# The $65M exit, and life after Inkbox · Worth Owning · Horizon

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Worth Owning · Episode 04

# The $65M exit, and life after Inkbox

Hosted by **Krystyn Harrison** · With **Tyler Handley**, Co-founder, InkboxSep 2025 · 48 min

0:0048:00

Watch or listen on[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tyler-handley-the-%2465m-exit-and-life-after-inkbox/id1830558138)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5hOpLGuAecUP1KyJerEMwC)[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nnIvqa_mUQ)

## From a fruit in the jungle to a $65M sale to BIC

Overview

Tyler Handley wanted a tattoo he wasn’t sure he could commit to. Temporary ones felt like they were made for kids, so he went looking for something better and found a fruit that tribes in Panama and Peru used to dye their skin. With his brother Braden, he turned it into Inkbox, a semi-permanent tattoo brand, and in 2022 sold it to BIC in a deal worth $65 million.

Tyler walks through how the company got there: proving demand on Kickstarter, repositioning the brand from a tattoo marketplace to a replenishable beauty product a buyer could picture on its shelves, and what venture money changes about when you can sell.

Then the part most exit stories skip. The deal was retraded near the finish line when Apple’s privacy change hit their ad costs. Tyler used an alter ego to hold the line on calls, and once the money landed, it took eight months for the stress to leave his body. His advice to owners before a sale: untether your identity from the business, because the feelings you carry in will carry out with you.

Chapters

What you’ll learn

01How repositioning the product made the company easier to buy

02What venture money changes about when, and whether, you can sell

03How to negotiate when a buyer retrades the deal near the finish line

04Why the stress outlasts the sale, and how to untether your identity first

Where does your business stand today?

[Get your Optionality Score →](/optionality-score)

## More on the episode

Episode 04Sep 2025 · 48 min

Note: Krystyn, Matt and their guests may hold interests in companies discussed in this episode. Worth Owning is not financial, legal, tax or investment advice, and is for informational purposes only. Do your own research and speak with your own professionals before making any financial decision.

[Where this shows up in your businessPlanning for the sale, and what comes after?The Exit Partnership prepares you for the deal and the life after it, with a Partner who has been through both.See the Exit Partnership →](/exit-partnership)

![Tyler Handley](/images/guests/tyler-handley.jpg)

Guest

Tyler Handley

Co-founder, Inkbox

Tyler Handley co-founded Inkbox with his brother Braden, took it from a Kickstarter launch to a $65 million sale to BIC in 2022, and stayed on through the earnout. He’s now building a new consumer brand, alongside making music and learning Spanish.

[inkbox.com](https://inkbox.com)

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