ExitNow

The curriculum

How to sell a business

The whole journey from deciding what a good exit looks like to life after the wire, laid out in six phases and eighteen chapters — plus bonus playbooks and tracks for specific kinds of businesses.

Phase 1

Exit Clarity — Set Direction

01

Exit Landscape & Buyer Types

Strategics vs PE vs search funds, and what each one values.

  1. 01.1The Exit Ecosystem (Overview)
  2. 01.2Strategic Buyers: What They Really Value
  3. 01.3Private Equity and Financial Buyers
  4. 01.4Search Funds, Family Offices and Individuals
  5. 01.5Choosing Your Target Buyer Type

5 articles

02

Outcome Design

Full sale, majority/partial, roll-up, second bite, timing.

  1. 02.1Defining Your Founder Outcomes (Financial, Emotional, Strategic)
  2. 02.2How to Calculate Your ‘Walk-Away Number’
  3. 02.3Designing Partial vs Full Exits (Liquidity Strategy)
  4. 02.4Timing, Market Cycles & Personal Readiness
  5. 02.5Exit Goal Map Workshop (Bring It All Together)

5 articles

03

Choosing Your Exit Path: Banker, Broker, or DIY

Who runs the process, and how much control you keep.

  1. 03.1Overview — Exit Paths & Process Control
  2. 03.2Investment Bankers — High-Value, High-Structure
  3. 03.3Business Brokers — Access Without Complexity
  4. 03.4DIY or Founder-Led Sales — Control & Confidentiality
  5. 03.5Decision Framework — Selecting Your Path

5 articles

Phase 2

Exit Readiness — Score & Repair

04

Exit Readiness Scorecard (ERS)

Twelve weighted dimensions that show where your business stands.

  1. 04.1Understanding the 12 Dimensions of Exit Readiness
  2. 04.2Scoring Your Business (ERS Workshop)
  3. 04.3Interpreting Results & Prioritizing Repairs

3 articles

05

Financial Readiness & Packaging

Quality of earnings basics, add-backs, normalization.

  1. 05.1Understanding Financial Readiness
  2. 05.2Building Your Add-Back Schedule
  3. 05.3Normalizing Financial Statements
  4. 05.4Working Capital & Cash Flow Discipline
  5. 05.5Packaging Your Financial Narrative

5 articles

06

Owner Dependency & Team

SOPs, key-person risk, transition planning.

  1. 06.1Understanding Owner Dependency
  2. 06.2Building Transferable Processes (SOP Frameworks)
  3. 06.3Team Mapping & Key-Person Risk
  4. 06.4Transition and Continuity Planning

4 articles

Phase 3

Value Creation — Expand the Multiple

07

Revenue Quality

Recurring vs one-off, cohorts, churn, pricing power.

  1. 07.1What Revenue Quality Means to Buyers
  2. 07.2Recurring vs Repeat vs One-Off
  3. 07.3Churn & Retention Math
  4. 07.4Pricing Power & Revenue Resilience
  5. 07.5Customer Concentration & Revenue Risk

5 articles

08

Operations De-risking

CX/SLAs, supply chain, concentration, compliance.

  1. 08.1How Buyers Assess Operational Risk
  2. 08.2Customer Experience & Service Reliability
  3. 08.3Supply Chain & Vendor Stability
  4. 08.4Compliance & Legal Readiness
  5. 08.5Operational Resilience Playbook

5 articles

09

Strategic Story & Positioning

TAM narrative, category angle, moat signals.

  1. 09.1Crafting the Strategic Narrative
  2. 09.2Category Positioning & Moat Signals
  3. 09.3Market Tailwinds & Macro Alignment
  4. 09.4Packaging the Story for Buyers
  5. 09.5The Founder’s Voice & Exit Positioning

5 articles

Phase 4

Market Prep — Package & Promote

10

Data Room Architecture

The exact folder tree and file checklist.

  1. 10.1What a Data Room Is (and Why It Wins or Loses Deals)
  2. 10.2Folder Tree Architecture (Core 12 Sections)
  3. 10.3File Checklist & Audit Standards
  4. 10.4Access, Versioning & Control
  5. 10.5Presentation Layer & Buyer Experience

5 articles

11

Deal Collateral

Teaser (T1), NDA, CIM, management presentation.

  1. 11.1The Teaser (T1) — Sparking Interest Without Revealing Identity
  2. 11.2NDA & Information Flow — Legal Gate Before Disclosure
  3. 11.3CIM (Confidential Information Memorandum) — The Main Story Document
  4. 11.4Management Presentation — The Live Narrative
  5. 11.5Collateral Consistency & Brand Alignment

5 articles

12

Buyer Universe

Mapping strategics, PE platforms, sponsors, searchers.

  1. 12.1Buyer Mapping Fundamentals — Who Buys Companies Like Yours?
  2. 12.2Strategic Buyer Identification — Same Industry, New Angle
  3. 12.3Private Equity & Sponsor Mapping — Platform vs. Add-on Logic
  4. 12.4Search Funds, Family Offices & HNWIs — Patient Capital Buyers
  5. 12.5Ranking & Prioritization — Building Your Buyer Universe Table

5 articles

Phase 5

Go to Market — Run the Process

13

Outreach & NDA Workflow

Staging interest without leaking.

  1. 13.1Process Overview — From List → Interest → Access
  2. 13.2Crafting the Perfect Outreach Email — Tone, Timing, Hooks
  3. 13.3NDA Execution Workflow — Speed Without Sloppiness
  4. 13.4Information Staging — What to Send When
  5. 13.5Confidentiality Risk Management — Outreach Under the Radar

5 articles

14

Q&A Discipline

Diligence log, versioning, disclosures.

  1. 14.1The Role of Q&A in Diligence
  2. 14.2Building a Diligence Log — Your Single Source of Truth
  3. 14.3Version Control & Disclosure Governance
  4. 14.4Communication Etiquette with Buyers
  5. 14.5Risk Management & Legal Back-Stop

5 articles

15

Offers & LOIs

Term mechanics, exclusivity traps, negotiating sequences.

  1. 15.1From Indications of Interest (IOIs) to LOIs — How Offers Emerge
  2. 15.2Decoding LOI Mechanics — The Clauses That Actually Matter
  3. 15.3Exclusivity & Negotiation Timing — Avoiding the Trap
  4. 15.4Multi-Offer Strategy — How to Create Constructive Competition
  5. 15.5Evaluating Offers Beyond Headline Price

5 articles

Phase 6

Close & Transition

16

SPA & Closing

Reps/warranties, escrow, working capital peg, adjustments.

  1. 16.1What Is the SPA and Why It Matters
  2. 16.2Reps & Warranties — Promises That Survive Closing
  3. 16.3Indemnities & Escrow Mechanics
  4. 16.4Working Capital Peg & Completion Adjustments

4 articles

17

Earnout & Rollover

Risk, governance, information rights.

  1. 17.1Earn-Out Structures — How They Work and Why They Exist
  2. 17.2Managing Earn-Out Risk
  3. 17.3Rollover Equity — Staying in the Game
  4. 17.4Governance & Information Rights Post-Deal

4 articles

18

After the Wire

Tax buckets, investing the proceeds, identity & next venture.

  1. 18.1Understanding Your Net Proceeds Flow
  2. 18.2Tax Buckets & Structuring the Payout
  3. 18.3Re-Deploying Capital — From Operator to Investor
  4. 18.4Psychological & Identity Transition
  5. 18.5Integration and Closing Reflection

5 articles

Bonus

Special Situations

B1

Emergency Sale (≤ 90 days)

Selling fast without giving the business away.

  1. B1.1The 90-Day Reality Check
  2. B1.2The “Fix vs Disclose” Framework
  3. B1.3Build a “Minimum Viable” Data Room
  4. B1.4Limited Outreach, Maximum Control

4 articles

B2

Deal Killers and Lessons Learned

What sinks deals, and how to avoid it.

  1. B2.1Financial Killers
  2. B2.2Legal Killers
  3. B2.3Emotional Killers
  4. B2.4Process Killers
  5. B2.5Lessons & Remedies

5 articles

B3

Earnout Warfare: How to Actually Get Paid

Protecting the deferred part of your price.

  1. B3.1Anatomy of an Earnout
  2. B3.2Buyer Tactics & Traps
  3. B3.3Defense Mechanisms
  4. B3.4Behavioral Playbook

4 articles

B4

Minority Stake Sales (20–49%)

Taking chips off the table while keeping control.

  1. B4.1When to Sell Minority
  2. B4.2Valuation Trade-offs
  3. B4.3Governance Design
  4. B4.4Investor Archetypes

4 articles

Niche Tracks

By Business Type

N1

SaaS / Software Business

  1. N1.1The SaaS Valuation Engine
  2. N1.2Data Hygiene and Buyer Confidence
  3. N1.3Story, Moat and Transition

3 articles

N2

E-Commerce Businesses

  1. N2.1The Profit Reality Check
  2. N2.2Customers, Channels, and Brand Strength
  3. N2.3Story and Buyer Positioning

3 articles

N3

Succession / Owner-Retirement

  1. N3.1Dependency & Transfer Risks
  2. N3.2Making the Business Transferable
  3. N3.3Structuring the Legacy Exit

3 articles

N4

Brick and Mortar / Traditional Services

  1. N4.1Valuation & Deal Mechanics
  2. N4.2Operational Continuity
  3. N4.3Buyer Mapping and Exit Positioning

3 articles

N5

Agency / Services

Marketing, consulting, creative, dev and similar firms.

  1. N5.1Recurring Revenue and Margin Leverage
  2. N5.2Process Packaging and Handover
  3. N5.3Positioning and Buyer Angle

3 articles