Exiteers

Stop Renting AI. Start Owning It.

Most AI rollouts don't move the P&L. Here's why, and what to do instead. Rachel Murphy is joined by Ben Ford: technologist, ex-Royal Marine, and co-founder of Grafter AI. Ben taught himself Python on a boat to Iraq in 2003, has built national platforms, and ran Mission Control rebuilding internal systems for founders before ChatGPT 3.5 even launched. This conversation is for founders running £3m to £30m businesses who are sick of being told to roll out Copilot and call it a strategy. We get into why generic AI tools don't shift your margin, the unit economics shift that just made bespoke software cheaper than buying SaaS, and how Grafter AI builds tech that lives on your balance sheet, not someone else's. Grafter AI is the new service from The Grafter, built for founders who want AI working inside their P&L. Not bolted on top of their stack. We map your business, find the work eating your margin, and build the tech that makes it disappear. You own it from day one. Join the waitlist: thegrafter.ai [https://thegrafter.ai?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=episode&utm_campaign=benford] Follow Ben on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/commandodev/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/commandodev/] __________________________________________________________ Not sure where you stand on exit readiness? Take The Grafter's free Exit Readiness Scorecard: ⁠https://scorecard.thegrafter.com/⁠ [https://scorecard.thegrafter.com/?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=episode&utm_campaign=benford] __________________________________________________________ Find Rachel Murphy: LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-murphy-thegrafter/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-murphy-thegrafter/] Instagram: instagram.com/thegraft3r Website: ⁠https://thegrafter.com [https://thegrafter.com?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=episode&utm_campaign=benford] __________________________________________________________This podcast episode was produced by Jo Brown and The Grafter

She got ghosted by her buyers. Then did it her way. | Caroline Carruthers

Caroline Carruthers was the first female Chief Data Officer in the UK. She built Carruthers & Jackson from a book and a summer school into a thriving data consultancy. And along the way, found herself in the middle of an exit process she never asked for. In this episode, Rachel and Caroline talk about what it actually feels like to be courted by acquirers, why expensive advice isn't always good advice, and what happened when Caroline got ghosted mid-process by the people who wanted to buy. They also dig into why Caroline chose a partial exit over a full one and what changed when she finally got clear on what she actually wanted. Honest, funny, and completely unfiltered. In this episode: * Why Caroline never thought of herself as an entrepreneur (and still doesn't, really) * Getting ghosted during an exit process and why it's more common than anyone admits * Partial exits: what they look like and why they're not second best * Hiring an MD and feeling unleashed * The emotional side of selling your business and why nobody talks about it Follow Caroline on https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-carruthers-22b9423/ Buy her books https://carruthersandjackson.com/thought-leadership-our-books/ __________________________________________________________ Not sure where you stand on exit readiness? Take The Grafter's free Exit Readiness Scorecard: https://scorecard.thegrafter.com/ [https://scorecard.thegrafter.com/] __________________________________________________________ Find Rachel Murphy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-murphy-thegrafter/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-murphy-thegrafter/] Instagram: instagram.com/thegraft3r Website: https://thegrafter.com [https://thegrafter.com]

From Health Tech PR Founder to Exit & Beyond | Holly Tennock | Exiteers Podcast

What happens when a journalist with a gift for storytelling builds a PR agency in one of the fastest-moving sectors in healthcare and then walks away from it all? Holly Tennock joins the Exiteers Podcast to tell her story. Starting out as an NHS trainee and economics journalist, Holly discovered she had a rare ability to take complex, dry subject matter and turn it into stories that resonated with real people. That skill took her from the European Parliament press office to founding Journalista, a health tech PR agency that punched well above its weight. Over ten years she grew the business to a team of twelve, won industry awards, landed front-page stories in the national press, and worked with clients like Doctor Foster who were genuinely changing how the NHS delivered care. She did all of this while raising two young children. Holly opens up about recognising her own limitations as a founder and why that led to selling the business. She talks candidly about completing the deal in just three months, the physical and emotional fallout that followed. This is a raw and honest conversation about entrepreneurship, motherhood, mental health, identity after exit, and finding what comes next. Find Holly on LinkedIn or email holly@wild.work ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Got a story to tell about your exit? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠exiteerspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [exiteerspodcast@gmail.com] - More of Rachel Murphy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachthegrafter/] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/rach040478/] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://x.com/rachmurph] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Grafter [thegrafter.com]

Rachel Murphy: The relentlessness needed to build a successful business

This episode is a rollercoaster, emotionally and professionally. Rachel Murphy returns for Part 2 of her Exiteers conversation with Sally Wynter, and this time, she goes even deeper. From building her first million-pound business in a year, watching her teenage stepdaughter fight for life in an ICU, to helping 41 businesses grow, raise, or exit with real ROI - it's what real leadership looks like. We talk: * Why she believes the U.S. is the next frontier for The Grafter * How Charlotte’s life-threatening illness shaped her entire legacy * What it really takes to sell a business for 8 figures * And the brutal reality of building a business through personal trauma Rachel is bold, brilliant, vulnerable, and fiercely human. This is a story about survival, impact, and what it means to lead with heart. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Want to stop guessing and start growing?Join The Grafter community, built by exited founders for the ambitious ones. Whether you’re scaling, raising or planning your next chapter, The Grafter gives you clarity, community, and expertise you can trust.Join the community now 👉 https://thegrafter.com/community [https://thegrafter.com/community?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=episode&utm_campaign=rachelmurphy2] ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you truly know where you are and where you're going with your business?Start with your Founders Scale Readiness Assessment. A quick diagnostic to understand where you are on the journey from founder-dependent to systematically scalable👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://founders-assessment.thegrafter.com/⁠⁠⁠ [https://founders-assessment.thegrafter.com/] ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Got a story to tell about your exit? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠exiteerspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [exiteerspodcast@gmail.com] - More of Rachel Murphy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachthegrafter/] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/rach040478/] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://x.com/rachmurph] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Grafter [thegrafter.com]

Rachel Murphy: £13m exits, sobriety, & starting again

In this episode of Exiteers™️, the first of a two-parter, the mic is flipped. Rachel Murphy, known for building and exiting multiple businesses, steps into the hot seat as former guest Sally Wynter takes over the questions. What follows is a raw, honest look into Rachel’s journey, from founding her first company in her 20s, a £13.3m exit, to running The Grafter today. But it’s not all business. Rachel opens up about why she moved to Spain and how sobriety has changed every part of her life. She shares the reality of being 11.5 years sober, including the heartbreak of losing friends in recovery, and what it means to be truly relentless in business, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Want to stop guessing and start growing?Join The Grafter community, built by exited founders for the ambitious ones. Whether you’re scaling, raising or planning your next chapter, The Grafter gives you clarity, community, and expertise you can trust.Join the community now 👉 https://thegrafter.com/community ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you truly know where you are and where you're going with your business?Start with your Founders Scale Readiness Assessment. A quick diagnostic to understand where you are on the journey from founder-dependent to systematically scalable👉 ⁠⁠https://founders-assessment.thegrafter.com/⁠⁠ [https://founders-assessment.thegrafter.com/] ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Got a story to tell about your exit? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠exiteerspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [exiteerspodcast@gmail.com] - More of Rachel Murphy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachthegrafter/] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/rach040478/] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://x.com/rachmurph] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Grafter [thegrafter.com]