Insights
Written for founders preparing for what comes next. Read by series, or one piece at a time.
Transition Operators Guide to Selling Your Business
Selling a business is asymmetric warfare. This is your mental model for surviving it.
Read →- POST M.1
Half of All Businesses Don't Sell — Here's Why
The failure rate isn't about the market. It's about the seller.
Read → - POST M.2
Two Buyers Two Motives - Know the Difference Before You Sell
Why the type of buyer sitting across the table changes everything about your deal.
Read → - POST M.3
The Empty Chair
Every advisor in a deal owns one slice of it. The slice that decides the price is the one no one is hired to handle.
Read → - POST M.4
Your Company Is The Product - Start Selling It Like One
The mental shift that separates founders who get great deals from founders who leave money on the table.
Read → - POST M.5
Have to Sell vs. Want to Sell — And Why Buyers Can Tell the Difference
Buyers don't just price your business. They price your timeline.
Read → - POST M.6
Think Like a Buyer
Your buyer isn't looking for reasons to pay more. They're looking for reasons to pay less.
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The Six Areas That Make or Break Your Exit
Series 2 opens with the man who thought he had plenty of time. Meet Ed.
Read →- 4 POSTS
Commercial
What the buyer sees when they look at how the business actually runs.
Read → - 5 POSTS
Legal
What the buyer's attorney finds when they read the documents you haven't read in a decade.
Read → - 5 POSTS
Finance
How buyers price your books — and where the gaps cost the most at the closing table.
Read → - 4 POSTS
Human Capital
The people who run the business, and what happens to its value when they leave.
Read → - 3 POSTS
Sales & Marketing
Where revenue actually comes from, and whether the buyer can keep it after you go.
Read → - 4 POSTS
IT Systems
The systems holding the business together, and what happens when the buyer's diligence team looks at them.
Read →
- POST D.0
The 7 Elements of Every PE Deal
The headline was $119M. The founders took home $73M. The gap is the series.
Read → - POST D.1
The Lock-In
How PE locks you into a single-buyer process and extracts concessions once you can't walk.
Read → - POST D.2
The Walk-Away Clause
The buyer thinks they bought an option. You think you have a commitment. That gap is where founders lose money.
Read → - POST D.3
The Headline Number Is a Lie
The gap between what the buyer announces and what hits your account. $119M headline. $63M wire.
Read → - POST D.4
The Working Capital Trap
Most founders think the purchase price is fixed at signing. The working capital true-up proves it isn't.
Read → - POST D.5
The Toll Road
~$4M in transaction costs sat between the headline and the wire. Every dollar came out of the founders' side.
Read →