework that completely reframed how I think about purpose and vision.

She maps business vision directly to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Every business, no matter what you sell, is solving a fundamental human need. 
• Are you providing Safety? (Cybersecurity, Insurance, construction) 
• Are you providing Belonging? (Community platforms, Hospitality) 
• Are you enabling Self-Actualisation? (Education, Coaching) 
• Are you helping with Transcendence? (Non-profits, Legacy planning)

Nancy asks: "Where on the hierarchy does your product live?"

As someone passionate about the numbers, I used to fall foul of thinking everyone else would share the same excitement about what the spreadsheet says but when you anchor your vision to human flourishing instead of just "market share," the energy in the room changes.

Your team isn't just hitting a KPI. They are fulfilling a human need. That is the difference between a "job" and a "calling."

If you are struggling to get your team excited about the future, stop talking about revenue. Start talking about impact and which part of the human experience you are elevating.

This episode is a masterclass in how to lead with purpose and vision.
Nancy Duarte (CEO of Duarte, Inc.) is live now.

#Leadership #Purpose #Maslow #Vision

Sleep isn't a trait. It's a skill.

I’ve found this personally. For years, when my sleep wasn't optimum, I felt vulnerable and fragile as we were scaling.

I lost the motivation to create a bold, ambitious vision for the future. The business felt heavy, not exciting.

Mollie Eastman, Sleep Is A Skill says this is common. When we are sleep deprived, we lose our agency. We become passengers to our stress.

But on this week's ScaleX Insider, she proves that sleep is trainable.

She shares the "Sleep Skill" framework:
- Circadian Alignment: It’s not just about bedtime. It’s about when you see light in the morning.
- The "Sleep Age" Audit: You might be 40, but sleeping like a 60-year-old.
- The Poker Player Protocol: How to sleep perfectly even in chaos.

If you feel like you're losing your edge, this episode is your manual.

Mollie Eastman is live now on ScaleX Insider.

Stop surviving your sleep. Start mastering it.

#ScaleUp #SleepScience #Health #Leadership

You are not "too busy." You are just distracted. We all tell ourselves the same lie.

"I worked hard. I was busy every day. I didn't stop."

But when you look at your actual progress toward your biggest goals, the math doesn't add up. You moved a thousand miles an hour, but you barely moved an inch in the right direction.

Tomorrow on the ScaleX Insider Podcast, I’m joined by world-renowned futurist and digital anthropologist, Brian Solis.

And he said something every leader needs to hear:
"I was in the way of the things I said yes to, versus the things I said no to."
Brian calls this the "Life Scale" problem. We think we are moving toward our vision, but our daily actions, the scroll, the "urgent" emails, the busywork are actually pulling us onto a completely different trajectory.

The algorithms are designed to break your focus. The headlines are designed to make you freak out.

If you don't have a system to filter the signal from the noise, you aren't leading your business. You are just reacting to the world.

Brian’s non-negotiable rule is simple but brutal: "I will not invest any time, emotion, or brainpower into anything that isn't moving in the right direction."

If you feel like you’re working harder than ever but not scaling the way you should, this episode is your wake-up call.

We dig into his "Mind Shift" framework, a 6-stage cycle to reclaim your focus, your creativity, and your future.

Stop letting the world dictate your calendar.

Drop a 'MINDSET' in the comments and I'll send you a link to the workbook for the episode.

#ScaleUp #Leadership #Focus #DigitalDistraction #FutureOfWork #ScaleXInsider

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