The Wise Exit
Todd Sullivan
All episodes
Best episodes
Top 10 The Wise Exit Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Wise Exit episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Wise Exit for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Wise Exit episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
10/12/22 • 38 min
E7: Brandon started in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and then jumped to private equity to learn the tricks of the trade. After graduating from Harvard Business School, Brandon not only started a company, but he also worked in strategy and in M&A roles in multiple industries. Ultimately, Brandon discovered his life changing opportunity as an independent sponsor by purchasing and rolling up dental practices in the Midwest.
Five years later, after building up a significant business, Brandon and his partner were approached by a much larger organization to be acquired.
For many independent sponsors, buying a business takes incredible skill, patience and persistence. Success does not happen overnight, and it takes real sacrifice. Brandon's story is one of systematic and tireless pursuit of improving his personal business skillset while diligently searching for his big opportunity.
We hope you enjoy our conversation with Brandon Halcott.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This episode is brought to you by Exitwise: https://www.exitwise.com
Exitwise helps business owners create the exits they deserve by assembling the best teams of industry specific, M&A experts, who will help maximize the sale of each business.
How Does It Work:
1. Schedule A Call: Schedule a call with one of our M&A Advisors and we'll walk you through the entire process of selling your business, from market valuations to M&A expert fees and from due diligence to the signing of your purchase agreement. We're here to answer any questions you may have.
On this call, we'll want to learn about the history of the business, your financial performance, your management team and listen to your thoughts and requirements for selling the business so we can make sure to find the best M&A experts to help maximize your exit.
2. Review Top Experts: Once we've had a chance to process all your business information, we'll share with you, our top choices for investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax accountants to help maximize the sale of your business.
We’ll present each M&A expert’s transaction history, estimated valuation range for your business and their fee structures. Then we’ll talk through the pros and cons of each choice to help you prioritize and make the best decisions.
3. Negotiate & Hire: Finally, when we've narrowed it down to your top choices, we'll negotiate your engagement letter with each M&A expert to make sure fees and terms are fair for everyone. We know what to look for and we know how to keep everyone incentivized for your optimal outcome.
Once your M&A experts have been selected and you’re ready to move forward, we’ll collect signatures and get everyone to work.
Sold to Strategic Partner | Itai Ben-Gal
The Wise Exit
09/07/22 • 39 min
E2: Today, Itai Ben-Gal joins the podcast to talk about how he took his passion for home audio and video to build, scale, and eventually sell iRule to a strategic investor. You'll learn how he raised capital through a variety of channels - angel funding, venture capital and strategic investors, navigated a complicated sale, and how he and his business partner managed a very complex earn-out. He even talks through how he used his iRule exit to "accidentally" start his next company, Nerdy Bunny.
Itai has some of the best personal and professional advice we’ve ever heard for our fellow founders going through and M&A process - we hope you enjoy the conversation with Itai.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This episode is brought to you by Exitwise: https://www.exitwise.com
Exitwise helps business owners create the exits they deserve by assembling the best teams of industry specific, M&A experts, who will help maximize the sale of each business.
How Does It Work:
1. Schedule A Call: Schedule a call with one of our M&A Advisors and we'll walk you through the entire process of selling your business, from market valuations to M&A expert fees and from due diligence to the signing of your purchase agreement. We're here to answer any questions you may have.
On this call, we'll want to learn about the history of the business, your financial performance, your management team and listen to your thoughts and requirements for selling the business so we can make sure to find the best M&A experts to help maximize your exit.
2. Review Top Experts: Once we've had a chance to process all your business information, we'll share with you, our top choices for investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax accountants to help maximize the sale of your business.
We’ll present each M&A expert’s transaction history, estimated valuation range for your business and their fee structures. Then we’ll talk through the pros and cons of each choice to help you prioritize and make the best decisions.
3. Negotiate & Hire: Finally, when we've narrowed it down to your top choices, we'll negotiate your engagement letter with each M&A expert to make sure fees and terms are fair for everyone. We know what to look for and we know how to keep everyone incentivized for your optimal outcome.
Once your M&A experts have been selected and you’re ready to move forward, we’ll collect signatures and get everyone to work.
04/12/23 • 45 min
E30: Today, my guest is Rob Emery, a serial telecom and pet industry entrepreneur with two exits under his belt.
Early in his career, Rob started selling cell phones through his own retail outlets. After merging his retail locations with a franchise partner, Rob sold off his retail locations and founded ProtectCELL to focus on selling cell phone protection and replacement service plans through operational excellence and great business relationships. ProtectCELL became one of INC magazine's 500 fastest growing companies in the country.
Rob was looking for a financial partner to grow the business further, but ended up selling the majority of the business in 2012 and then selling the remaining equity two years later. Today, after investing in the pet industry as a hobby, Rob is now the owner and CEO of Encompass Pet Group, which distributes high quality pet foods and products, manages pet retail outlets and sells the hugely popular pet Comfort product, Snuggle Puppy.
In our discussion, Rob advises business owners to; 1) build your data room every day so you're ready to exit when a buyer comes calling, 2) conduct real due diligence on your buyer if you're going to roll equity, and 3) how installing operational excellence and infrastructure can allow a business owner to grow by buying other companies.
I hope you enjoy the conversation with Rob Emery.
Episode Highlights:
(5:02) From selling car stereos to opening a retail location - the beginnings of entrepreneurship
(8:02) How cell phone protection plans kick-started massive growth
(10:10) Managing exceptional growth
(13:02) Getting the M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) house in order
(16:54) Two bites at the M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) apple
(22:46) Retirement, and beginning the next step in an exceptional entrepreneurial journey
(25:27) The investment into SnugglePuppy
(31:38) The long term plan for Rob and the Encompass Pet Group
(36:20) The importance of having a proper Data Room in M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions)
(41:33) Fly first class forever...
(41:49) Changing the life of Rob's two niece's and one nephew
Where To Find Todd Sullivan:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Todd_Sullivan
Where To Find Rob Emery:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robemery1/
Episode 30 References:
06/07/23 • 46 min
E38: Join Todd Sullivan and Kim Kaupe, Founder of Bright Ideas Only and weekly host of the Coffee With Kim podcast, as they discuss her journey to entrepreneurship and the adventures of creating a number of ultra-successful businesses and media agencies.
Kim also dives into the experience of trying to sell one of her business in 2022, and the decision to pull out of the deal because it was not aligning with her values.
Kim thinks of herself as an “accidental entrepreneur” who uses her business education to garner success in the experiential marketing space. She’s worked with industry pillars such as Oprah, KISS, and The New York Mets to bring one-of-a-kind experience to fans around the world.
Her previous companies, ZinePak and The Superfan Company, garnered global praise. From being named one of The Wall Street Journal’s "Startup of the Year" to being featured on Season 5 of ABC’s hit primetime show, Shark Tank, securing offers from 4 out of 5 sharks.
Kim has been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30, Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40, Inc.’s 35 Under 35 and been awarded EY’s Young Innovator of the Year Award. She regularly contributes commentary on business, entrepreneurship and entertainment to media outlets such as Rolling Stone, Forbes and Entrepreneur in addition to being featured on television networks, such as her appearance as a judge for 2019 Miss USA pageant LIVE on Fox.
Where To Find Todd Sullivan (Host):
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Todd_Sullivan
Where To Find Kim Kaupe (Guest):
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkaupe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimkaupe
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimkaupe/
Episode 38 Required Reading, Listening & Viewing:
Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to the CASHING OUT PODCAST? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review!
$100M Exit to Monster + IPO | Rick Marini
The Wise Exit
09/14/22 • 42 min
E3: On today's episode we hear from Rick Marini. Rick is a serial entrepreneur with 25 years of operating and investing experience in the technology space. He founded and successfully sold 3 companies (Tickle, BranchOut and Talk.co). He is an active angel investor in 50 tech start-ups including 17 unicorns (including Snapchat, Reddit, Opendoor, and AngelList). In 2018, Rick was named a "Top 50 Angel Investor" by Forbes.
Rick is also the Co-founder & Managing Partner of Catapult Capital - a private equity firm that focuses on transactions in the Internet, advertising, media, consumer and broader technology sectors. Full buyouts include Grindr and JibJab. Rick currently serves as the COO of Grindr and on the Board of Directors for JibJab.
Rick was the Founder & CEO of BranchOut, the largest professional network leveraging the social graph with more than 800 million professional profiles. BranchOut raised $49 million in funding from Accel, Redpoint, Mayfield, Norwest and Floodgate. In 2014, BranchOut was acquired by a publicly-traded recruiting company.
Rick was Founder & CEO of Talk.co, an enterprise messaging app. In 2014, Talk.co was acquired by Hearst Corporation. Rick ran the Digital Innovation Group at Hearst from 2014-2016.
In 1999, Rick co-founded Tickle.com, one of the largest social media sites on the Internet. In 2002, Tickle won the “Rising Star” Webby Award as the fastest growing site on the Web. Tickle grew to more than 200 million registered users and was a top 20 Internet site. In 2004, Monster Worldwide acquired Tickle for $100 million.
Beyond Rick's depth of knowledge and experience, he is an amazing human being - he generously gives his time to coach and mentor early-stage companies and is a huge advocate for new founders looking for advice, support, and investment in Silicon Valley.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This episode is brought to you by Exitwise: https://www.exitwise.com
Exitwise helps business owners create the exits they deserve by assembling the best teams of industry specific, M&A experts, who will help maximize the sale of each business.
How Does It Work:
1. Schedule A Call: Schedule a call with one of our M&A Advisors and we'll walk you through the entire process of selling your business, from market valuations to M&A expert fees and from due diligence to the signing of your purchase agreement. We're here to answer any questions you may have.
On this call, we'll want to learn about the history of the business, your financial performance, your management team and listen to your thoughts and requirements for selling the business so we can make sure to find the best M&A experts to help maximize your exit.
2. Review Top Experts: Once we've had a chance to process all your business information, we'll share with you, our top choices for investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax accountants to help maximize the sale of your business.
We’ll present each M&A expert’s transaction history, estimated valuation range for your business and their fee structures. Then we’ll talk through the pros and cons of each choice to help you prioritize and make the best decisions.
3. Negotiate & Hire: Finally, when we've narrowed it down to your top choices, we'll negotiate your engagement letter with each M&A expert to make sure fees and terms are fair for everyone. We know what to look for and we know how to keep everyone incentivized for your optimal outcome.
Once your M&A experts have been selected and you’re ready to move forward, we’ll collect signatures and get everyone to work.
Selling A Business In A Down Market - Finding Success And Joining Tiny.com | Oliver Low
The Wise Exit
08/29/23 • 58 min
E50: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - OLIVER LOW
In this episode, Oliver talks about:
- Finding the right buyer for your startup (private equity, family office, strategic buyer, or holding company)
- The value of surrounding yourself with M&A expertise when selling your business
- How selling in the "4th inning" can often lead to better liquidity and professional options
GUEST BIO:
Oliver started his career at Microsoft in 2006. He spent time at MySpace from 2008 to 2010 and then launched a digital agency called Platform360, a B2B agency which was purchased by a strategic acquirer Silverbullet in 2018. After the acquisition, Oliver joined Silverbullet and helped take the company public in 2019, where his team is still benefiting from the acquisition structure Oliver and his M&A team designed.
Oliver currently runs Tiny Studio, a venture studios that sits within Tiny.com. Tiny is a holding company which was started to invest in and acquire companies. Oliver now sits at the center of helping make the Tiny portfolio companies grow.
We hope you enjoy the conversation with Oliver Low.
WHERE TO FIND OLIVER LOW:
LinkedIn
X (Twitter)
Oliver Low's Newsletter
EPISODE REFERENCES AND READING MATERIALS:
More about Tiny dot com
The Ticking Clock of M&A: How Delays Can Kill The Sale of Your Business (blog)
Are You Prepared To Sell Your Business? (blog)
How Much Is Your Company Worth?
05/03/23 • 64 min
E33: On today's episode of the Cashing Out podcast we are very fortunate to be chatting with April Anthony, currently the founder of the VitalCaring Group, which is her fourth home health care company. April is a home health care and technology entrepreneur with three exits under her belt. She started her career as an accountant, but at the age of 25, with the initial goal of being a stay-at-home mom, April talked herself and her husband into buying one of her clients, which was a failing home health care company. The next 25 years is a remarkable story of perseverance and success where April built and sold three home health care businesses for more than $1.5 billion.
April's superpower comes from her early days as an accountant and her unwavering perseverance to follow her purpose, which allowed her to flip the home health care industry on its head. In our discussion, April shares how finding your purpose will drive your business success, why you should do due diligence on your buyer, and when to sell pieces of your business while rolling equity to take a second, third and fourth bite of the apple.
Episode Sponsor:
Thanks to DoerenMayhew for sponsoring this episode of the Cashing Out podcast! DoerenMayhew is one of Forbes best tax and accounting firms in the United States. Check out their Quality of Earnings (QofE) offerings, and everything else they can help you with at doeren.com.
Episode Highlights:
- (3:32) April's beginnings as a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and buying her first home healthcare business from a client
- (8:24) From initial losses to profitability - building her first big home health care company
- (14:24) Selling her first business to a flawed owner, and what that meant to her earnout
- (21:51) Due diligence works in both directions - what April missed the first time around
- (28:39) Starting her second business, and building through acquisition (first) and organically (second)
- (36:58) What it meant to find the perfect Private Equity partner
- (39:03) April's perspective on when to sell your business - lake house or generational wealth
- (43:08) Self-awareness and entrepreneurship - the importance of being able to objectively look at your skill sets
- (45:27) Two, three, and four separate bites of the apple that created significant wealth for April and her family
- (51:04) April's "why", and a healthy balance of profit generation and mission
- (56:35) Failing at retirement, and creating her next home health care company, the VitalCaring Group
- (58:56) The importance of having a supportive family and amazing marriage partner
Where To Find Todd Sullivan (Host):
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Todd_Sullivan
Where To Find April Anthony (Guest):
Episode 33 Required Reading:
- April Anthony: Forbes 2022 America's Richest Self-Made Women (#28)
- April Anthony: Forbes BILLIONAIRESDAILY COVER
- Doeren Mayhew
Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to the CASHING OUT PODCAST? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review!
04/05/23 • 67 min
E29: Today, I want to do something a little different and share a story about an 82 year old serial entrepreneur who is also a professional tennis player.
I've known this person my whole life and he helped shape my entire entrepreneurial career with his unwavering encouragement and lifelong words of wisdom when he told me, "No one is ever going to give it to you. You have to fight for every point, every game and every match, every single day." And when he gave examples of great entrepreneurs and athletes that he remembers most, they were always the ones that succeeded with class and integrity.
I hope you enjoy my conversation with my dad, Paul Sullivan.
Episode Highlights:
(2:47) The beginning's of the Sullivan family entrepreneurial journey - Edith Sullivan Tennis Creations
(8:11) The Vietnam War, and playing tennis with a US General
(10:57) Starting the Paul Sullivan Sportswear Company
(15:32) Winning the Mixed Doubles U.S. National Indoor Championships with Billie Jean King
(19:50) Inventing the "Spalding Smasher" (the world's first aluminum tennis racquet)
(27:31) The patent fight with Spalding
(33:22) A Christmas Eve flood that destroyed the clothing business
(39:12) The next big opportunity in Iowa
(48:10) Flying to every Yale hockey game from El Salvador
(59:42) Final entrepreneurial advice from Paul Sullivan
Where To Find Todd Sullivan:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Todd_Sullivan
Episode 29 References:
Frequent Flier, Sports Illustrated (1994)
My 9-Figure Exit to Autotrader | Matt Watson
The Wise Exit
03/08/23 • 42 min
E25: On today's episode, we have tech expert, entrepreneur and founder of three successful tech companies, Matt Watson. As a technical and product-focused founder, Matt has a unique talent for balancing technology and business goals and knows what it takes to sell his business when the time is right.
Matt built the largest automotive focused CRM platform in North America called VinSolutions, and he sold it to Autotrader for $150 million in 2011.
After selling his second technology company, Stackify, Matt is now focused on building out his current software development firm Full Scale, leveraging all of his experiences and expertise. Matt is also the host of the Startup Hustle Podcast, where he shares insights, tips and stories from his own entrepreneurial journey and from some of the most successful business leaders in the world.
In today's conversation, we talk about being open minded to either raising capital or selling your business to enable the next stage of growth. Matt also shares how important it is to understand how your transaction earnout is achieved when you are no longer making all the decisions.
A few episode highlights:
4:38 - A car dealer walks into Sears to buy a computer...
7:15 - I'm your Zuckerberg to your Winklevoss
8:21 - The hustle to get VinSolutions off the ground
12:17 - The strategic advantage that created a SaaS rocket ship
18:10 - The pros and cons of taking venture investment to handle exponential growth
22:14 - The Autotrader acquisition, and how it almost didn't happen
26:44 - The "Rule of 40" in valuing the business
39:05 - The potential pitfall of selling to the wrong Private Equity group
I hope you enjoy my conversation with Matt Watson.
M&A Lessons From A 3x Entrepreneur | A.J. Lawrence
The Wise Exit
04/26/23 • 53 min
E32: Join Todd Sullivan as he interviews A.J. Lawrence, a self-proclaimed journeyman entrepreneur with multiple exits under his belt. A.J. sold his first web development business to an ad agency a few years out of college. He then moved into I.T. hardware and sold his Wi-Fi router business to his main hardware supplier. AJ capped it off in 2021 by building and selling a multi-million dollar digital ad agency which made the Inc. 500 twice.
Today, A.J. is a student of the entrepreneurial mindset. Given his success, he is intent on better understanding what makes founders succeed and fail. To this end, A.J. acquired the Beyond Eight Figures podcast to explore and share what makes entrepreneurs tick and how we can all improve our skill sets through the experiences of our fellow founders. In today's discussion, A.J. and I discuss how his companies were valued by strategic acquirers, his understanding of why terms are more important than price in an M&A transaction, and the value of family support when building and selling a business.
Episode Highlights:
- (3:32) AJ's beginning as a serial entrepreneur
- (8:26) The details behind AJ's first exit, and the strategic partnership that created it
- (13:49) "Your Price, Our Terms"
- (16:45) The Creation of business #2
- (18:52) From near failure to a seven-figure exit
- (25:29) The importance of defining your "why" in the early days of your startup
- (29:17) The creation of the JAR Group, and the emotional toll it took on AJ on his team
- (33:32) Losing his revenue whale at JAR, and the realities of the business left behind
- (35:04) A burned out CEO, and a fortunate negotiation that led to a significant earnout
- (42:11) Buying a podcast with BITCOIN
- (47:19) Final M&A perspectives from a 3x entrepreneur
- (51:12) The role that friends and family play in an entrepreneur's success
Where To Find Todd Sullivan (Host):
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Todd_Sullivan
Where To Find A.J. Lawrence (Guest):
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajlawrence3/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajlawrence
Episode 32 Required Reading:
- What Is Seller Discretionary Earnings ("SDE")?
- Beyond 8 Figures podcast | A.J. Lawrence
- Built To Sell | John Warrillow
- Buy Then Build | Walker Deibel
- 4 Ways to Calculate the Value of Your Business
- Startup Savant Podcast
- TRUIC: Guides To Start And Grow Your Small Business
Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to the CASHING OUT PODCAST? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review!
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does The Wise Exit have?
The Wise Exit currently has 68 episodes available.
What topics does The Wise Exit cover?
The podcast is about Venture Capital, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Investing, Private Equity, Podcasts, Business and M&A.
What is the most popular episode on The Wise Exit?
The episode title 'Online Gaming, UFC, Esports, and VC - Winning The Early Stage Growth Game | Jonah Midanik' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Wise Exit?
The average episode length on The Wise Exit is 43 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Wise Exit released?
Episodes of The Wise Exit are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of The Wise Exit?
The first episode of The Wise Exit was released on Aug 31, 2022.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ