Recent data shows 90% of founders sell within 7 years—but what if you could break that cycle? In this episode, I interview John, who founded a full-service Amazon growth agency at just 23, sold it for 8 figures in 2020 (to S4 Capital → Media Monks → Monks), and retired by age 40. Now, he’s running VantaFive, a unique venture studio designed to build the next wave of Amazon-like agency businesses.✅ What You'll Learn- Agency scaling secrets: How John built a 100-person team and 8-figure business from scratch- Acquisition & earn-out insights: Why consolidation in 2020 was the right move- Founder psychology: Balancing obsession, burnout, and building meaning- Post-exit life: What real retirement feels like—and why it wasn’t enough- What's next: Launching Vantafi to spot the next big opportunity in emerging marketing domains- Hiring right: Traits needed in a CEO/founder—grit, humility, sales chops, and more- Service expansion: How to add new offerings thoughtfully and profitably- Marketing blueprint: Choosing alpha channels and focusing for 7- and 8-figure growthCHAPTERS⏱️ 00:00 – Intro: Building a $100M Agency⏱️ 00:44 – Getting into agency life⏱️ 03:00 – Why I started VantaFive⏱️ 07:24 – First hires & early team⏱️ 10:48 – Scaling content teams⏱️ 15:02 – Our delivery tech stack⏱️ 17:35 – Getting first 10 clients⏱️ 22:27 – How we price services⏱️ 25:45 – VantaFive financial model⏱️ 28:39 – Launching new agencies⏱️ 33:43 – Build vs. buy strategy⏱️ 38:00 – What would make me sell⏱️ 41:25 – Equity splits explained⏱️ 45:29 – Hardest part of the journey⏱️ 48:59 – Our 12-month game plan⏱️ 51:46 – Final advice for founders⏱️ 55:04 – How I hire top operators⏱️ 59:17 – Systems vs. hustle⏱️ 1:04:38 – Testing new services⏱️ 1:09:01 – Picking agency markets⏱️ 1:14:22 – Growth mistakes to avoid⏱️ 1:18:00 – VantaFive’s future vision🔑 Keywords & TopicsAmazon agency, agency exit strategy, founder retirement, scaling service business, venture studio, hiring founders, marketing strategy, product-market fit, remote leadership, direct-mail, subscription business, TikTok Shop agency, B2B growth, performance-based retainers