The short answer
Jason Howard spent about 30 years building StudyLink and never set out to sell it, then closed with NASDAQ-listed Flywire, a buyer he already worked with, in roughly six weeks. He built a genuinely good business and made himself operationally redundant, which created the options when the right buyer appeared, and he is candid about the personal toll that followed.
Key takeaways
- You can build a valuable, sellable business without an exit plan from day one.
- Operational redundancy is what creates options, and it carries a trade-off.
- Knowing your number early is what lets you judge an offer calmly.
- A strategic buyer you already work with can move faster than any sale process.
- Life after the sale deserves as much planning as the deal.
This is Jason Howard's first-hand account. He founded StudyLink at university and ran it across three business models: a CD-ROM directory for international students, an internet advertising directory, and finally a B2B SaaS platform that handled university admissions and reached 75 to 80% of the Australian market.
He never built towards an exit. His view is that building a genuinely good business, then a great one, is what creates the options when an opportunity arrives. Navitas invested in 2006. Flywire, a NASDAQ-listed payments company that had worked with StudyLink before, acquired the business in late 2023. Navitas, StudyLink's majority investor, publicly announced the sale at approximately A$60 million (about US$39 million).
What makes the conversation useful is not the number. It is the two decisions underneath it: building a business that ran without him, and then discovering what that meant for his own role once the deal closed.
Chapters
- 00:00The exit that was 30 years in the making
- 01:55Origins: a CD-ROM startup at university
- 07:37One company, three businesses
- 09:33Building without an exit in mind
- 12:34Lifestyle value, and bringing in a coach
- 20:08B2B SaaS and 75 to 80% market share
- 30:28Separating the founder from the company
- 35:26Making the SaaS pricing leap
- 38:50How Navitas came in as an investor
- 49:11Timing, and the Flywire conversation
- 56:12The six-week sale, with no formal process
- 1:02:00Deal structure: terms, earn-out, tax
- 1:10:19Earn-out, and redundancy at 15 months
- 1:13:47The personal toll after the sale
- 1:17:00Closing advice: build a great business, stay curious
Key moments
Jason Howard, in their own words:
I was a 30 year overnight success and started when I was at university.
Jason Howard
My philosophy was always to focus on building a good business. And in the last few years we were focused on building a great business. We thought that if we did that, then the opportunities would come.
Jason Howard
One of the key things I did towards the end was making myself operationally redundant.
Jason Howard
Frequently asked questions
Do you need an exit plan to sell your business well?
Not strictly, but planning gives you clarity and a calmer decision when the moment comes. A good exit plan helps you know your number, reduce how much the business depends on you, and judge an offer on its merits. Jason built StudyLink for about 30 years without a formal plan and still reached a strong outcome, largely because he made himself operationally redundant. Much of that value comes from preparing the business, and yourself, well before any sale.
What does it mean to make yourself operationally redundant?
It means building a business that runs well without you in the day to day. That lifts both your lifestyle now and your value at sale, because a buyer is paying for a business that works with or without you in the room. Jason did this deliberately in his final years at StudyLink. He is candid about the trade-off too: once the business clearly did not need him, his role after the sale ended sooner than he expected.
What is a strategic buyer?
A strategic buyer acquires your business for what it adds to their own plans, such as a new market, a customer base, technology or a capability, which often means they value it more highly than a purely financial buyer would. StudyLink's acquirer was a NASDAQ-listed payments company that had worked with the business and saw how the two fitted together. Finding and preparing for that buyer early is one of the most valuable parts of getting ready to sell.
How long does it take to sell a business?
It varies widely, and six weeks is rare. Jason's sale closed about six weeks from the first call, driven by the buyer's own reporting deadline. A typical sale runs over many months across preparation, marketing, due diligence and completion. The work you do early, reducing owner dependency and knowing your number, is what lets a process move quickly and calmly when a real buyer appears. Treat six weeks as the exception, not the expectation.
What is an earn-out?
An earn-out is part of the price paid after completion, usually tied to the business hitting agreed targets over a set period. Jason's ran two years, and he reached about 15 months before a restructure. An earn-out can bridge a gap on price, and it also carries real personal and financial considerations, including the timing of tax. Understanding the structure before you sign is part of getting good advice on the deal, not just the headline number.
What happens after you sell your business?
Two things happen at once. Practically, you often stay on through a handover or earn-out period, then your day-to-day role winds down and you step away. The personal side is harder, and it is easy to underestimate. Jason is honest about the toll after StudyLink, the loss of role and the value he had quietly attached to his work, and how he had not planned for it. Building a life after the sale deserves as much thought as the deal itself.
About the show
Buy Grow Sell is hosted by Simon Bedard, founder and CEO of Exit Advisory Group, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helps Australian business owners value, prepare for and navigate a sale. Every conversation draws on real deals and the patterns behind them.
Go deeper
The playbook behind these conversations is Simon Bedard’s book, Exit Like an Expert. It covers knowing your number, reducing owner dependency and finding the right buyer.
Get Exit Like an Expert