Discussing How to Make an Exit From Your Company with Chuck Hengel
with Shane Barker
Chuck Hengel joins Shane Barker to share the journey of creating and selling HurryCane, a standout mobility brand. He reflects on what it takes to build a sellable business, the emotional side of letting go, and why planning your exit from day one matters. It’s an honest look at entrepreneurship, innovation, and the strategy behind a successful business exit.
Today's guest...
Chuck Hengel
Chuck Hengel is the Founder and CEO of Marketing Architects, a performance-based advertising agency that helps companies accelerate growth through TV campaigns. Under his leadership, Marketing Architects has propelled businesses across industries to scale brand presence and boost return on ad spend. By merging advanced analytics with creative storytelling, the agency delivers measurable results.
Before founding Marketing Architects, Chuck built extensive experience in direct marketing and brand strategy. Identifying a gap in the traditional ad landscape, he envisioned an innovative approach that invests alongside its clients. This model has enabled more brands to leverage TV advertising as a cost-effective growth driver.
A sought-after voice in performance advertising, Chuck regularly shares his expertise at industry events. His focus on transparency, data-driven insights, and partnerships has cemented Marketing Architects as a trusted resource for enterprises and emerging brands. With an eye on the future, Chuck redefines advertising in a evolving marketplace.
Episode Show Notes
In this episode of The Marketing Growth Podcast, Shane Barker sits down with Chuck Hengel, founder of Marketing Architects, to explore the emotional and strategic side of selling a business. Chuck shares the inspiring story behind HurryCane, a mobility aid brand he helped invent, grow, and ultimately sell after generating millions in revenue.
He breaks down how HurryCane was born from a desire to truly understand client challenges by launching a product in-house. From naming controversies to breakthrough features like the “stand-alone” cane design, Chuck dives into what made the product a success—and how smart marketing, A/B testing, and direct feedback from seniors led to exponential growth.
But the heart of the episode lies in what comes after success. Chuck and Shane discuss what it feels like to exit a company, how to know when it’s time to sell, and why entrepreneurs should plan their exit strategy before they ever launch. Chuck also offers practical advice on building a sellable business, including putting the right people and systems in place.
If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to build and sell a beloved brand, this episode delivers both inspiration and actionable insights.
Books mentioned
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Brands mentioned
- Marketing Architects
- HurryCane
- Walmart
- Walgreens
- Drive Medical
- MarketingArchitects.com
Welcome to the marketing growth podcast. I’m your host, Shane Barker, and we have Chuck Hengel from Marketing Architects again to talk about creating and selling HurryCane for listeners who are joining us for the first time. Here’s a quick recap on previous episodes. We discussed TV advertising and how to do it right during and after the pandemic. Today, we’re going to talk about factors you should consider when selling off your company or a portion of it, and how to be prepared for how it’ll feel after you make the exit. You had a company called HurryCane that you guys came up with, and it—everybody knows, he’s giving me a big old smile right now—I was thinking about this. I thought, “This is unfair. You have this knowledge of the TV industry. No wonder you guys did so well with the company.” It’s a little unfair, because that’d be me going up and starting a business and crushing it from an SEO perspective. Unfair, but well played on your side as well. So how did you guys come up with the idea of HurryCane? What was it like? I’m just kind of curious when I read about the company and you guys selling it off. I was really intrigued by that story, because not only do you do advertising, but you’re also an entrepreneur. You’ve got an inventor as well. That’s an interesting place. I was just curious about that.
Chuck Hengel
Yeah, I want to meet the person who invented peanut butter jelly, because that’s what it felt like when we discovered the idea for the HurryCane—on one hand, we were trying to stimulate progress. How do we come better at what we do? And we had the idea that we launched one of our own products so that we could build our own wares to offer clients at a higher level. So we had that on one side.
But then one day, I had a friend I spent some time with—she had both her parents die in the last year, and she’s a well-known person in marketing in the Twin Cities—and she said, “The whole industry of seniors and people aging in place is just so old school. There’s nobody doing good marketing, and these products are behind the times. There’s nothing inspiring about it. The whole thing, Chuck, was just incredibly depressing.” I said, “Well, what could somebody do differently to help you?” I said, “The issue that I saw was that when people stop being as mobile, they don’t get the help they need, and then they fall.” And she said, “Did you know that more than half the hospital admissions for an older person are because of falls, and once you fall, a whole other series of negative things happen?” She said, “Help people stop falling, Chuck.” And I thought to myself, “Well, how do I do that?” She explained to me the phases of mobility loss—the last one being death, but the first phase is just, we need help with the cane. And she said the cane has been the same for 2000 years. It’s basically a stick, and that was just the light bulb.
I said, “Well, let’s not make it a stick.” And so we sat down and said, “How would we make someone inspired to use a walking cane?” And then we’re going to build the end-to-end capabilities inside our agency. We’re not going to outsource anything to do this work, so we really understand the issues our clients are facing. And so we did those two things, and it really resonated.
The hardest part was the product invention side, because we didn’t have manufacturing experience and I was running around in Asia trying to find factories. And on the marketing side, we just do the things that we do for clients today. We built a brand, and that was amazing. And we A/B tested to find the right price point, the right offer, and the right message, and we put a website together—and your conversion increased 400% over the first 90 days because we A/B tested, which you recommend to everybody, right? And we also had a chance to do some of the digital things, Shane, that you’re really good at, and that we weren’t good at. So we could live that a little bit. Even though we didn’t add those as services to our agency, it all came together, and it became a beloved brand for older people, inspiring a whole growth in the category. We heard from everyone that sells those kinds of products that sales are up substantially because we inspired seniors to be aware that it’s not so bad if you’re losing a little mobility—it’s okay to get a little help.
And the product worked like the human body—it pivots on the bottom like your ankle, it folds like your knee, and it’s more stable than a traditional cane. But the key moment was when I walked into our creative leader’s office and he said, “Chuck, hang on a second.” He said, “Can you make this product do this?” He took the cane, slammed it on his desk, and held the base so it wouldn’t fall over. And I go, “Do what you said.” He let go and it fell. And I go, “What do you want me to do?” He picked the cane up and said, “Can you make this cane stand when I let go of it? Because then it’ll be the cane that stands alone.” And it was so exciting.
So we made the base wider, and we made it stand up on its own. And that was the key feature that consumers liked best—they could let go of their cane and it wouldn’t fall over. That’s a really embarrassing moment for a senior, and it’s hard to pick it up if it falls over. I could open my door, get in my car, and I’m like, “Wow, that is how marketing and product development and collaboration work together. We all have a role. We all have a seat at the table.” And it was just so inspiring. Everyone at Marketing Architects contributed to that brand.
Ultimately, we’re not in the business of selling product. We probably want to let it go on too long, but it generated many, many millions in revenue, and we had a nice exit to a big company that’s in the business of selling those kinds of products. They’ve continued to be a client of ours and do a really good job with that product, but it’s in the home where it should be now.
That’s awesome. I love, first of all, the name HurryCane. I love that because it’s like, “Hey, we can move on.” And it’s funny how when you think about products, sometimes it’s the most simplistic thing of somebody saying, “Hey, can you make this so it doesn’t fall down?” You would think, “Oh, that makes total sense.” But it’s like, these people using a cane have the problem of where to put it so that it doesn’t fall. If you have to reach somewhere, you have to put it down, and it’s very inconvenient. And if your cane drops, then what do you do? You’re already having mobility problems, and you’re going to drop down and pick it up. Are you going to ask for help?
It’s a very basic thing, but I love that you figured out that the biggest issue is that once seniors lose mobility, they start to lose everything else. I’ve seen that with my grandma; the minute she jumped in a chair and started using a walker, she wasn’t as mobile as before. It made doing different things a challenge, but it also kept her moving as a human being. I think that’s an awesome product, and the fact that you were able to say, “Listen, usually it was just the advertising side of things, but we’re actually going to build this product to understand what our clients are going through,” really gives you both perspectives. It’s not just about having a budget; it’s about putting together a product that really meets a need. And congratulations on making a few million and getting it into the right hands.
So when did you guys decide that you wanted to sell it off? What was that defining moment for you?
Chuck Hengel
Yeah, well, about that name you brought up—I just want to cover that in a second because it’s a great lesson for all of us in marketing. When we first invented the name, many people in the industry were viscerally angry that we’d use it. They said, “You’re going to scare seniors. That’s terrible. I can’t believe you’re naming it after a HurryCane. This is terrible. You cannot run that.” We even had people at our own company angry, and maybe that meant we were on the right track. So we said, “We’re going to launch and test it. We’ll be willing to change it.” But the seniors loved it. They related to it. It turns out one of the motivators for seniors is when other people think what they use is cool. That’s why seniors tell stories to young kids when they were your age. That was a big motivator, and nobody in our target audience was offended.
It always reminds me to keep my opinion really close to myself. I’m wrong a lot in this business—Shannon, you probably are as well, right? Absolutely, because we’ve been doing it so long. But it’s important to let the creators’ ideas come through and test them. Don’t be afraid to go after the crazy idea.
So anyways, that was it—it just became time to sell. The scale of what we were having to accomplish was too large. We were selling millions of canes every year. We even got into Walmart and Walgreens, and we had a whole retail team. Then we got a call from the CEO of Drive Medical, who said, “Hey, love what you’re doing. Love to chat.” We didn’t practically shop it; they contacted us, and it just felt like the right thing to do. But it’s hard to let go of it. It was kind of our baby, and that’s hard.
Well, that’s never easy. I’ve only sold one of my businesses, and it was difficult. You don’t realize how connected you are to that. Another thing I want to point out is what I think is very important—you talked about the seniors loving it. The seniors in this example are the data, right? We have our own perspective, like, we didn’t think the idea of the name, “HurryCane,” was bad—even though some might say, “Oh my gosh, why would you say hurry and cane, knowing that people can’t move fast?” But then, all of a sudden, the seniors say, “We love it.” If you had stuck with the opinions from your company or others who said, “Maybe we shouldn’t launch this thing because it’s not the right name,” you might have missed the mark. Those are our own opinions, but that might not be right. I love that the seniors said, “We love the name.” That’s all that matters—that’s who is buying it. It isn’t someone at your table or an investor; it’s, “Let’s give this thing a try. Let’s see. And if it flops, we still have the concept and can change the name, but let’s put it out there and see what people say. If they love it, great; if not, we can pivot and make changes.”
So, that’s awesome. What are some of the important factors? If somebody’s listening and says, “I’ve got a product, and I’ve reached a certain point,” at what point do you think it’s time to sell off a portion of my company or a product that I’m creating?
Chuck Hengel
I love that question because it’s such a popular topic—entrepreneurialism is more accessible than ever. I got great advice on this years ago, and the advice was, “Think about your exit before you launch your company. Is your business built for an exit?” If it’s not built for an exit, you’re going to be an employee; you’re not going to be an owner.
So, what builds a company for an exit? Have a great team—that’s rule number one. Have a product that’s differentiated, one you can defend in the market. Maybe you’ll have knockoffs or people trying to do what you do, but have a point of difference that’s very attractive. Have systems that run the company, using business processes. That advice is really good, so really think about that.
What I recommend is, if you’re going to launch a company, create an org chart. And if you’re launching it on your own, put your name in every org chart box—you’ll be the accountant, the apps person, customer service, product, and sales. Then decide, if you’re going to grow this, how do you get your name out of these boxes? Your business is probably not sellable until you have a few names in other boxes. Companies aren’t looking for companies run by one person; they’re going to be buying a team and a company.
When is the time right? I think that’s a matter of the heart to a certain degree. If you’re really money motivated and the time’s just right, then go for it. But a lot of times, entrepreneurs, like you know, Shane, you’re not starting it for the money. It’s something you’re passionate about, something you love—you’re scratching your own itch, solving a problem. I’m still doing this 24 years later, still solving problems that get my adrenaline going every day. It’s not time to leave. So why would I do that?
That’s a long time for an entrepreneur to hang a shingle in one area. It shows how fun I think advertising is—that I’d be captivated by it this long. Frankly, the HurryCane was around for four, four and a half years; that was about the right cycle for that business. Everyone’s answer is going to be different, but it’s a great question to ask. So, people, think about it now.
I love that exit. I mean, before, over these last, let’s say five years, I put processes in place. There was one book I read—I can’t remember which one—but it was interesting: if you were to leave your business for a week or two each month, would it still run? There was a point in my life when I was working 18 hours a day, and I realized I was the reason we weren’t getting to the next level because I approved everything and everything had to run through me. I realized nobody would want to buy my business because if I got hit by a truck tomorrow—hopefully that doesn’t happen—but if it did, everything would fall apart. Ten years ago, there was no way I would have been prepared. I was everything to the company. You don’t really have a company if you can’t leave. My big thing was that I would leave for a weekend, and my wife and I would joke about me bringing my girlfriend—which, in my case, was my laptop that I brought everywhere. I realized, without me, this is nothing. I couldn’t sell this thing because I didn’t have processes in place. I was the cog in the wheel, and nobody would want to buy that.
What I realized is, how do we put these processes in place? How do you make yourself replaceable? That really is the goal. You talked about putting your name in every bucket—you’re the president, the secretary, the treasurer, and so on—but you need to have somebody replace you in those areas. There comes a point when even you should be replaced. Then you have a business that, if you’re okay with it, you can sell because you can take these processes and give them to somebody else and say, “Hey, my $5 million baby now needs to be a $15 million baby.” You’re already in the industry and already have the channels. Let’s make it happen. And it sounds like that’s what happened with you guys—you got that call, which was always a great call because it was like, “Well, it’s kind of my baby. For that amount, yeah, we could absolutely sell off. Let me go ahead and take a look at what that means.” That definitely makes sense.
I think having that mindset from the beginning—understanding if you want to exit, or what your plans with the business are—is essential. Is it going to be a 20-year project, or is your goal to generate a certain amount in sales in five years and then find someone to sell the business to? I love that advice. So what lessons did you learn from selling off HurryCane? I know there were probably a lot of things that happened. Once again, you get that call and you’re like, “Wait a second, I guess we might be selling the company.” What are some of the lessons you learned from that?
Chuck Hengel
Well, it was a good process. I would recommend everyone get really good advice on the process. Use a good attorney who’s got experience in that area. Recognize it’s a process and a negotiation, and you need to be good at that if you want to maximize the value of your business. It’s almost like a dance—yes, it’s a financial transaction, but it’s also the meeting of minds between people who matter. Be prepared for how it will feel when you exit. Are you comfortable with that? Are you going to miss it? It’s hard to project how you feel, but that’s important. Do you have the next thing you’re going to do? Some people are really good at starting multiple ventures in their career, but it’s pretty rare—like Elon Musk, one of the first people to build multiple billion-dollar businesses. Even on a smaller scale, can you do that next, or should you stick with what you have? Are you okay running a smaller, stable business long term? I think having a personal board of directors who can guide you with that is key.
If you’ve raised money, it’s going to be easier because investors will be in your ear telling you what to do—they’ll want a return. So, I think this advice is more for someone who started a private business without raising a lot of money or just with friends and family. If you have investors, then the question really is, what do they want? They’ll give you that advice.
If you’ve reached a point where you could think of selling, that’s a great finish line—a great reward for an entrepreneur to build something that could be sold. It’s really hard to do. When you consider that 95% of businesses are gone before year five, that’s not through sale; they just don’t make it. It’s so rare. I saw a stat on our company the other day: only one in 2000 companies reach our stage. So I’m like, “Okay, I’m kind of addicted to this now. How far can this go? I’d like to see it go a little farther.”
Building something enduring will work whether you stay long term or sell. Either way, you win.
Yeah, I love that. I never really thought about that, but you’re like an empty nester with your businesses. You were obviously in the advertising side of things, but now you’ve got HurryCane that’s gone, and you’re like, “Wow, this is awesome. My bank account looks pretty healthy.” But now what am I going to do? I have to fill my time. It’s like retirement almost—okay, now what? You still obviously had your other business running, but at that point you’re kind of missing your baby a little bit, like, “Oh, my baby went off to college.” I don’t want to say “sell off babies,” because that doesn’t sound right. But you know, it’s like you have an empty space here. The bank account helps fill that space a little bit, but you’ve got to figure out what your next project is. That’s awesome. That’s great advice. And, like I said, it’s incredible how many businesses aren’t able to sell. So if you’re in that arena and someone’s knocking at your door with a potential offer, you’re very fortunate. You’re one of the top 3% or top 4% in the nation.
So I wanted to talk to you about, and you kind of touched on this, having places in Orlando and down in Arizona as well. With this, we’re starting to open up a little bit—we had that conversation before the podcast started. If there was one place you could travel to in the world for free, with no COVID, no mask, no nothing, where would you want to go? What’s on your list? I think your list is a big list—I can tell by the smile on your face right now. But give me one place where you’re like, “This is it, we would pack up the family.” Now, let me preface this: it’s either you by yourself or you bring the family. I’m assuming you bring your family, but I don’t want to make that assumption. You tell me.
Chuck Hengel
I have to defer to my wife on that. She lived and worked in Norway for a number of years, and I haven’t been there with her yet. If I go anywhere, she’s been wanting me to go back with her and show me all the things she did. That’s next on our list. It’s been way too delayed—we got too busy with young kids and raising them, and we just haven’t been back. So that’s first on our list.
That’s awesome. It’s like, Oslo, is that? Where was she? Where was she?
Chuck Hengel
She was right outside of Bergen, actually, and it’s a small enough country. She’d been all over in the recovery for cities there. Yeah, yeah.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Norway. So that would be—and once again, I ask these questions. The audience thinks it’s for them, but it’s literally for me. I ask about books I want to read, ask where people want to go. Just recently, I’ve had three guests say they wanted to go to Japan, so that’s now moved to my top 10. I just want to talk to people who have traveled. I’m a traveling junkie, and this last year or so has been difficult because usually my goal is to find speaking events in other countries and have them pay the bill. Don’t tell anybody, Chuck—have them pay the bill—and then I get out there and turn it into a week-long or two-month trip. So if you’re listening right now and you want to get somebody on stage, I might potentially be that person. If you’re willing to pay, then I’d be willing to go get the tattoo of your company on me—whatever it takes. I’m here to provide. So, all right, we’ve got Norway on the list. If you could choose a superpower, what would be your superpower? Chuck, give us something good here.
Chuck Hengel
You know, the one thing we love at Marketing Architects is being the underdog. We love working with underdog brands and making them number one. When you’re starting a business, you’re the underdog. I love that feeling of people betting against me—saying, “You’re never gonna make this work.” And that never discouraged me; it made me want to do it even more. So I thought about superpower. I don’t know—I think you can’t bet on being the underdog, but I wouldn’t mind being the best in the world at something for a day. Wouldn’t it be awesome to deliver Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and have everyone captivated by it? But I just wouldn’t want that long term. I don’t know what it’s like to be the best in the world at something long term—that would be a burden. So I would want to have that ability for a day at a time.
I appreciate that, but let me tell you something. Your underdog thing—you’ve been doing this for years. I don’t think you’re the underdog anymore. You might think that in your mind, but you’ve been around and doing this for a long time. We’ll keep you as the underdog so you can keep winning your battles. I do appreciate that. If you just started a year ago, then I’d say, “Hey, you’re absolutely the underdog.” You have too much knowledge now to be the underdog. Just to enlighten you a little bit, so you know you’re at your next level. But I understand that.
I’ve always joked with my wife that I wouldn’t mind being a B-list celebrity. I wouldn’t want to be recognized all the time. I mean, I enjoy the podcast and fun stuff like that, but I don’t want to be walking with my kids and have someone jump up and start taking pictures, or have my wife and I leaving a dinner and someone trying to snap a photo of her getting in the car. I don’t do well with that. Sometimes my brother doesn’t even recognize me on the street. I’m not famous by any means, but it’s interesting to think that maybe being that person for a day, and then being able to come back to our private lives, would be nice.
So my other question is: What is your favorite book or podcast that has shaped your career or personality? I always ask this because I put these books in our show notes—not just for the audience, but for me too. The minute someone mentions something, I write it down and go read that book. So, anything good, podcast-wise or book-wise?
Chuck Hengel
Yeah, podcast is actually my media of choice. Now I’m a junkie—I spend a lot of time with it. I knew of you, Shane, and your podcast before we got connected, and I appreciate that connection. I listened to a lot. Actually, we knew Tim Ferriss before he became Tim Ferriss when he was in the products business. We’re actually referenced in his book, “Before Our Work Week.” I love that podcast.
What I listen to a lot of today is that there are so many smart people out in podcasting talking about what they know that’s so far over my head. I love that process. I only understand 5% of what they’re talking about, but they’re willing to talk to me for an hour or two so I can try to figure it out. I’m doing that in economics right now. I thought I had a background in it, but no—there are people who are so much smarter than what I learned from my career or my degree.
That’s my new thing: finding the really smart people out there, and they’re doing a great job with it. That’s my advice—just find stuff you want to learn about and start listening. You can do it while you’re walking or biking; it can fit in anywhere.
I actually learned this a while back—I don’t know if you’ve tried this, Shane—but you can listen at a faster speed. It turns out the brain learns faster at 1.5x. I listened to you about 2x, so this is about the first time I’m hearing your real voice because I listened at a faster speed, and I learned better. It does seem like I’m remembering it better. That’s been really fun for me.
And I already talked fast. You must have a really quick brain, because I, man, if you’re at two, if you’re a 2x Shane, man, that’s, that’s Shane early on coffee. If Shane has two cups of coffee, then you’re, he’s 2x normally. And then if we’re going to three, 4x I don’t even know what’s happening there. That’s awesome. I you know. So go ahead.
Chuck Hengel
You occasionally have a guest. I gotta drop it down to like, one, 7x so that is the limiting factor. But no, you’re, you’re, you’re a 2x-er.
Oh, that’s awesome. Man, I’ll take 2x all day long. And whatever we do, I’ll take 2x. Some people want 10x—I’ll take 2x, I’m okay with that. That’s awesome. I think, you know, it’s funny with the podcast thing—I do the same thing. I listen to Audible or podcasts. I talked about this yesterday with my team: I’m going to start listening to more podcasts about crypto and all that kind of stuff. I just feel like I don’t understand it the way I want to—not necessarily to invest, maybe to invest, but more just so I can listen to podcasts by people who are way more intelligent than myself when it comes to crypto and just about anything in life. Then you can get up to speed on where things are at—a quick education on things. I love that. I think the access to knowledge is there, and that’s what’s so awesome: you can learn something and be a lot better than most people within a few hours by just listening to a podcast or a book. I love that.
So, Chuck, man, this has been awesome. I knew this was going to be fun with you, and I really appreciate you jumping on today. And for anybody listening—if anyone wants to get in contact with you in the future, how can they reach you?
Chuck Hengel
Our website’s decent. They can find me there, and then they can hit me up on LinkedIn. I’m responsive to anybody there.
Awesome, awesome. So we’ve got marketingarchitects.com, so you guys can go take a look at that—we’ll have that in the show notes as well. You guys, if you’re listening to this podcast and you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe. And Chuck, once again, I’m going to thank you for coming in and representing the underdogs, because that’s what you think you are—even though I think you’re not the underdog anymore. Either way, we appreciate you representing the underdogs in improving the world and making TV super relevant. I can’t wait to see what the future entails.
Thank you, and this has been fun. Thanks, Chuck, for joining us. It’s been a pleasure to have you. If you’re listening to this podcast and you like what you hear, make sure you subscribe. We’re on the list of the top 33 business podcasts that help your business grow substantially. So stay tuned—next week we’ll bring you a conversation with another marketing leader about what they do best. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to grow and learn. Join me on the next episode of The Marketing Growth Podcast soon.
00:05
Introduction to Chuck Hengel & the HurryCane Story
05:27
Developing a Product That Solves a Real Customer Problem
06:58
Overcoming Industry Pushback & Testing the Market
10:10
When is the Right Time to Sell a Business?
12:24
Lessons Learned from Selling HurryCane
17:10
Life After Selling a Business & Future Plans
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