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Episode Summary
The business is doing great. Revenue is up, margins are healthy, you just landed a big client, and the last thing on your mind is selling. That’s exactly when most owners get it wrong. Sabina Teshler built SET Creative from a single Nike account in Portland into a global agency with offices in New York, LA, and London, then sold to WPP at the top of her market. We got into why being on top is the leverage position, not the moment to coast. Why a strategic partner valued where her business could go in three to five years, while an equity firm only valued the spreadsheet. How she and her husband Kurt structured the executive seats, with Alistair as the groomed CEO, so all three could be sold as part of the package. The earnout math. The cultural protections written into the contract. The bidding war that let her walk away from anything that didn’t fit. And the honest part nobody warns you about: how distracting the deal process is, how many key employees leave anyway, and what she’d have done differently if she could rewind.
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## Top 10 Takeaways- Selling when you’re winning is the leverage position. Selling when you’re tired is the discount position.
- A strategic partner values where the business goes in three to five years. An equity firm values the spreadsheet.
- Your ability to walk away is the only real negotiating power you have at the table.
- Build the executive seats before the sale. Buyers acquire the team, not just the company.
- Cultural protections belong in the contract. If it isn’t written, the new owner isn’t bound to it.
- The deal process will pull you out of the business. Plan for it before momentum runs the operation.
- Some of your best employees will leave after the announcement. Expect the turnover and rebuild around it.
- Service-business sales come with earnouts. The cash up front is only half of what’s on the table.
- Know what you want from the deal before you start. The contract gets crafted around your intent.
- The right advisors pay for themselves in the negotiation, not in the prep work.
Sound Bites
“When people say, ‘hey, I don’t want to sell my business, it’s doing really well,’ that’s actually when you should. Because trends happen in the market.” (@00:31:48) — Sabina Teshler
“We went with a strategic partner because they understand what relationships mean, what clients mean, and the potential of growth you can have with your company. Versus an equity firm that is just looking at numbers.” (@00:33:33) — Sabina Teshler
“I didn’t realize how much of a distraction it was. So I would say in hindsight, if I had somebody tell me how much it was, I would have probably approached it a little bit different.” (@00:45:35) — Sabina Teshler
“Anticipate that you will have turnover, that you will go through this, and you’re going to probably have to rebuild part of your team.” (@00:41:43) — Sabina Teshler
About This Episode
Sabina Teshler is the founder and current chairperson of SET Creative, a global brand experience agency she launched in Portland in 2009 and built into offices across New York, Los Angeles, and London. A member of the Women’s Presidents Organization and named Enterprising Woman of the Year by Enterprising Women Magazine in 2014, Sabina started her career as a retail consultant before founding SET to fill a market need for tailored brand experience work. She sold the business to WPP, the world’s largest marketing holding company, and stayed on as CEO for two and a half years before transitioning into a chairperson role. This conversation sits in the early arc of the podcast, where Ryan was interviewing operators who had actually completed exits and could narrate what the deal mechanics felt like in practice.
Resources Mentioned
- SET Creative — Sabina’s brand experience agency, now part of WPP. — setcreative.com
- WPP — Global marketing holding company that acquired SET Creative.
- Finish Big by Bo Burlingham — Referenced by Ryan at the close for its core thesis: the owners who exit happy are the ones who knew what they wanted and why.
- Traction by Gino Wickman — Referenced by Ryan for the Visionary-Integrator concept that underpinned Sabina’s executive structure.
- Sabina Teshler — steshler@setcreative.com
Connections
Phase + Module:
- Module 1 — Ownership Goals — Knowing what you want from the deal before the deal starts
- Module 7 — Leadership Team — Building the executive seats before the sale so the team is part of the package
- Module 9 — Operator Transition — Grooming a successor CEO into the seat ahead of the transaction
Milestones:
- Milestone 6 — Transaction Value — Cash up front plus earnout as the standard service-business deal structure
- Milestone 26 — Recruit Successor — Alistair as the groomed CEO before the WPP sale
Concepts referenced:
- Visionary-Integrator Framework — Ryan brings up Traction directly during the conversation about Sabina and Kurt’s roles
- The Owner-Operator Trap™ — Sabina’s shift from working in the business to working on the business
- The Multiple & WACC — Strategic vs. equity buyer valuation logic and what each kind of acquirer is willing to pay for