Things I Wish I Knew Before I Sold to Private Equity - by Jason Hendren (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Entrepreneurs dedicate their lives to building a thriving business. As their success mounts, people take notice, and the phone begins to ring. The callers start off with a hearty congratulations but soon transition to wanting to learn about the business and whether the owner is open to a sale. This is how many entrepreneurs first get exposed to the world of mergers and acquisitions. Jason Hendren knows this well because when the "Congratulations" calls started coming, they caught him off guard.

Jason is an entrepreneur who built a successful business that subsequently partnered with a private equity group. He stayed on as the CEO for nearly a decade, during which he made the transition from seller to buyer, leading the merger and acquisition activity at the company. This is where Jason learned how professionals buy businesses, build value, and prepare them for sale. This experience gave him the expertise to become an exit planning advisor, in which he helps other entrepreneurs navigate the sales process.

In Things I Wish I Knew Before I Sold to Private Equity, Jason shares the lessons he learned to help entrepreneurs prepare for the "Congratulations" calls. This book covers preparing yourself for a sale, aligning your employees, evaluating offers, and selecting advisors. It sheds light on the diligence process and what to expect after closing. He also tackles the elephant in the room, valuation. This is the one book every entrepreneur should read before the phone starts ringing.

From the Back Cover

THE GUIDE FOR ENTREPRENEURS BEFORE CONSIDERING A SALE

Entrepreneurs dedicate their lives to building a thriving business. As their success mounts, people take notice and the phone begins to ring. The callers start off with a hearty congratulations, but soon transition to wanting to learn about the business and whether the owner is open to a sale. This is how many entrepreneurs first get exposed to the world of mergers and acquisitions. Jason Hendren knows this well because when the "Congratulations" calls started coming, they caught him off guard.

Jason is an entrepreneur who built a successful business that subsequently partnered with a private equity group. He stayed on as the CEO for nearly a decade during which he made the transition from seller to buyer, leading the merger and acquisition activity at the company. This is where Jason learned how professionals buy businesses, build value, and prepare them for sale. This experience gave him the expertise to become an exit planning advisor where he helps other entrepreneurs navigate the sales process.

In Things I Wish I Knew Before I Sold to Private Equity, Jason shares the lessons he learned to help entrepreneurs prepare for the "Congratulations" call. This book covers preparing yourself for a sale, aligning your employees, evaluating offers, and selecting advisors. It sheds light on the diligence process and what to expect after closing. He also tackles the elephant in the room, valuation. This is the one book every entrepreneur should read before the phone starts ringing.

Review Quotes

"Real-world perspective and guidance from entrepreneur/ owner Jason Hendren on successfully exiting your business: -

• Experience as a seller, more than once.
• Experience as a buyer, multiple times.
• Experience as an advisor, on many exits.

Biggest takeaway? Plan well in advance before putting your company in play to achieve an optimal exit!"

-JACK DALY

* CEO coach and multiple-time Amazon best-selling author*

"I highly recommend this book to entrepreneurs that may one day bring in an outside investor. It is truly a demonstration of what entrepreneurs should know years before they ever consider a sale."

** -KEN J. HESSEVICK**

* Managing director, Pfingsten Partners*

"This book will open your eyes to the world of private equity and lay bare, in plain language, options that many would have learned about postclosing. In this book, Jason brings simplicity to a potentially noisy process in a way that will benefit those that read it!"

** -RYAN SMITH**

Cofounder of Elevation Capital Group