Online M&A Trends and Insights with Flippa CEO, Blake Hutchison

Wayne Zell, a renowned exit attorney, founder of Aspire to Exit, and CEO of Zell Law shares insights from his 44-year career in estate planning, exit planning, and business law, which he has also written about in his book, “Your Multimillion-Dollar Exit”.

Wayne emphasizes the importance of proper preparation for business exits, discussing key aspects such as valuation, personal financial planning, and management succession.

The conversation also touches on more complex considerations, such as the differences between strategic and private equity buyers and the complexities of stock purchases versus asset purchases.

Simon Alex Bérubé, app entrepreneur, startup coach, and investor, shares the story of his transition from software engineering to founding a sleep improvement mobile app company that grew to 40 employees before being acquired by Teladoc after an eight-month exit process.

Simon emphasizes the importance of accurate and long-term forecasting, clean financials, organized documentation, and overall maintaining “a clean house” in preparing for an exit.

Regarding when to exit a business, Simon suggests that the best time to sell is during rapid growth with predictable forecasts.

Vincent Alessi, a multiple-exit founder and current subject matter expert at OpenAI shares his journey from humble beginnings in Michigan to becoming a successful entrepreneur and AI expert, specifically within the field of biology and chemistry.

He discusses his first venture, Covaron Advanced Materials, which developed innovative materials with a strong sustainability profile. The intellectual property alone was worth $32M and the company was acquired by an industrial consortium after a nine-month process.