Exit Algorithms

How to cut truck idling costs by $5,000 to $15,000 per truck per year with trailer-top solar and batteries.
Steven Antalics, founder of EkoHaul and a 15-year veteran of shipping and commodities logistics at BHP, Trafigura, and MSC, explains how fleets can stop burning diesel during rest periods and what he learned on the second-largest corporate merger in history.

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-sheet

Steven says the surest path to a valuable company is building one that works without investor money. The cheat sheet gives you 10 ways to do that.

In this episode:
– How a trailer-top solar and battery system eliminates main-engine idling during 10-hour resets
– Why every hour of idling equals 25 to 40 miles of highway wear on your engine
– What a $300 billion merger taught him about sunk cost and knowing when to walk away
– Why he is building EkoHaul to be profitable before raising capital, and how a lease model turns it into recurring revenue
– Where AI genuinely helps a trucking business, and why bad data defeats it

Connect with Steven: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antalics | https://ekohaul.com

Chapters
0:00 Welcome and guest introduction
1:21 From the University of Michigan Solar Car Team to BHP
4:44 Running shipping systems at Cargill, Trafigura, and MSC
6:06 Why he joined a Silicon Valley hardware startup
9:00 How venture capital really works for outsiders
9:22 Why EkoHaul was born from a 20-year-old idea
11:47 Inside the BHP and Rio Tinto merger
13:30 How sunk cost and momentum drive bad deals
18:09 Why staying lean makes you more attractive to investors
21:36 How EkoHaul will offer leases as recurring revenue
24:38 Where AI helps trucking and where it does not
32:26 Steven's practical takeaway

#ExitAlgorithms #TruckingBusiness #Logistics

How a trucking company grew 4,500% in five years by putting customer service, safety, and its people first.
Daman Grewal, Operations Manager at Centurion Trucking and founder of LogisticSales.com, helped build Canada's fastest-growing transportation and logistics company and serves on the boards of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and BC Trucking Association.

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-sheet

Daman built growth on systems, safety, and relationships. The cheat sheet shows you 10 ways to turn those same habits into a higher business value.

In this episode:
– Why happy drivers and staff produced Centurion's repeat business
– How a proper safety program keeps audits and insurance premiums down
– Why Daman staffs double the people for the workload, so the team can take time off and avoid burnout
– How a shift in the exchange rate cost $6,000 to $7,000 per truck per month, and how switching to team drivers fixed it
– Why real-time visibility for customers is a competitive advantage

Connect with Daman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daman-grewal-12424a16 | https://www.logisticssales.com

Chapters
0:00 Welcome and guest introduction
1:31 From saving for school to trucking at a young age
6:00 Why honesty and transparency grow companies
8:50 Customer service and happy drivers as a growth strategy
10:20 How safety programs protect margins and insurance
12:41 How to staff up without burning out your team
14:20 Running the numbers on every truck
16:05 When exchange rates turned trucks into money losers
17:13 Buying versus leasing your fleet
19:41 How technology gives carriers an edge
24:31 Where AI helps and where humans still matter
28:22 Inside LogisticSales.com
36:44 Daman's one sales tip

#ExitAlgorithms #TruckingBusiness #Logistics

How to prepare your business for sale so buyers see low risk and pay more.
George Pillari, a crisis manager who has worked inside more than 100 companies and a former Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, explains what buyers check first and what makes them walk away.

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-sheet

George says to design your exit before you need it. The cheat sheet gives you 10 ways to start now.

In this episode:
– Why you should plan your exit before building the business, and how one ERP makes you easier to acquire
– How recurring revenue and customer concentration change the risk a buyer sees
– The three things George checks first as a buyer: quality of earnings, people, and regulatory exposure
– Why disclosing a bad fact early builds trust, while letting a buyer find it kills the deal
– Why every seller now needs an AI strategy, even a small one

Connect with George: https://runningfoxpartners.com | Newsletter: The Cautionary (https://www.stupid.blog)

Chapters
0:00 Welcome and guest introduction
1:02 From healthcare data analyst to IBM exit
5:45 Why you should plan your exit before you start
8:00 How consolidating systems makes you easier to buy
9:00 Why buyers pay more for recurring revenue
10:09 How customer concentration scares buyers away
11:20 What spring loading means for a smooth acquisition
12:46 The three things buyers check first
16:18 Why transparency protects your deal
17:15 Why distressed companies bet the farm and lose
20:47 Why passive boards fail owners
22:57 How AI compares to the internet and smartphones
26:56 Practical AI uses for business owners
32:44 Why you need an AI strategy before you sell

#ExitAlgorithms #ExitPlanning #SmallBusinessOwner

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

Matt Bradbury founded Business Acquisition & Merger Associates in Charlotte, North Carolina, a lower middle-market M&A firm serving companies with $5 million to $100 million in revenue . Over two decades he led the sale of roughly 215 companies representing close to $2 billion in transaction value, most of them blue-collar manufacturing, distribution, and B2B service businesses .

In this episode, Pete Vera and Matt cover what genuinely moves your multiple, why gross margin tells buyers the truth about your pricing power, and a low-effort move that can add more than a turn of EBITDA.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

1. Why growth with expanding margins beats growth alone
2. How to calculate gross margin the way a buyer reads it
3. Why 22 percent gross margin in a service business signals you compete on price
4. The seasoning rule for new leadership before a sale
5. Why disclosing problems early protects your deal
6. How to choose an M&A attorney
7. The acquisition conversations that add value even when they never close

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Matt Bradbury
00:56 From the fitness industry to M&A
03:02 Why owners get stuck in Groundhog Day
04:42 Growth with expanding margins
06:20 Gross margin as the truth teller
07:35 Why not to change leadership before market
09:51 Preparing at 45 versus preparing at 65
12:49 Why owners stop investing near the end
14:00 Disclose it, because buyers hate surprises
16:13 Choosing the right attorney and advisors
18:33 The vacation test for key man risk
21:07 How BAMA uses AI
25:32 Matt's practical tip

CONNECT WITH BUSINESS ACQUISITION AND MERGER ASSOCIATES:
Website: https://www.buysellyourbusiness.com
Phone: 704-295-0102

LISTEN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

Ready to plan your next chapter? Book a confidential call:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

#ExitPlanning #BusinessValuation #MergersAndAcquisitions

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

Dev Shah is the founder of Pocket Fund, a holding company that acquires and operates profitable digital businesses, and its buy-side advisory arm Kautilya, which builds acquisition pipelines for funds, family offices, and search funds in the lower middle market.

In this episode, Pete Vera and Dev cover what buyers actually examine, why sellers should run diligence on themselves first, and why a deal that looks too good gets rejected.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

1. Why running your own due diligence builds buyer trust
2. How to segment your customer base before a buyer does it for you
3. Why strategic and financial buyers evaluate you completely differently
4. How aligning with a strategic buyer's KPIs makes a deal more likely to close
5. Why less revenue with strong retention can beat more revenue with churn
6. Why buyers walk away from businesses that look too good to be true
7. How he grew a business with Reddit and influencer marketing on almost no budget
8. How to train AI on your own voice so your emails do not read as AI

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Dev Shah
00:49 From India to Claremont McKenna to acquire.com
02:00 Buying his first business for $4,000
04:16 What he would do differently
05:59 Strategic buyers versus financial buyers
07:46 Retention, churn, and the numbers buyers screen on
08:30 Why buyers care who is across the table
09:53 Building a real deal room and doing segment research
11:42 What he finds that sellers did not know
12:50 Why too good to be true gets rejected
14:44 Growing Sourcely from $500 to $5,000 MRR
19:16 Reddit, influencers, and scrappy marketing
22:20 His AI workflow for meetings and tasks
25:16 Training AI on your own voice
25:40 Dev's practical tip

CONNECT WITH DEV

Pocket Fund: https://pocket-fund.com
Kautilya: https://www.kautilya-pe.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devlikesbizness
X: https://x.com/devlikesbizness
Newsletter: https://thisisbizness.beehiiv.com

LISTEN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

Ready to plan your next chapter? Book a confidential call:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

#ExitPlanning #DueDiligence #MergersAndAcquisitions #BusinessValuation

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

Carter Looney is Principal Advisor at Meritage Partners, a lower middle-market M&A and exit planning firm that has executed more than $2 billion in founder liquidity events. He brings over 25 years as a business owner, operator-investor, and turnaround specialist.meritage-partners+2

His track record includes a management buy-in that he grew to a couple hundred people before exiting in 2010, and a partnership with two brothers at an automotive supplier where they took EBITDA from roughly $2.5 million to $13.2 million in four years, moving enterprise value from $18 million to $92 million before bringing in private equity.

In this episode, Pete Vera and Carter cover the value levers most exit content ignores, why tax planning has a hard deadline, and the reporting habit with the highest return on investment in any business.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Carter Looney
00:56 From an IBM accelerator to a management buy-in
03:15 Why the owner's time is almost always the bottleneck
03:41 Taking an automotive supplier from $2.5M to $13.2M EBITDA
06:16 Building an ecosystem around the business owner
09:28 What he wishes he had known before his first exit
11:43 Where hidden value actually sits
13:38 The pricing conversation owners avoid
16:30 How market timing affects your price by 30 percent
17:20 How far in advance to start
19:30 Choosing private equity versus a family office
21:21 Why the three plus one plus one model shapes buyer behavior
27:02 Tax planning and the LOI deadline
32:23 Turnaround lessons that apply to healthy companies
35:23 Why cash flows like air and profit like bread
36:41 Using AI to ask better questions, not get answers
41:06 Carter's practical tip

CONNECT WITH CARTER

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bc-looney
Meritage Partners: https://meritage-partners.com
He offers appointment booking directly through his LinkedIn profile

LISTEN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

Ready to plan your next chapter? Book a confidential call:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

#ExitPlanning #BusinessValuation #MergersAndAcquisitions #TaxPlanning

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR LOGISTICS OWNERS

Joshua walked through a plumbing company with five trucks doing $5 million to show how this works. Normal multiple of four to five times cash flow. But if the owner answers every phone and does every quote, a buyer expects to lose half the revenue while fixed costs stay put, which can wipe out the profit entirely. The same math applies to a trucking company where the owner holds every shipper relationship.

Joshua Gould is Group CEO of thebigword, a global language services and technology company delivering translation and interpretation in over 250 languages across more than 80 countries. He helped grow the business from $6 million to over $100 million in revenue, sold it to a US private equity firm in 2021, and stayed on to lead a $20 million investment into AI and automation.

In this episode, Pete Vera and Joshua cover what buyers actually price, why every dollar of waste multiplies against you at exit, and why owner dependence can take a valuation to nothing.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Joshua Gould
01:16 From defense contracting to CEO of thebigword
02:53 The advice nobody dares give about choosing a buyer
04:00 Roll equity and why the partner is a marriage
05:16 Watching his father go through the day after
07:09 The paradigm shift from long term to short term
08:30 Why cash flow is the only number
10:25 Cutting waste without gutting the business
12:39 The windowless office and the $140,000 plane ticket
13:40 How far in advance to start
14:44 The Uber Eats and credit card analogy
18:24 Why he hires leaders, not culture
20:59 Always be recruiting, even when you cannot afford it
23:52 Treating inflation as a choice
26:49 How being the bottleneck can zero out your valuation
32:00 Selling AI since 2006 and what happened with Honda
38:14 End product AI versus AI agents
40:17 Joshua's practical tip

CONNECT WITH JOSHUA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadgould
thebigword: https://thebigword.com
His podcast: Execcraft

LISTEN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

Ready to plan your next chapter? Book a confidential call:

https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

#ExitPlanning #BusinessValuation #CashFlow #PrivateEquity

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

David Girault and Andrew Lamb co-founded Buy and Build Advisors, a Texas-based firm that helps lower middle-market owners understand what their business is worth and prepare to buy, build, or sell.

David is an M&A attorney, Certified M&A Advisor, and former trucking owner. Andrew is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor who spent 25 years across Digital Equipment, Compaq, and HP, finishing as head of transformation. Their book Clarity Before Capital is out now!

In this episode, Pete Vera, David, and Andrew cover the gap between what owners think their business is worth and what buyers pay, plus a playbook for removing owner dependence.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

1. Why two to three years is the real minimum runway before selling
2. Why valuation is a range set by the market, with your position in it set by you
3. How reviewed and audited financials can add a full turn to your multiple
4. The four reasons buyers acquire: market share, team, IP, and suppliers
5. The 1-3-1 process that tests how dependent your team is on you

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet David Girault and Andrew Lamb
08:03 Valuing with your heart instead of the market
10:46 Why the runway is two to three years
12:03 Valuation is a range, and you choose where you land
14:43 The accounting cleanup that compounds
17:57 What operational due diligence examines
25:14 The four reasons anyone acquires a company
28:21 The owner dependence playbook
38:06 The 1-3-1 process
46:30 Their practical tip

A buyer is acquiring a predictable stream of future cash flows. Anything that makes your business look more predictable raises the number.

CONNECT WITH DAVID AND ANDREW
https://buyandbuildadvisors.com

Book: Clarity Before Capital on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972014226?lv=shuf&channelId=481&plpRedirect=mhFallback

LISTEN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

Ready to plan your next chapter? Book a confidential call:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

#ExitPlanning #BusinessValuation #MergersAndAcquisitions #DueDiligence

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:

https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

This is the 100th episode of Exit Algorithms, and Carl Allen is the right guest to mark it.

Carl is the founder and CEO of Dealmaker Wealth Society and a founding partner at 9F8 Capital, a lower mid-market private equity fund with roughly $300 million under management. He is in his 34th year as a dealmaker, has closed more than 400 acquisitions totaling over $48 billion in deal value across Bank of America, HP, and his own portfolio, and has taught more than 62,000 students who have closed over a billion dollars in transactions.

In this episode, Pete Vera and Carl cover why only one in eleven businesses listed for sale actually sells, the four types of buyers and what each one costs you, and the weekly measurement habit that adds multiples to your valuation.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

1. Why 2.5 million small businesses are for sale and only one in eleven closes

2. The Castaway test Carl uses in every seller conversation

3. Why the owner should be the GPS, not the driver

4. The four buyer types and the tradeoff between valuation and legacy

5. Why two businesses with identical financials sell for very different prices

6. Why most owners fly the plane with no dials

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The 100th episode

01:49 From Bank of America to HP to 37 businesses

10:16 The mindset shift every first time seller must make

12:07 The bus analogy and the seven owner jobs

16:00 Why only one in eleven businesses sells

18:41 The Castaway test

21:00 Strategic, financial, individual, and employee buyers

27:00 The seller whose three deal points had nothing to do with money

32:26 The transfer of value

34:34 Why weekly numbers add multiples

44:11 Where AI disrupts and where it only optimizes

48:39 Carl's practical tip

Carl used a transportation company as his example. If you know every customer and supplier personally and nothing is documented, a buyer is acquiring your institutional memory, which walks out with you.

CONNECT WITH CARL

Free training, normally $1,000, offered to Exit Algorithms listeners: https://trainwithcarl.com

https://www.youtube.com/@CarlAllenOfficial

LISTEN

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

Ready to plan your next chapter? Book a confidential call:

https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

#ExitPlanning #MergersAndAcquisitions #BusinessValuation #PrivateEquity

Own a logistics business doing $2M or more in revenue? Apply for a confidential Business Valuation Call to learn what your company could be worth:
https://www.bizexitgrow.com/valuation-call

Nicole Alos is the founder of Socratyc, an executive coach, and the creator of Socratyc Sidekick, an AI powered role play tool that lets leaders rehearse high stakes conversations before they happen. She is an authorized partner for Everything DiSC, The Five Behaviors, and Situational Leadership, and her company was selected for the Spring 2026 gBETA Pennsylvania cohort run by gener8tor in partnership with Meta.

In this episode, Pete Vera and Nicole cover how to build a sales team that scales, how to delegate your way out of being the bottleneck, and why the conversations you have with your team during a sale can make or break the outcome.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

1. Why hiring more people like your sales leader limits your reach
2. What DiSC reveals about how your team communicates and sells
3. How the Five Behaviors framework builds trust before results
4. The one question to ask every new hire in their first weeks
5. Why delegation should be judged task by task, not person by person
6. How to improve retention through curiosity instead of compensation
7. Where to use AI and where Nicole refuses to

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Nicole Alos
01:01 From sales leadership to founding Socratyc
04:30 Building a sales team that scales
05:41 DiSC explained
07:41 Assessing style during interviews
09:18 The Five Behaviors and healthy conflict
11:26 Retention without more compensation
14:23 Delegating out of the bottleneck
17:21 A practical delegation audit
18:45 How Socratyc Sidekick was built
22:35 Where she uses AI and where she does not
25:40 Nicole's practical tip

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR LOGISTICS OWNERS

During a sale you cannot tell your team everything, but silence creates its own problems. Nicole's point is that these conversations deserve rehearsal, not improvisation. Her delegation framework also addresses the owner dependence issue buyers price into every trucking and 3PL deal.

CONNECT WITH NICOLE

Website: https://www.nicolealos.com
Socratyc: https://socratyc.com
Socratyc Sidekick: https://www.socratycsidekick.ai
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolealos
Start here: https://founderready.ai

LISTEN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitAlgorithms
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lTaP8U9DIJhI0VbwHn5t9
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-algorithms/id1820424898

#Leadership #ExitPlanning #SalesLeadership #AIinBusiness