Paul Mendoza

Exit Readiness Overview

Why exit readiness matters, and the three-foundation framework.

Defining Your Personal Exit Goals

Clarify post-exit life, income needs, and legacy priorities.

Business Foundation: Operations Documentation

How operations documentation affects transferability and valuation.

Business Foundation: Customer Concentration

Evaluating revenue concentration risk as seen by buyers.

Business Foundation: Legal Structure

Entity type, IP ownership, and agreements in place.

Financial Foundation: Revenue Quality

Recurring vs. non-recurring revenue, margins, and trend lines.

Financial Foundation: Normalized EBITDA and Add-Backs

Identifying and defending add-backs in the eyes of a buyer.

Financial Foundation: Working Capital Baseline

Understanding the working capital peg for your deal.

Valuation Basics

How buyers value SMBs, multiples, and realistic ranges.

Deal Structure and Tax Awareness

Asset vs. stock sale, earnouts, seller financing, tax implications.

Building Your Advisor Team

The roles: M&A advisor, attorney, CPA, wealth manager.

Data Room Preparation

What buyers expect to see, how to organize, common gaps.

Going to Market

Timing, confidentiality, and what the first 90 days look like.