From DJ Decks to a Seven-Figure Exit: Scaling a Tech Startup With the Help of a Six-Pack

What does it take to scale to a 7 Figures Exit?

Dhilon Solanki’s career began behind DJ decks in university, where a passion for creating experiences first took hold. This led him down a 20-year path through the hospitality industry, from launching nightclubs across the UK to bootstrapping his own award-winning restaurant, Pecking Order. But when a corporate giant moved in next door, his dream business was crushed overnight, forcing an exit that left him broke and facing one of the darkest moments of his life.

His response was unconventional. Instead of writing a new business plan, he committed to a brutal, six-month fitness program that forged an unbreakable sense of discipline. That transformation became his most powerful asset. In a remarkable turn of events, the resilience he demonstrated was so undeniable that it convinced an Australian tech company to hire him to lead their EMEA expansion—with zero tech or sales experience.

Dhilon shares the story of that incredible comeback, from leveraging his hospitality network to scale the tech startup, Sprout, to a multi-million dollar exit, to finding his true purpose. Motivated by a personal family loss, he has now founded Story Locker, a company dedicated to preserving life stories as a digital legacy for future generations.

This episode is a powerful story of resilience, the surprising paths to success, and how to find your mission after hitting rock bottom.

Agenda:

• The Hospitality Hustle:

• How DJing to pay his way through university taught him how to create experiences and build a crowd.

• The creative direct mailer he sent to 50 agencies to land his first marketing job out of college.

• Getting hired to scale the Oceana nightclub brand based on his passion and "fire in your belly" rather than on-paper experience.

• The Founder's Crucible (Pecking Order):

• Bootstrapping his first restaurant with help from family and the immense personal sacrifices required, including not seeing his young son for three years.

• The devastating blow of having Nando's open five doors away, killing the business overnight.

• The difficult decision to sell the business for break-even after a key partner failed to deliver on promises.

• The Comeback & Tech Success (Sprout):

• Hitting a personal and professional low point after the exit, and how a six-month fitness journey gave him the focus and discipline to recover.

• How the founders of Sprout hired him to be their EMEA CEO specifically because of the resilience he proved during his fitness journey, calling it "gold dust".

• The enterprise sales playbook for selling to hospitality: speaking the customer's language, understanding their pain points, and leveraging your network.

• Scaling the EMEA business from zero to a multi-million dollar acquisition by Mr. Yum.

• The Mission-Driven Pivot (Story Locker):

• The emotional origin of Story Locker, sparked by his young son asking about his late grandmother.

• The "penny drop" moment: recording his own father's life story and seeing his son's reaction.

• His philosophy on "Never Give Up" and the wisdom to know when to draw the line—when things are out of your control or affecting your family's well-being.

Memorable Quotes

"Experience is great, but passion and having the will and the fire in your belly is something you can't manufacture."

"Never ever chase the money... As long as you've got a great business, you know, you work hard... and things will start to happen basically."

"When things are out of your control, then I think then you have to draw a line."

When asked for his entrepreneurial motto: "Never give up."