Exit Algorithms

Only 20 to 30 percent of businesses that go to market with a broker actually sell. Linh Adelaida Johansson says sellability is not a yes or no, it is a probability, and every risk you leave in the business shrinks the pool of buyers who will look at it.Linh is an M&A and value creation advisor with buy-side experience at Lantheus, a large pharma, and sell-side experience with Livmo and Flippa. She holds an MBA and a Master's in Finance from Hult in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a Certified M&A Advisor.Want to know what makes your business worth more? Download the free Business Value Cheat Sheet: 10 Steps to Increase the Value of Your Business: https://bizexitgrow.com/cheat-sheetLinh's framework: valuation moves on three levers, revenue, EBITDA, and the multiple, and the multiple is where buyers price your risk and attractiveness.In this episode:– Why financial statement quality is a deal killer in the SME space, and the six-to-twelve-month cleanup that fixes it– Why revenue trend can matter more than profit when a business is reinvesting to grow– Customer concentration: why 20 percent from one account takes longer than a year to fix– The owner dependency audit: list every task, ask who else does it, and score how hard it is to replace– What Linh heard when she cold-called 100 buyers: the seller's character ranked first– The number one reason deals die: the valuation gap between what sellers want and buyers will pay– Buyer pools explained: strategics, experienced owners, first-time buyers and search funds, and private equity– Why serial entrepreneurs must fully separate the business they are selling from the rest of the portfolio– How Linh uses Claude, Perplexity, and Fathom, and how owners can use AI for OTE dashboards and revenue per employeeConnect with Linh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linhadelaidaFree 60-minute Value Creation Diagnostic: https://valuecreationdiagnostics.comChapters0:00 Welcome and guest introduction1:03 From Microsoft consulting to M&A at a large pharma3:27 Financial statement quality as a deal killer5:05 Customer concentration and transferability7:08 Financial readiness: external accountants and three clean years11:21 The three levers: revenue, EBITDA, and the multiple14:40 The number one deal killer: the valuation gap16:19 The owner dependency audit17:40 What 100 buyers said matters most20:25 Balancing trust and leverage in negotiation22:47 How Linh uses AI for research and analysis25:05 OTE dashboards and revenue per employee28:58 Separating a business from the rest of your portfolio31:04 Linh's practical takeaway33:00 Sellability is a probability game#ExitAlgorithms #BusinessValuation #ExitPlanning

Why do warehouse management system rollouts fail even when the software is good? Amy Dean has sat on both sides, as a 3PL VP of IT running startups and onboardings, and now as VP of Operations at a WMS vendor, and her answer is the same every time: the people on the floor, not the platform.Amy was named a 2025 Women in Supply Chain Rising Star and a 2026 Supply & Demand Chain Executive Trailblazer, and she writes for SupplyChainBrain on data and operations.Want to know what makes your logistics business worth more? Download the free Business Value Cheat Sheet: 10 Steps to Increase the Value of Your Business: https://bizexitgrow.com/cheat-sheetAmy's rule: get close to the people doing the work before you try to improve the work, then use technology to solve the problems they name, not the other way around.In this episode:– What a good WMS implementation looks like: floor buy-in first, then clean data down to the location labels– How to build the implementation team: ops, customer service, systems, and sales in the room– Must-haves versus the wish list, and why the wish list is your technology roadmap– The two bottlenecks that stall 3PL growth: space and inflexible systems– The license plate rollout that worked because of forklift-driver champions, not the project plan– Best-of-breed versus all-in-one platforms, and why neither answer is wrong– When building your own software makes sense, and the point where it caps your scale– Cody, SC Codeworks' AI assistant, and how it answers "where is this order" in plain language– The over-customization trap: plan for the general rule and allow exceptionsConnect with Amy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amydeantx | https://sccodeworks.comChapters0:00 Welcome and guest introduction1:03 From 3PL rotational program to VP of IT to WMS vendor2:33 What a good WMS implementation looks like4:49 Building the implementation team and the wish list6:00 The two bottlenecks that stall 3PL growth7:24 Rolling out new tech without breaking operations9:30 Best-of-breed versus all-in-one platforms11:22 When to build your own software and when to stop13:04 Cody: SC Codeworks' AI assistant for the floor15:12 How Amy uses AI and why she is cautiously optimistic16:33 Robotics, automation, and keeping warehouses human18:36 What a client engagement looks like19:48 The over-customization trap21:08 Amy's practical takeaway#ExitAlgorithms #WMS #3PL

Private equity circled his firm with lucrative offers, until he read the fine print: five-to-seven-year tie-ins and clawbacks that wiped out everything if he was not there at final exit. So Chris Burke sold Brickendon to his own employees instead, through a UK Employee Ownership Trust, and paid no capital gains tax.Chris started Brickendon in 2010 with a mortgage advance, a laptop, and no clients, and grew it to more than 300 professionals and over $250 million in revenue with no outside funding. He founded HybridHero in 2018, now in 40+ countries, and runs Aduvo, an operator-led advisory for founder-led businesses with £5 million to £50 million in turnover.Want to know what makes your business worth more? Download the free Business Value Cheat Sheet: 10 Steps to Increase the Value of Your Business: https://bizexitgrow.com/cheat-sheetChris's test: if you cannot step away for two, four, or eight weeks, you do not have a business. You are the business, and you have a job.In this episode:– From a farm town of 286 people to losing everything in his twenties on a business he did not control– Why the PE offers had a sting in the tail, and how the EOT (the UK cousin of an ESOP) worked instead– Running a cash-hungry consultancy where banks pay in six months and governments in a year, and why he kept two years of cash on hand– When organic growth stalls and acquisition becomes the only way to the next level– Ego as the first obstacle to exit: the founder who had champagne on ice and walked away– Spend an hour to save five minutes: the documentation rule that turns your business into McDonald's– How buyers price redundancies and merged overhead, and why a 6x can become a 4.5x– AI as an enabler for experts and a trap for everyone else, plus the AI echo chamber problemConnect with Chris: https://theaduvo.com/podcast | https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-burke-ukMention Exit Algorithms when you reach out and Chris will offer a discount on Aduvo engagements.Chapters0:00 Welcome and guest introduction1:12 From a farm town of 286 to London2:20 Losing everything in his twenties3:26 Why private equity offers had a sting in the tail4:15 Selling Brickendon to employees through an EOT5:20 Who stepped up to run the business6:31 Running a cash-hungry business with slow-paying clients8:09 When to acquire instead of grow organically9:49 The three things Aduvo looks at first10:53 If you cannot leave for 8 weeks, you have a job12:09 Ego: the founder who walked away with champagne on ice13:34 Spend an hour to save five minutes15:32 How buyers price redundancies and merged overhead16:50 AI: an enabler for experts, a trap for everyone else19:48 The AI echo chamber21:10 Chris's practical takeaway#ExitAlgorithms #EmployeeOwnership #BusinessExit

What can a non-franchise business owner learn from how franchises are bought and sold? Greg Mohr says almost everything: franchisors force clean books, documented SOPs, and buyer vetting, and those are exactly the things that raise any company's multiple.Greg is founder of Franchise Maven, a two-time Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of Real Freedom and Expert Resilience, co-author of From Idea to Empire with original Shark Kevin Harrington, and twice named Franchise Consultant of the Year.Want to know what makes your business worth more? Download the free Business Value Cheat Sheet: 10 Steps to Increase the Value of Your Business: https://bizexitgrow.com/cheat-sheetGreg's rule: if you treat it like a job, it will be a job. Treat it like an asset, put a manager on it, and make sure your name is not on a single line of the ops chart.In this episode:– From Taco Bell shift manager at 16 to microelectronics engineer to franchise owner and advisor– Why Greg sold his telecom consulting franchise too early and what more recurring revenue would have done to the multiple– How franchise resales work: the franchisor vets your buyer the same way they vetted you– Why a franchise P&L has to be clean (royalty audits) and how questionable line items kill buyer confidence– Reading an FDD: Item 20 growth rates and why buyers pay for your growth backed by the system's growth– Horizontal versus vertical empire building: one brand across territories, or lawn, pest, gutters, and cleaning for the same customers– AI as a force multiplier for research and content, and why home services and senior care still need a humanConnect with Greg: https://www.franchisemaven.com | [email protected] | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorykmohrReal Freedom on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WC963Q8Chapters0:00 Welcome and guest introduction1:11 From Taco Bell at 16 to engineer to franchise owner3:35 Greg's first exit and the recurring revenue lesson5:46 How franchise resales and buyer approval work7:33 Asset, not a job: the first thing Greg tells every client8:24 Get your name off the ops chart10:40 What buyers look for: system growth plus your growth12:18 Why a franchisor-audited P&L raises your multiple14:24 AI as a force multiplier, not a replacement17:35 How Greg uses AI for podcast outreach and content19:52 Real Freedom and how to investigate a franchise22:55 Co-authoring From Idea to Empire with Kevin Harrington24:48 Horizontal versus vertical empire building27:20 Greg's practical takeaway#ExitAlgorithms #Franchising #BusinessExit

Why do deals that look perfect on paper fall apart 30 days after close? Tara-Lee Goerlitz says it is almost never strategy or skill. It is a leadership team that cannot make a contested decision without the owner in the room.Tara-Lee is founder of NexLevel and co-founder of IRx Advisory, where she and partners Duncan Reed and Ayako Ohtake run Leadership Due Diligence for buyers and help sellers close what she calls the leadership intelligence gap. The team trained directly with Patrick Lencioni's Table Group on the organizational health framework.Want to know what makes your business worth more? Download the free Business Value Cheat Sheet: 10 Steps to Increase the Value of Your Business: https://bizexitgrow.com/cheat-sheetTara-Lee says financial diligence tells a buyer what they bought. Leadership due diligence tells them whether the team can execute it.In this episode:– The six critical questions every leadership team must answer together, and why the answers usually live only in the founder's head– Smart versus healthy: why companies obsess over strategy, product, and financials and ignore the clarity, trust, and cohesion that unlock them– The one test buyers should run: can this team make a contested decision in a room without the owner present– Why pre-close everyone paints a pretty picture, and what shows up 30 days post-close– Vulnerability-based trust versus predictive trust, and why trust falls do not build it– How a leadership team of seven with seven different top priorities creates competing priorities for everyone below them– Why AI amplifies value in healthy organizations and multiplies confusion in unhealthy onesConnect with Tara-Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taraleegoerlitzChapters0:00 Welcome and guest introduction0:59 From "the best friend" to leadership and team development1:45 Training with Patrick Lencioni's Table Group2:47 Why strategy fails at clarity, not planning3:20 The six critical questions5:05 The leadership intelligence gap in M&A6:15 What really keeps a business dependent on its owner7:50 The contested decision test buyers should run9:50 Why deals go sideways 30 days post-close11:50 Smart versus healthy organizations13:00 Seven leaders, seven different priorities15:21 Vulnerability-based trust versus predictive trust19:40 Meetings are where leadership teams should perform22:51 AI amplifies health and multiplies confusion26:50 Tara-Lee's practical takeaway: book the off-site30:17 The six questions, one more time#ExitAlgorithms #OrganizationalHealth #LeadershipTeam