RESOURCES
TO HELP YOU PLAN YOUR EXIT
Seriously Drive Up the Value of Your Company
If you've resolved to make your company more valuable in the remainder of 2022, you may want to think hard about how your customers pay. If you have a transaction business model where customers pay once for what they buy, expect your company’s value to be a...
Getting Around Your Non-compete
Nick Leighton started a marketing agency called NettResults with the idea of helping technology companies access consumers in the Middle East. Based in Dubai, Leighton built NettResults to around $2 million in revenue when he decided to sell. Leighton attracted a...
From Elon Musk to Exit of His Own
Ben Kellie got his start in the aerospace industry, helping Elon Musk figure out how to get his rockets to land on a floating barge without blowing up. In 2015, Kellie left SpaceX to start The Launch Company, where they supply hardware parts and consulting to a...
The Shotgun Breakup
Back in 2006, Michael Kaplan and his partners bought into a Zerorez Carpet and Living Surfaces Care franchise. The business was generating $300,000 in revenue and losing $40,000 a year. By 2019, the company was generating $17 million in revenue when Kaplan and his...
Protecting Against The End Run
A football defensive coordinator needs to protect against an “end run,” a tactical play where your opponent sends the running back wide around the offensive line to try to evade the oncoming tackle. Just like in football, you have to defend against an end run coming...
Cheryl Contee on Selling Attentive.ly
Cheryl Contee co-founded Attentive.ly along with Rosalyn Lemieux. Together, the partners offered a Software as a Service (SaaS) app that helped non-for-profit organizations perform “social listening”. Their offering was used by organizations to identify and drive...
Stop Selling Your Time
If your goal is to build a more valuable company, stop selling your time. Billing by the hour or day means customers are renting your time rather than buying a result, which means that your business model lacks leverage. To grow, you need to either work harder or...
The $4 Million Dollar Haircut
In 1994, Robert Hartline started selling phones in the back of his car. By 2019, he had built Absolute Wireless into a chain of 56 wireless stores and 350 employees. Hartline was able to systematize his business while he grew by creating employee onboarding videos and...
The Hidden Danger of Cross-Selling
You've likely heard the adage that it is far easier to cross-sell an existing customer a new product than it is to find a new customer. And if your goal is to grow at all costs, then cross-selling makes sense. However, all of that sales growth may not do much for the...
A Rembrandt in the Attic
James Prebble co-founded Palladium Digital, a consultancy helping companies think about their digital strategy. The company experimented with various business models until they landed on helping private equity groups get a return on their investments. Private equity...