What does it really take to scale a company to a 9-figure exit? For many founders, building a successful business is only half the journey. The real challenge is creating a company that can grow beyond the founder, attract the right capital partners, and command maximum value when it is time to exit.
In this episode of the Capital Gains Tax Solutions Podcast, Brett Swarts sits down with Alexis Sikorsky, entrepreneur, advisor, and author of Cashing Out, to explore the mindset, systems, and strategies behind scaling and exiting like an elite founder. Alexis shares lessons from building and selling his own company, helping business owners reduce founder dependency, prepare for private equity, and think strategically about life after a major liquidity event. For entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners planning their next chapter, this conversation offers a powerful look at how to build value, protect freedom, and exit with purpose.
Episode Highlights Here:
Brett
Before we jump into this episode, I would invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward, scale to billions, and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want you to do is to click the subscribe button right now. I love your support, it’s incredible to see your comments, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me. Welcome to the Build It to Billions podcast, where we guide successful entrepreneurs and investors on their journey from millions to billions. We believe that the key to scaling and compounding your wealth and life starts every single day with a mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. Our ultimate goals have to be scale and compound your wealth and life, so you give more all the way to help MVPs. My name is Brett Swarts. Each and every episode, we’re joined by some of the world’s top entrepreneurs, millionaires or billionaires, and they share their secrets, insights, and wisdom with us, so we can all level up and make a bigger impact. I’m excited about our next guest. He’s out of the area of London, and he is a special advisor. He brings two decades of hands-on experience launching, scaling, advising, and successfully exiting businesses. His own entrepreneur journey includes building a company over 20 years, culminating in a nine-figure private equity exit. And having experienced the highs and lows of business firsthand, he understands the isolation, pressure, and complexity founders face when navigating critical decisions. Today, he helps founders and leadership teams develop credible growth strategies, expand into new markets, and build future-proof organizations, and so much more. Please welcome to the show with me, Alexis Sikorsky. Alexis, how are we doing?
Alexis
I’m good, thanks for having me, Brett.
Brett
Excellent. If our listeners get to know for the first time, would you give us just a little bit more about your story, and your current focus
Alexis
started a company in Geneva in 2000 Software company started it as a bespoke software company. Then, in 2003 made an M&A move, bought a company that was going bankrupt, so a distress acquisition of banking software company 2003 to 2006 just grew this company, start new product, new business for my private banking clients, then get to 2007 10, 12 million revenues, super profitable. I’m the king of the world. I’m really, really smart, and nothing wrong can happen, right? Especially when you have a banking software company at the end of 2007right? And what wrong can happen then? 2008 the global financial crisis. I lost 75% of my revenue in one day, 2008 to 2013 14. It’s what I called the grind, so that was not fun, like having to fire people and having to mortgage my house every month, asking myself, like, am I just doing good money chasing bad money? Should we shut it down anyway? Long story short,2014 I’m in the situation where let’s say with some three Creative accounting, we could say the company was back to break even, back to like eight nine 10 million revenues, break even. I’m exhausted. I make the same mistake most founders do after a long time, which is confusing what’s urgent, which was important. I’ve spent way too much time in the company and not enough time on the company. I don’t have the right system in place, I don’t have the right people in place, but I’m like getting there, like surviving, and that’s when I get a call from a private equity, so all your listener entrepreneurs will know that when you have a company, you get calls from private equity every week or twice a week, and they usually, we love you, we want to buy your company, give them some inside info, and bye, but for some reason Iactually picked up this call, well, not for random reasons, the guys were French, so they had a cultural understanding. They were, they build their private equity by selling their software company, so they had a bit of, like, they have an idea of who were, what we’re doing. So, they came and visit me from Paris to Geneva, and I’ve been super honest with them, which was like, I got very lucky at that time. Well, I got very lucky. It would be probably what I will write on my tombstone, and I said, ‘Listen, guys, I’m exhausted, I’m super ready to sell, but not right now, because at that point my company is worth zero, because I’m just breaking. After three years or four years of losses, I said come back to two years. In two years, if you come back in two years, I’m not going to go a whole process. You make me a half decent offer, and I’ll buy from you in two years. And they say, no, we’re not going to do that. We’re going to do something a little bit different. They say that you’re going to go home.
Brett
So, if you like this little, short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview, and please don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much, everybody.
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About Alexis Sikorsky
Alexis Sikorsky is an entrepreneur, business advisor, and author of Cashing Out: The Business Owner’s Guide to Selling to Private Equity. He is the former founder and CEO of New Access SA, a Geneva-based banking software company that he scaled and later exited in a nine-figure private equity deal. With decades of experience building, leading, and selling a company, Alexis now helps founders and CEOs prepare their businesses for sustainable growth, private equity financing, and successful exits.
Through his advisory work, Alexis focuses on helping business owners reduce founder dependency, strengthen leadership, improve business strategy, and create companies that are built to grow beyond the founder. His work is especially valuable for entrepreneurs who want to scale with intention, increase enterprise value, and prepare for a life-changing liquidity event while protecting their freedom, legacy, and next chapter.
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