Nobody warns you that deal fatigue is a weapon.
After eight months of due diligence, document requests, management presentations, and timeline extensions — the buyer comes back with adjustments. The headline number is down. The earnout expanded. The working capital peg moved against you.
Most founders take it. Not because they're weak — because they're exhausted. And that exhaustion was engineered.
In Episode 10 of Rogue Wealth, Kris Garlewicz walks through the full playbook: the four phases of a deal where leverage accumulates, six specific tactics used to grind down sellers, why family businesses are uniquely vulnerable, and the pre-engagement discipline that keeps you in control from day one.
If you're within five years of a business sale, this is the most important conversation you haven't had yet.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction & the scenario
0:18 Imagine this: 8 months into selling your business
2:03 Deal fatigue is not a side effect — it's a strategy
3:18 Rogue Wealth Rule #3: This is a contact sport
4:21 Part 1: The wave nobody is talking about
5:28 The counterparty: $3.7 trillion in PE dry powder
6:39 The imbalance of sophistication has never been greater
7:43 Part 2: The anatomy of the trap — 4 phases
8:42 Phase 1: The seduction (the IOI)
9:45 Phase 2: The letter of intent
10:44 Phase 3: Due diligence
11:44 Phase 4: The kill zone — the adjustments
14:38 Part 3: The six tactics
15:00 Tactic 1 — Timeline extension
15:35 Tactic 2 — Scope creep
16:02 Tactic 3 — IOI anchoring
16:32 Tactic 4 — Escalation of commitment
17:22 Tactic 5 — Using your own people against you
18:09 Tactic 6 — The re-trade
19:06 Part 4: Why family businesses bleed more
19:22 Layer 1 — The founder's identity is the business
20:17 Layer 2 — The family creates internal pressure
21:31 Layer 3 — The business suffers and buyers use it
22:16 Part 5: The defense
23:18 Defense 1 — Define success in writing before you engage
25:01 Defense 2 — Get your financial house in order
25:54 Defense 3 — Build your advisory team before you engage
26:52 The uncomfortable truth about banker incentives
27:48 Defense 4 — Align the family
29:09 The test for founders in the middle of a deal right now
31:19 The closing: generational wealth vs. a one-time event
33:29 Get Deal Ready: ProsperiFi.com