EP333: Just F*cking Do It: Exits, Growth & Founder Mindset - Laura Linden, Fractional CFO, Feisty FDEP333: Just F*cking Do It: Exits, Growth & Founder Mindset - Laura Linden, Fractional CFO, Feisty FD
The Recruiter's Recruitment Podcast
Lysha Holmes talks with fractional CFO Laura Linden about the many ways recruitment founders can design their exits, from trade sales to partial withdrawals. The conversation focuses on niche strategy, culture, women’s confidence around money, and a direct “just f*cking do it” approach to building the business and life they actually want.
43:43•20 Jul 2026
Just F*cking Do It: Rethinking Exits and Founder Mindset with Laura Linden
Episode Overview
- An exit can mean trade sale, private equity, MBO, employee ownership, partial sale or simply stepping back while keeping ownership.
- Founders are urged to design exits around their own desires and life goals, rather than following a single “scale to sell” narrative.
- Niche recruitment businesses can command higher multiples and become the go-to in their space, making exits more lucrative.
- Women founders often face confidence and financial literacy gaps rather than competence issues, despite being strong at planning and strategy.
- Strong culture and smart systems can significantly lift business value at exit, sometimes more easily than chasing ever-higher profit.
“Everyone's become quite self-righteous in this is the only way to do it and it's just bollocks because there are a million different ways to do it.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? In this case, it’s about an addiction to playing small in business. This punchy episode of The Recruiter’s Recruitment Podcast centres on exits, growth, and the mindset needed to actually get things done, with fractional CFO and self-styled “Exit Queen” Laura Linden joining host Lysha Holmes.
You’ll hear Laura break down what an exit really is for recruitment founders, challenging the myth that selling to a big trade buyer is the only route. She runs through options like trade sales, private equity, management buyouts, employee ownership trusts, partial exits and simply stepping back while still owning the business, stressing that “there’s no like one right way for it to look.
It has to be what you want.” The chat has a lively, sweary edge, with both Laura and Lysha calling out the “scale to sell” narrative and the social media noise that tells founders there’s only one acceptable growth story. Laura’s straight-talking advice? “People need to have the confidence to only listen to the stuff that resonates with them and just shut the rest of it out.” A big part of the conversation focuses on women founders in recruitment.
Laura shares how few women are currently building businesses to sell, linking it to confidence, financial literacy and the mental load many carry. Her mission, including her book *Unfuck Your Business Finances*, is to help women see they’re naturally strong at planning, strategy and getting things done – they just need backing and better information.
They also talk about niche recruitment as a powerful route to higher multiples, stronger cultures and more resilient businesses, with Laura arguing that inch-wide, mile-deep specialist firms can become the go-to and command serious value. If you’re a recruiter dreaming of your own business, or a founder wondering what “just f*cking do it” could look like for your future, this episode might nudge you to ask: what kind of exit – and life – do you actually want to build?
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