In this episode of Recruiting Alchemy, Andy Simpson sits down with Steve Beckitt founder of SourceBreaker for a candid and often hilarious deep dive into how he went from contract recruiter to tech founder, built a SaaS business from spreadsheets, and exited with a life-changing deal.

Steve shares his unfiltered journey: selling early products that barely worked, surviving COVID as a bootstrapped founder, and the emotional highs and lows of growing (and selling) a business under intense pressure. From S3 training rooms to building Excel tools that ended up in the hands of Google and Facebook. This episode is equal parts gritty startup story and practical masterclass for any recruiter or entrepreneur thinking of taking the leap.

🎙 Key Topics:

🔹 How Steve validated SourceBreaker by selling Excel spreadsheets to recruiters
🔹 The early hustle: balancing product development with cash flow
🔹 Going from contractor at S3 to founder in Croydon
🔹 Why recruitment was never the end goal—and how he pivoted into SaaS
🔹 Managing investor expectations and funding rounds
🔹 Surviving a direct competitor giving away a near-identical product for free
🔹 When and why he decided to sell the business—and how close it came to falling apart
🔹 The emotional cost of being a founder (and why he sold the cars)

📄 Show Notes & Timestamps

[00:00] – Intro & Background
Steve’s recruitment roots and early days at S3

[06:00] – Leaving S3 & Starting From Scratch
From flat in Croydon to the first sale

[10:00] – The Spreadsheet Hustle
How Steve built basic Excel tools to fund his startup—and got 500 global brands downloading

[14:00] – Validating the Market
From Boolean builders to product-market fit with no code

[18:00] – Finding the Right Co-Founders & Freelancers
Meet Zenon: the MVP-builder behind the curtain

[22:00] – Turning Spreadsheets into a SaaS Company
Why being underestimated helped—and what broke first

[28:00] – Raising Capital & The Pressure to Perform
Private equity, SEIS, and the true weight of investor money

[33:00] – Navigating COVID, Near Misses & Competitive Threats
How they survived a major competitor undercutting them before launch

[36:00] – Scaling, Stress & Real Talk About Burnout
The pressure to exit, and the price of relentless growth

[42:00] – Life After the Exit
What changed (and what didn’t)

[44:00] – Advice for Founders
From advisors to mindset to spreadsheets