August 10, 2026
6 min read
Everything your agency needs to know about the Rule-of-40
What the Rule of 40 actually is and how it applies to agencies and creative businesses.
Scale
Sell
Succeed
Do dealson your terms
Buy, Sell, Merge, or Raise with confidence, built around founder understanding for better outcomes.
M&A doesn’t need to feel corporate. It needs to feel human.
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M&A designed for modern founders
Most M&A still speaks like it’s 1999: corporate, opaque, and detached from what founders actually carry. That’s not how you built your business, and it’s not how you should exit it.
We’re founders first. We’ve built, scaled and exited businesses ourselves, so we know this isn’t just a deal. It’s your team, your reputation, your life’s work, and your next chapter.
We help you prepare properly, find the right-fit buyer, and close with calm, straight-talking support from first conversation to post-deal handover.
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“Game-changer is overused. But the clarity was real: what matters, what doesn’t, and what we’ll do next week to improve leverage.”
Matthew C. Gough, Co-Founder, Yugen Agency
How It Works
M&A doesn’t need to be a mystery. Here’s the founder-first process:
1. Clarify
We start with your goals, your non-negotiables, and the numbers that matter, plus the story behind them.
2. Position
We tighten the narrative, the value drivers, and the readiness so you show up buyer-grade.
3. Match
We introduce you to serious buyers who fit strategically, culturally, and commercially.
4. Deliver
We run negotiation, diligence and close with calm control, then support you through handover and what comes next.
Your Next Move: Sell or Buy
For Sellers
Sell without the corporate theatre
An exit isn’t “cashing out”. It’s choosing what happens next, for your team, your clients, and your reputation. We’re founders who’ve done exits ourselves, so we bring straight talk, serious buyers, and support that doesn’t disappear after the signature.
Meet buyers who fit your world, and protect what you’ve built
Time the exit so you sell from strength, not fatigue
Run valuation, diligence and negotiation with calm, founder-first support
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“Succeed didn’t give us advice; they gave us a process. In two sessions, we knew what buyers will question, what will get discounted, and what we needed to fix first.”
Laura King-Berry, Co-Founder, Altitude Marketing
For Buyers
Buy businesses you can actually integrate
Most acquisition problems aren’t “deal” problems; they’re integration problems. We help you find opportunities that fit strategically and operationally, run the process with straight talk and proper diligence so growth doesn’t unravel six months later.
Curated access to serious, off-market opportunities
Buyer-grade diligence and evaluation (less guesswork, fewer surprises)
Support through close and handover, built for long-term performance
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“Succeed took time to understand our strategy and what ‘fit’ actually means for us, then built a smart target list instead of a random list.”
Steve O'Brien, Founder, Woya Digital
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Where We Win
We don’t do generalist M&A. We don’t do “spray and pray” buyer lists either. We work in four sectors we know from the inside, because deals don’t fail on price. They fail on fit, story, and execution.
Creative Businesses
Taste-led, reputation-built firms where brand equity is the asset, and the wrong buyer destroys it.
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Marketing and Growth
Performance businesses with clear positioning, strong retention and proof you can’t fake.
Learn More
MarTech / SaaS
Recurring revenue, product leverage, and systems that scale beyond the founder, buyer-grade from day one.
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Creator Economy
Audience-to-revenue companies where community, IP and distribution create value that lasts.
Learn More
We know these sectors because we’ve built in them. That’s why we can sell them properly.
Why Work With Us
Most M&A firms make the process feel corporate, closed off, and needlessly complicated. We don’t. We keep it straight, founder-first, and built around what you’re trying to achieve.
Here’s what sets us apart:
Founder-Led, Not Broker-Led
We’ve built, scaled and exited businesses ourselves, so you get real-world guidance, not theory.
Global Reach, Proper Fit
Access to serious buyers, matched to your business, your goals, and the future you want for what you’ve built.
Sector Focus We’ve Lived
Creative, marketing & growth, martech/SaaS and the creator economy, we know how value is made in these models.
More Than a Price Tag
Yes, we drive value. But we also protect what buyers can’t see on a spreadsheet: culture, relationships, reputation.
Fit Over Flash
We connect you with buyers who strengthen the business, not those looking to strip it for parts.
This is modern M&A: human, transparent, and built for founders. No theatre. No jargon. Just outcomes.
What Success Really Looks Like
A good exit isn’t just a number. It’s an outcome you can live with and be proud of.
A business valued properly, with a clear story buyers believe
A buyer who protects team, clients and reputation
A process that feels structured and calm, not chaotic
A next chapter you step into with confidence (and no regrets)
The goal isn’t ‘a deal’. It’s the right deal.
Simple. Structured. Human.
“Best part: they didn’t overpromise. They ran the process properly.”
- Nadia Ali, Director, Agency Platform
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Our Philosophy
Most M&A runs on opacity. We don’t. Every founder deserves three things:
Clarity
No corporate fog. Just the truth.
Confidence
A process you can feel in control of, from first call to close.
Connection
Fit over fast. Buyers who strengthen what you built.
Because this isn’t a transaction. It’s your team, your name, and the future you want next.
Results We Have Delivered
80
+
Exits Supported
20
+
Acquisitions Completed
£
30
M
Funding Raised
100
%
Founder Satisfaction Rate
Resources
No fluff. No jargon. Just the playbooks: what buyers want, how value is built (and defended), and the moves founders make before they go to market.
People Behind Succeed
Luke Tobin
Chief Executive Officer
Founder, operator and exit veteran. Luke has built, scaled and exited multiple digital-first businesses and now works hands-on with founders navigating their own exit journey.
Ali Newton-Temperley
Chief Operations Officer
Agency growth operator with a track record of scaling agencies globally by building sales engines and unifying revenue systems that drive repeatable growth.
Paul Allen
Chief Financial Officer
M&A specialist with 20+ years in creative-industry finance, guiding agency founders through valuation, deal structure and exit execution.
Daniel Rose
Chief Legal Officer
Corporate and commercial legal expert specialising in M&A, funding and high-growth exits, ensuring businesses are transaction-ready long before diligence begins.
James Martinez
Head of Finance
James is an ACCA-qualified finance leader with deep experience in private equity portfolios. He specialises in reporting, cash flow, and multi-entity governance, ensuring agencies have the financial discipline to scale and exit successfully.
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Ready to explore your options?
The right deal isn’t just money. It’s choice. It’s peace of mind. It’s knowing what you built will keep thriving in the right hands. That’s what we help founders achieve, with a process that stays human from first conversation to handover.
