The work that determines what a business is worth
By the time an exit process begins, most of the value has already been set. It was set in the years before, in the strategic positioning, the quality of the evidence, the readiness of the founder, and the shape of the story the buyer eventually hears.
This is about the upstream work. The 12–36 months before any transaction conversation gets real, when the choices you make still meaningfully move the multiple.
Who this is for
Founders and business owners who are:
01. Thinking 12–36 months ahead to a possible sale, even if no process is yet in motion.
02. Aware that “ready to exit” and “ready to exit well” are very different states.
03. Operating in tech-enabled categories.
04. Wanting to preserve exit optionality, even if no decision to sell has been made yet.
What I do here
I work the founder-side of the pre-exit window: the strategic positioning, the value narrative, and the internal readiness that determine how the business reads to a future buyer. I also bring along exited founders who understand what the process feels like, and know what traps to avoid.
I do not run M&A transactions. That work — buyer outreach, the process, the negotiation, the closing — is run by specialist M&A advisors I work alongside.
My role is upstream of theirs, and the work done in that window often matters more to the eventual valuation than the deal itself.
Strategic positioning
Sharpening how the business is positioned in its category
What it owns, what it stands for, the IP, and which categories of acquirer (strategic, financial, or both) the business is being shaped to attract.
Clarity on the strategic story that makes the business indispensable to the right buyers, not just available to everyone.
Value narrative
The story of why this business is worth what you believe it’s worth
Built from the inside, grounded in evidence, and tested against how an acquirer will actually read it.
Strong narratives compress perceived risk and expand perceived opportunity — and the multiple follows.
Internal readiness
The unglamorous work that moves valuation
Tightening the commercial story, surfacing the diligence risks (customer concentration, key-person dependency, contract structure, revenue quality), and addressing them before a buyer’s team uses them to negotiate the price down.
The work of making sure the business doesn’t leave value on the table because no one structured it properly in advance.
Founder readiness
Often the part founders don’t think about until it’s too late
The choices you’ll be asked to make, the trade-offs you’re willing to accept, the earn-out you’ll be expected to deliver, the role you want post-sale — and the clarity you’ll need before a process begins, not after.
This is where my network of exited founders proves to be the most valuable.
How we work together
Engagements are structured to involve strategic partners
This is to ensure you’re covered on all sides: the strategy and value narrative, the technical M&A side of preparing for an exit, and the reality checks that only someone who’s been there can bring.
The work is paced to your window. Sometimes it’s a short positioning sprint 12 months out. Sometimes it’s a longer embedded relationship running across the full pre-exit period.
Commercial terms are scoped to the engagement, and details are discussed openly upfront.