VCS 015 — A New Challenge, Not Replication

Alex had built and successfully sold a highly regarded advertising agency in his early sixties.

Retirement initially sounded attractive. He was a keen golfer and looked forward to having considerably more time on the course. But it wasn't long before he realised that golf had been great when it was a hobby; when it became one of the main purposes of the week, it began to feel almost like a chore.

Several members of his former team encouraged him to start another agency, and some previous clients made it clear that they would happily work with him again.

Alex was tempted. He knew that he still had the ability, contacts and experience to build another successful business. But after considerable thought, he asked himself a different question:

Did he really want to do it all again?

Financially, he had no need to. What he missed wasn't another career or the responsibility of building an agency from scratch. He missed the challenge of creating something, working with talented people and putting decades of experience to good use.

Then a former business colleague mentioned ExEx. He had been approached about becoming one of its Founder Members and was considering investing in the business and taking the role of CFO.

Alex was intrigued and began looking more closely at the ExEx concept.

He quickly recognised that this was precisely the sort of challenge he had been looking for. ExEx needed someone who understood how to build a brand, attract a national audience, develop a commercial proposition and turn an ambitious idea into a recognised business.

Rather than recreating his past, Alex could use everything he had learned to help create something entirely new.

He became a Founder Member, invested in ExEx and joined his former colleague on the main board — as CEO.

Alex hadn't returned to work because he needed another job.

He had found a new reason to use his expertise again.