The Founder Who Fired Himself

The Andy Seth Show

Every entrepreneur dreams of building a company that makes a difference in the world and he or she is able to grow for years to come. George Morris (@gmorris) felt the same way but felt a tension in his own soul as he did. The things the company needed from him were not resonating with who he was – both in terms of his skill level and his own personal growth needs. It was from that place that he made the decision to extricate himself from the company that he founded and let it move forward without him. You can hear George’s story and the path it has taken him down on this episode of The Andy Seth show.

The decision to trim the payroll of himself

George Morris started his company with the help of his co-founders and oversaw the growth of it for a number of years. He was in charge of sales and worked as the President as the company became more and more successful. But as time went on he found himself less personally invested in the company. He delegated some of his responsibilities as the chief salesperson and watched as the company lost its momentum over time. When the day came that he and his partners had to make some decisions to let some of the team go, George woke with a realization: Nobody deserved to lose their job except him. It was the day he discovered a new path for himself and set the company free to reach new heights. You can hear George’s story on this episode of The Andy Seth show

A real entrepreneur builds his own character as well as a company

In the process of stepping out of the company he co-founded, George Morris was also navigating a divorce – something he vowed he would never allow to happen in his life. It was the “perfect storm” that enabled him to see things in his own character and life that others had told him needed to change for some time. His ability to finally see those things pushed him to rethink his entrepreneurial ambitions along the lines of what he could do to impact the world to a greater degree and enable his own children to step over boundaries in ways he’d not imagined before. George’s story is an encouraging one you’ll gain a lot from, so be sure to set aside the time to hear it on this episode.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

• GMorris.com – George’s website
• Axial (formerly Imulus)
• Helix Technologies
• Eden Hydroponics
• TechStars

Show Notes

• [0:31] The genesis of the company George created.
• [1:45] How George got the business going: smiling and dialing via cold calls.
• [2:50] The roles George filled in the company at first.
• [3:58] The growth of the company to 24 people.
• [5:15] What made the 8 to 10 people size the “best” in George’s mind and how he began seeing the need to grow beyond that.
• [8:02] Going after bigger clients and growing the team: Implications and impacts.
• [11:09] The allure of dreams in the digital space.
• [16:30] Losing heart for the company, an honest confession.
• [17:37] Path’s George and his team considered as things began faltering.
• [19:50] The path to deciding that he wanted his partner to buy him out.
• [23:00] Dealing with the expectations and opinions of others as he exited the company.
• [25:20] Worrying the most about his team and the pressure that came as time went on.
• [28:11] How George expected his exit announcement to happen and how it actually went.
• [32:42] Looking at his decision to leave from a position of hindsight.
• [37:32] Working through the structure of the buyout.
• [39:00] A new business idea on the heels of his exit.
• [40:42] An exercise George is using to chart the course for his way forward.
• [43:30] Identifying the things that sabotage your success.
• [47:00] Figuring out what he’s going to do differently moving forward.
• [50:30] George’s philosophy about what he’s doing with his business ventures – and it has to do with his children.
• [52:00] Why taming your ego does NOT hurt your confidence as an entrepreneur.
• [56:00] Why being self aware and talking about it are powerful things for an entrepreneur.
• [58:25] Advice for those contemplating an exit from their business.
• [1:03:00] Why entrepreneurs are making the changes that the world needs.

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