Long-form perspective on exit strategy, FP&A, capital structure, and the realities of scaling a private company toward transaction. Written from the operator side, not the advisor side.
After leading finance through a $95M healthcare exit, the five things bankers wish more sellers' CFOs got right before mandate. Clean numbers, owned data rooms, and forward models you'd defend in deposition.
Almost every founder-built finance stack breaks somewhere between $20M and $40M in revenue. Three failure modes that always show up, and what to replace them with before the next capital event.
Three places AI belongs in the CFO stack. Three places it doesn't. A skeptic's view from the operator who used it through diligence on a $95M sale.
Customer concentration, contract durability, and the gap between management EBITDA and QofE-grade EBITDA. Where most sellers find out about the haircut in week 6 of diligence... too late.
Most engagements start with a 30-day Pulse Check, a structured diagnostic on cash, margin, and KPI maturity. From there, the path forward depends on what surfaces.