The Exit - Presented By Flippa

Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth?

With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business.

You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit

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This week on The Exit: Mark McClain, CEO and founder of SailPoint Technologies, shares his journey from corporate roles at IBM and HP to becoming an "accidental entrepreneur" with his first startup, Waveset.

After a successful exit selling Waveset to Sun Microsystems for $150 million, Mark co-founded SailPoint, which has since become a thriving company with thousands of employees.

SailPoint's story includes multiple exits: a sale to private equity firm Thoma Bravo, going public in an IPO, and then being taken private again.

Mark discusses the challenges and lessons learned through these transitions, including the importance of building relationships with potential acquirers and being prepared for unexpected opportunities.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

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Mark has been an entrepreneur in the identity management market for more than 20 years, co-founding two companies that have driven innovation in the market. SailPoint (formerly NYSE:SAIL), has built its business on the foundational principle that identity is power. They have been in business for more than 15 years, and the company continues to grow with profitability. Their commitment to innovation and consistently high customer satisfaction are among the reasons the biggest, most complex organizations in the world rely on SailPoint to help them improve security while staying agile.

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcclainceo/

SailPoint: https://www.sailpoint.com/

Check Out Flippa’s Data Insights Tool: https://flippa.com/data-insights

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

What are the latest online business trends?

Where are buyers and investors based?

What profit multiples are App, Content, SaaS, and Ecom businesses selling at?

Flippa’s Data Insights can answer all these questions and more. It is the most comprehensive and freely available dataset for online business transactions and buyer intent.

Explore the tool today at: https://flippa.com/data-insights

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This week on The Exit: Blake Hutchison, CEO of Flippa, discusses Flippa’s new Data Insights feature.

The company has developed this tool to provide transparency and valuable market information for online business buyers and sellers.

The Data Insights feature offers real-time data on search intent, buyer liquidity, trading multiples, and time-to-sell across various business categories and price points.

Blake highlights how this tool benefits both buyers and sellers by providing accurate market trends, realistic expectations for selling cycles, and insights into global buyer demographics.

The feature includes interactive elements like a global map showing buyer distribution and liquidity across different countries.

Flippa's Data Insights aims to empower business owners and investors in transactions and educate users about the realities of the digital business marketplace, particularly for businesses valued under $10 million.

Blake also previews other Flippa tools like the Buyer Directory, which helps connect business owners with buyers who are actively searching for businesses.

For more details and insights, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

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Blake Hutchison, (CEO of Flippa), has been leading the business for nearly 6-years while building their platform and expanding the business globally to help over 12,000 business owners sell annually. Flippa is building the investment bank for the 99%. With industry-leading technology and a worldwide network of brokers, Flippa provides intelligent valuations, AI-driven buyer matching, and integrated legal, DD, and payment services for end-to-end transactions. Flippa is the investment bank for the 99%, serving over 2 million users and facilitating nearly a billion in sales.

Blake on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/blakehutchison

Flippa: https://flippa.com/

Check Out Flippa’s Data Insights Tool: https://flippa.com/data-insights

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit

This week on The Exit: In this episode of The Exit, MelRose Wild, CEO of Permaculture Capital and Decision Society, discusses the importance of inclusion in the C-suite, particularly for women, and highlights data showing that gender-diverse executive teams and boards outperform their less diverse counterparts across multiple financial metrics.

She also explains the challenges women face in raising capital with the traditional VC model.

It is because of these very challenges that she created Decision Society, a platform that connects female founders with experienced operators to develop their startups in exchange for equity, thereby providing an alternative method to building businesses that do not rely entirely on VC funding.

For more details and insights from her entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

MelRose Wild is a former fashion designer for her own collection Paradisiac, former globally recognized fashion model, and currently a registered representative of Umergence Broker Dealer, CEO of Permaculture Capital. She is the founder of Decision Society. Decision Society is a one-stop-success-shop for women to form ideation of companies all the way through exits with operational and financial guidance and services. Her firm also offers Sustainability Planning which starts with SDG reports, problem solving per SDG, and provides marketing materials for consumer and investor facing content. Her firm offers permaculture oriented solutions for long lasting business, conscious and responsible investing and operational opportunities as well as a safe place for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ++ to grow their businesses and connect. With a financial services background that includes Single Family Office, Institution, Private Equity, and 3 time entrepreneur, she brings 20 years of female business and empowerment to the table.

Learn More: https://www.permaculture.capital/

Link for Decision Society: https://www.linkedin.com/company/decisionsociety/

The study by Catalyst that was mentioned in the episode:

https://www.catalyst.org/research/why-diversity-and-inclusion-matter/

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Nancy Solomon, founder & CEO of WomenThink Global, shares insights from her extensive coaching career spanning over 30 years.

She discusses her journey from sales to psychology, ultimately finding her calling in coaching women in male-dominated fields, particularly technology.

While she offers several gems of business and life wisdom, her most emphasized takeaway is to trust one’s intuition.

On the business side, Nancy provides valuable advice on scaling businesses, retaining top talent, and preparing for exits.

To accomplish the above, she says business owners must listen to employees, create a meaningful work environment, and recognize when it's time to exit a business.

For more details and insights from her entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

Nancy D. Solomon, Founder & CEO of WomenThink Global and The Leadership Incubator, is on a mission to create Equitable Empowerment in the workplace. She has designed and delivered over 630 classes, programs, and workshops, has coached about 15,300 hours, and delivered about 113 keynotes. Nancy has worked with 203 client companies, delivered 29 multi-day retreats and published about 232 articles. Nancy has also created more than 372 Solomonisms) – unique quotes that inspire courage, resilience, leadership and accountability. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for” was named one of the “100 Best Motivational Quotes to Inspire Anyone” by Inc. Magazine.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancydsolomon/

Websites - https://www.womenthink.com/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Luke Cooper, General Partner at Latimer Ventures, discusses his journey from poverty to law school and eventually becoming a successful entrepreneur and investor.

Luke recounts his first major exit with a defense contractor, followed by a challenging acquisition of an ice cream company during the 2008 financial crisis. His biggest success came with Fixt, a mobile device repair startup he founded and sold to Assurant in 2020.

Luke emphasizes the importance of building relationships with potential acquirers early, understanding company culture in M&A deals, and navigating the complexities of the acquisition process.

Luke Cooper is currently the Founding Managing Partner of Latimer Ventures, and was the original founder and CEO of Fixt, which he exited in 2020. Before moving into entrepreneurship, Mr. Cooper started his career as an attorney at DLA Piper and then at State Farm. Luke’s first entrepreneurial experience was joining Caldwell Technology Solutions, and guided them to a $60 million exit. His second entrepreneurship experience was with Brigham's Ice Cream, a 100-year-old ice cream manufacturer and restaurant chain, which eventually was sold to HP Hood, a food and dairy giant.

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/lukecooperbaltimore

Websites - https://www.fixt.co/

- https://www.latimer.vc/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Jordan Dargue, investor and co-founder of Lifted Ventures, began her career in the construction industry before making her way to tech software. Throughout her experiences in various industries, a common theme she noticed was a disproportionately low number of female founders, particularly in venture-backed endeavors.

With her company’s angel network and VC education, her mission has become to even the playing field by helping female founders raise the capital needed to scale early-stage startups.

When deciding whether to fund businesses, she pays particular attention to the founder’s background and story, the team, the problem they are solving, and their understanding of the market.

For female founders looking for investors, she recommends frequently attending events and speaking with investors early.

For more details and insights from her entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

Jordan Dargue, is a founder, senior executive, investor, NED and seasoned investment expert. Her boundless passion for innovation, coupled with a remarkable track record of achievements, positions her within the realms of growth and investment. Jordan is Co Founder of Lifted Ventures. Lifted exists to increase the flow of early stage capital to female founders and promote the significant business benefits of backing women. The Lifted Ventures flywheel has an angel network at its core, alongside education, community and consultancy.

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/jordan-dargue-59438433

Lifted Ventures Website - https://liftedventures.co.uk/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Donald Thompson, founder and CEO of The Diversity Movement, shares insights from his numerous successful business exits, starting from his role in iCubed, which was acquired by Adobe, to leading multiple spin-outs and acquisitions.

Donald recounts how his team at iCubed, post-acquisition, bought back the company, grew it, and later sold it again. This became a foundational strategy over his career and led to multiple large-scale exits.

He attributes his success in these endeavors to cohesive entrepreneurial-minded teams and emphasizes the value of delayed gratification by taking equity over only a salary.

For those looking to exit, while it’s important to be prepared to answer questions about your business for due diligence, deeply understanding the buyer's growth strategy and how your business fits into that can significantly enhance negotiation outcomes.

Donald Thompson has built an extraordinary career spanning diverse industries from tech sales and IT leadership, to digital marketing and pioneering DEI programming while serving on more than a dozen advisory boards. Through unparalleled experience particularly in creating companies, leading startups and growing them to over a $1 million revenue milestone. Donald has positioned himself as a sought-after executive coach and advisor.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldthompsonjr/

The Inclusive Leadership Handbook - https://thediversitymovement.com/product/the-inclusive-leadership-handbook/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Anthony Westfall, an expert in business mergers and acquisitions, shares his insights on growth acquisitions and multiple exits. After working at Cisco during the dot-com bubble, Anthony moved to a startup, got laid off, and transitioned to the wine business.

His first solo venture was an online wine startup catering to nonprofits, which didn’t scale due to the nonprofits' business approach. Once again Anthony needed to pivot. He moved to a private sale model for wine during the financial crisis, targeting high-end wine consumers. Despite initial success, Anthony missed out on scaling his venture fast enough and securing significant venture capital, leading to competitors surpassing him.

Anthony eventually grew his company through acquiring distressed assets and focusing on customer acquisition rather than tech or anything else. Anthony also ventured into the cannabis industry, intending to bring out-of-state brands into California. Realizing the industry's high risk and capital intensity, he ultimately sold that business within 14 months.

With multiple exits under his belt now, Anthony now leverages his deep operational experience in brokering business sales to help others exit. He emphasizes the need for growth and understanding the intricacies of scaling ventures.

Anthony Westfall is a seasoned corporate executive and entrepreneur with a truly diverse background across multiple industries. Tony has worked on and led multiple M&A deals throughout his career. As an entrepreneur he has made several successful acquisitions and turned those bolt on acquisitions into substantial exits from multiple companies that he founded. Tony has founded at least a half dozen companies and made several successful exits. Tony has his undergraduate degree in Economics from Michigan State University and his MBA in Finance and Supply Chain Management from the Broad Graduate School of Management.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-westfall-650776/

Exit Strategies Group Website - https://www.exitstrategiesgroup.com/

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: Arijana Kaskarova always knew she wanted to run her own business, but before jumping in full-time, she made it a priority to develop the skills necessary to succeed.

She went on to build three businesses, all of which she is now simultaneously running.

From helping businesses set up and manage KPIs, to creating digital marketing boot camps, she’s seen where both hard and soft skills play a role in building and maintaining a healthy business.

She discusses how she takes 6-month goals and breaks them down into 2-week plans with specific KPIs, and how her aim is to set up each team member for success through clear directives and a path for reaching their objectives.

For more details and insights from her entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

Arijana Koskarova has been featured in Forbes under 30 as the founder of the leading disruptive training center, Creative Hub, with locations in the US, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. Creative Hub is a training hub providing real world for aspiring professionals in the areas of marketing, graphic design, web design, data science, e-commerce, and much more. Arijana is a former corporate executive with over 5 years of experience in marketing in the Asia-Pacific, US and European markets.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/arijana-koskarova/

CreativeHub Website - https://creativehub.io/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/creativehub.io/

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

This week on The Exit: John duHadway has spent decades advising startups and growth-stage companies, guiding them to the next level and eventual exits. As someone who has exited three companies himself, he shares a few truths that he believes are crucial in getting companies successfully acquired.

He emphasizes the importance of business owners surrounding themselves with strong advisors, particularly those who have experience in bringing companies through the same journey.

He also discusses being transparent with the team throughout the process, giving them ownership in the company’s future, and making sure they are supported during the transition to new ownership.

While he believes it’s important to keep the exit in mind as part of building a company, it should not be the primary focus. The north star for business owners should, instead, be to build value, and an exit should be something that comes about as a result of achieving that primary objective.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the full episode of The Exit.

John duHadway spent 35 years working for world-class organizations such as Deloitte, First Franklin Financial Corporation and Ownit Mortgage Solutions before founding and launching duHadway, LLC to provide consultative services to early stage and small businesses. duHadway, provides fractional C-Suite (CEO, COO and CFO) services and consultative services to coach leaders and organizations on how to unlock their highest level of performance and to bring their organizations to the next level.

John has successfully sold and exited three companies with valuations as high as $2.5 billion. As a consultant, his firm works with and collaborates with the top accounting, legal and private equity firms bringing their mutual clients to the next level.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnduhadway/

duHadway LLC Website - https://www.duhadwayllc.com/

X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/duhadway

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/