The answer to the Reverse Turing Test is: BUILD.SELL.RETIRE

Important Links

• Abdelaziz Musa (Host) – LinkedIn

• Chris Averill (Guest) – LinkedIn

• Buy Chris's Amazing Book "Build.Sell.Retire" - Buy Now on Amazon
• Check Out Chris's New Business - Oliiv

• The Impact Lab – www.theimpactlab.store

• Cush Digital – www.cush.digital

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This week's Guest: Chris Averill

Chris Averill is an entrepreneur, investor, and mentor with a 16-year track record of building and selling successful tech ventures. As founder of Oliiv.co, he's transforming the olive oil industry using AI to connect consumers with premium, small-batch producers. A former partner at Northford Capital and author of Build Sell Retire, Chris advises health tech startups and supports young entrepreneurs through The Prince's Trust. He's also a volunteer with the RNLI, an Ambassador for Missing People, a licensed pilot, and a dedicated father, driven by a passion for innovation and community impact.

Summary

In this episode, I sit down with serial entrepreneur, author, and former agency founder Chris Averill for a no-BS conversation about building, selling, retiring — and then building again.

We cover everything from the secret to hiring great people to why most founders throttle their own company’s growth. Chris explains how active listening can save your career and your marriage, how “failure-friendly” cultures outperform safe ones, and why taste might be the last human frontier that AI can’t touch.

He shares the behind-the-scenes story of how his agency pitch process changed the game for us at Cush Digital — and how we accidentally invented vertical video before reels existed.

We also dive into AI: the fear, the potential, the limitations, and why voice might be the final user interface. If you’ve ever felt stuck in your startup, afraid of AI, or unsure how to lead without controlling everything — this one’s for you.

Takeaways

• You are the bottleneck: Founders often hold their teams back without realizing it.

• Hire well, then get out of the way: Great people need space, not micromanagement.

• Failure is essential: Reward it. Celebrate it. Build a culture that embraces it.

• Active listening is a cheat code: It will make you a better boss, partner, and parent.

• Client acquisition is a system: Not a guessing game.

• Taste is irreplaceable: AI can replicate execution, not vision.

• Voice is the future of UX: You heard it here first… back in 2015.

• AI is a tool, not a threat: Unless you're not learning fast enough.

• Reskilling is survival: Especially for grads entering a world run by agents.

• Human-made will be the new luxury: In a sea of AI content, real will stand out.

Keywords

Founder growth, agency life, active listening, leadership, AI in business, client acquisition, team empowerment, pitch strategy, UX, startup scaling, exit strategy, authentic content

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
06:08 The Concept of Active Pitching
11:54 Overcoming Growth Bottlenecks
18:46 Navigating Change and Fear of AI
25:51 Building Foundational Skills in Marketing
38:15 Insights from Writing a Book