The Exit Series

Dianne Kelley has watched a lot of owners wait one year too long. She's a CEPA in Tucson who has worked beside business owners for 35 years. She has seen a son walk away from a succession plan, a widow give a family company to charity, and a couple learn after twenty years what their business was actually worth. She has also seen an owner realize he still had something to teach. You'll come away understanding why your role isn't your identity, and why the plan has to start before anything goes wrong.

The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Kaz Kelly did everything right: clean books, written procedures and a team that could run without her. She still felt bullied the moment the deal got real. She built Doggy Daycare Brisbane from four dogs and a near-bankruptcy into one of Australia’s most successful operations of its kind, then sold it in 2024 and moved to Las Vegas. A month later, another founder asked for help with her own sale, and Founder to Future Consulting began. You’ll come away knowing who’s actually in your corner during a sale, and who isn’t.

The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

"I'm not Adam — I'm the guy who runs this company." That's the identity Adam Feuerstein was running on right up until he sold Clay Dean Electric, the commercial electrical contractor he rescued from near-collapse and built over seven years. He gets into the $300,000 parking structure that was never built, the five days it took to lose his entire management team, and the ayahuasca retreat that changed how he saw his own worth as a husband and father after the sale. If you're circling your own exit, this one's worth the drive time.

The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Most sellers bring in their CPA after the LOI is signed. Ruben Ramirez spends a lot of time wishing they'd called two years earlier. Ruben is a director at Blue and Company and leads their transaction advisory group — Blue Value Advisors — out of Metro Detroit. He's worked on over 200 transactions, built his expertise through years of deal fatigue alongside a single partner at his previous firm, and now specializes in sell-side M&A advisory for manufacturers and distributors from $15M to $500M in enterprise value. In this conversation with Bob Roark, Ruben breaks down why the LOI is the seller's highest point of leverage, why the working capital adjustment blindsides more sellers than anything else at closing, and why chasing the highest multiple might be the wrong objective entirely. He also explains — in the most honest thing an M&A advisor can say — why he will never know more about your business than you do. And exactly what that means for how he works.

The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Kevin Bozung spent 21 years building SafetyNet, an IT managed services company he started as a teenager. He knew he was burned out at year 10. He sold it at year 21. What happened in between — and what happened in the hours after the wire hit — is the kind of story you don't hear very often. Kevin is one of the rare founders who went through the exit first, then got his CEPA credentials to help others through the same knothole. In this conversation with Bob Roark, he walks through the math gymnastics of backing into your number, why locking in a specific date changes every decision you make, and what it actually felt like to close a 21-year business on a Tuesday morning — and get counter-sued for a million dollars by 1pm that same afternoon. He also talks about the tension that doesn't go away: the drive to keep pushing even when you don't have to anymore. And why, for the first time in years, he's learning what it means to actually be present.

 The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Most business owners think a valuation is a number. Shina Culberson thinks that's where the real work starts. Shina is president of Quist Valuation in Boulder, Colorado — a specialized firm doing nothing but business valuation, 200 to 250 engagements a year, for 40-plus years. She's also a CFA and a CEPA, a combination almost nobody in her field holds. In this conversation, she and Bob Roark walk through what really happens when an owner turns to the last page of a valuation report and has a heart palpitation — and what Shina does in the minutes that follow to turn that moment into a roadmap. She also makes the case for why hearing a hard number from her is infinitely better than hearing it for the first time from a buyer across the closing table — when there's no time left to fix anything. The number isn't the destination. It's the starting line.

 The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Most exit advisors start with the numbers. Sean Scope starts with the person — and he's been doing it that way since he left the PE turnaround world because he didn't want to be the hatchet man anymore. Sean is Director of Sales and Operations at TSP Family Office and holds a background in organizational psychology from Johns Hopkins. In this conversation, he and Bob Roark get into how Sean reads a founder in the first ten minutes, why the wife is almost always the secret weapon in the room, and what happens in that pregnant pause after you tell a business owner what their company is actually worth. He also makes the case for the one question that opens every conversation: What are you hoping to learn today? The game isn't math. The math is easy. The game is getting the right person to the right answer at the right time — and knowing when to stop talking.

The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Sean Hutchinson was back in episode one talking about identity, the void, and what happens after the wire hits. This time, he and Bob Roark get into the mechanics — and what most founders don't find out until it's too late. What does a $20 million exit actually put in your pocket? What happens when the buyer comes back during due diligence and wants 15% off a deal you've already announced to your spouse and your attorney? Why do earn outs almost never work out for the seller — and what does a rare earn out that actually worked look like? Sean also walks through the wealth destruction curve that should change how every founder thinks about their number: 70% of wealth fails to reach the second generation. 90% is gone by the third. The deal is not the finish line. Sean Hutchinson explains why.

The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

Aaron is managing director of Citadel Advisory Group in Loveland, Colorado — 15 years in the lower middle market, closing deals in industrial services, transportation, manufacturing, and all things blue collar. In this conversation, he and Bob Roark pull back the curtain on what the deal process actually looks like from the broker's seat: the valuation gap conversation, the emotional roller coaster nobody warns founders about, and what happens in the 48 hours after the wire hits. Aaron also walks through a real deal where audited financials turned out to be wrong by four million dollars — what he did about it, and what it cost him. And he makes the case for why the timing math that most sellers use to plan their exit is almost always wrong by at least a year. What you'll learn: Why the owner who thinks they're two years from done is probably three and a half years out How working capital becomes the deal-killer nobody saw coming — and how to defuse it on the front end What sellers confide to their broker that they won't tell their CPA, attorney, or spouse Why "shoot, what do I do now?" hits even the sellers who got everything they wanted The human capital role Citadel used to have on staff — and why Aaron thinks it needs to come back The Exit Series is for founders, brokers, and attorneys — the people in the room when the deal closes, talking about what happens next.

 The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."

75% of founders regret selling within the first year. Sean Hutchinson says it's not about the money — it's about everything nobody prepared them for. Sean Hutchinson has spent 25 years in the room where exits actually happen — as a five-time founder, third-generation family business member, and exit readiness advisor. In this episode, he and Bob Roark go deep on what the exit planning industry consistently gets wrong, what "not ready" looks like from inside the fog of due diligence, and why the personal readiness leg of the stool keeps getting skipped even when everyone in the room knows it matters. Sean introduces a concept most advisors have never heard of — advisor withdrawal syndrome — and makes the case for a role on the advisory team that doesn't formally exist yet: the emotional co-pilot. He also walks through the math of the wealth gap, the cognitive dissonance of a shrinking world and a growing bank account, and the one framing question every founder should sit with two to three years before they sell. The Exit Series is produced for general informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated firm. The host is associated with an SEC-registered investment adviser; nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of advisory services. Guests are not necessarily clients."