Fellows stories: John Casserly
John Casserly was founder and CEO of UK and US-based digital transformation business Xceed Group, which provided professional advisory services to major financial services organisations. John sold Xceed to French acquirer Wavestone.
Since then, John has focussed on his fitness, successfully completing multiple triathlons, and is now building a Vistage coaching group, using his vast business experience to help others succeed.
I would describe life after sale as calm, although it took a while to reach this state, as immediately after the sale your brain is still moving forward at a million miles an hour and looking for things to do, when there isn’t anything you need to do. So, you very soon realise that no one is calling you or needing you, and you don’t actually have to be up and at it every day.
Different would be another word I’d use. You work all your life, and you feel like you are running all the time. You sell – I was 55 when I sold the business – and you’ve achieved what you set out to do. The point of selling the business was mainly to de-risk and stop running – it was time to take the chips off the table so I could feel financially safe.
I was in a privileged position post-sale to spend more time with, and better support my family. The timing was good for me in that when the Covid lockdowns happened, I was able to devote my time to looking after them, their wellbeing, and their career growth. Not just during Covid, but ever since I sold the business, it has been great to spend more quality time with them.
Initially, once you sell, there is big relief, then it does take a while for your brain to slow down and adjust, but then just looking back since the sale, I would describe it as calm. It’s definitely been a much calmer period of my life than the previous 40-odd years. So that’s good.
It’s definitely been a much calmer period of my life than the previous 40-odd years!
Before the sale, I was a little bit worried about identity. I was founder, owner, and CEO of a company – that was my identity. You sell the company, and you are none of those things anymore. So, what are you? In the end this wasn’t a thing for me.
The purpose thing wasn’t an issue for me. I wasn’t looking for a purpose after I sold the business, I was looking for a rest; I needed some downtime. I wasn’t one of those people who had already lined up my next adventure or thought through what I was going to do next. Once the business was sold, and I got through my six-month earnout, I just wanted to breath and decompress. I didn’t want to be under pressure to be doing something else.
I always took the approach that in life, like a lot of other people I think, my career, my next step just found me. I never really found it, as I never really knew what it was. I’ve always tripped over things in my career. So, my attitude when I sold the company was let’s just have a bit of downtime, decompress, empty my brain and something will turn up.
A few things did turn up early on, but I didn’t pursue them as they weren’t really who I was. A lot of people go into property development and things like that using the sale money to buy houses, do them up, then sell them, but that’s not really me. Then there were a couple of director roles offered, but that was just back to full-time work doing the same kind of stuff, so I decided to just wait and see what popped up.
I was then able to start doing all the things that all through my career I had thought were important, like keeping fit, but hadn’t really done due to lack of time. Things around myself – physical health, mental health, my own welfare. I’d been a member of a gym all my life, but never went very much. So, I decided to put time into this, and enjoyed it. And then I thought, I like a challenge, so wouldn’t it be nice to do a triathlon or two. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel fit enough to be able to do that – it doesn’t cost much money, it just takes a bit of patience, training, and commitment, and I’m sure I’ll feel better if I do a couple. I ended up doing 10 triathlons!
It took a couple of years to get there in terms of getting my weight down, doing all the right things to be able to swim, cycle, and run. That gave me purpose – it was all about myself – doing it for myself to prove I could because being fitter was a big thing for me, and having the time allowed me to do that.
I also started getting back into golf and have been installed as golf club captain for the seniors’ section in 2025.
Becoming a Vistage coach was the thing that popped up. I’d never even considered, wasn’t looking for, or even heard of Vistage before.
Becoming a Vistage coach was the thing that popped up. I’d never even considered, wasn’t looking for, or even heard of Vistage before. The idea of becoming a Vistage coach was sparked by a note from [Initium Director] Liz Jackson to say that she and [Initium CEO] Jonathan Dunn had signed up to Vistage, it was great, and if I was interested in getting involved then go along to an event in central London about being a Vistage Chair. I went, and it piqued my interest.
I thought that given all my business experience over many years, I was in a good position to help other business owners/CEOs – or rather help them to help themselves. I thought with my experience and the way I operate; I’d be quite good at that. Hence, I became a Vistage coach, and that’s where the purpose idea really kicks in, as I thought there is a real purpose here in helping other people. I felt that if I could help one person – that would be a worthy purpose, and a good thing to do.