• Start building your advisor relationships 6–12 months pre-exit—waiting until LOI puts the close at risk (“time kills all deals”).
• Your M&A advisor is the quarterback: runs the process, manages buyer psychology, protects your time, and helps prevent value leakage and retrades.
• Advisor red flags: guaranteed above-market multiples, vague deliverables, weak references, and “exclusive” lockups that pay them no matter what.
• Use an experienced M&A attorney (not a generalist) who understands negotiation tradeoffs—over-lawyering can derail otherwise good deals.
• Tax + financial hygiene matter: get clean, diligence-ready financials and understand structure implications; a QoE may not be required if you’re already well-prepared.

Listen to Shoot the Moon on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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