Founders must consult with brokers or bankers one to two years before a planned exit to identify the specific metrics that make a business attractive to buyers, then spend those years optimizing the company for that valuation.
The hosts advise Noom that if he wants to sell in a few years, he should speak with brokers and study comparable exits now to understand the exact metrics he needs to hit over the next 24 months to maximize his exit multiple. ✦ AI generated
Host · My First Million · 2026-08-19 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 53:07
“Have you ever talked to any bankers or brokers?”
A lot of times people only do that when they're ready to sell when you should have done it three years earlier and you find out you're like, I have a number in my mind. Just tell me what I need to achieve to make that number possible and I'm just going to go do that for two years. Tell me three companies you looked at that are like this. What did they sell for? why did they get that model they got? When did they do it? And you're like, "Okay, it could be like this revenue, this cash flow, and you know, these are the the five or six other metrics. I'll just do that for 3 years and and then I'll look up and be like, okay." Yeah. No, I would. So, I would talk to Quietite. They're more of a online brokerage, but they're easy to talk to... But I would not delay this. What Sam said is absolutely right. You don't talk to them when you're it's time to sell. You first talk to them a year or two before to actually understand what you need to do in the next 24 months to be a sellable business in the end.
verbatim transcript · starts at 53:07
52:50this before and exited? Well, let me go talk to them and understand like does the factors that made that a successful exit match what I what I have fundamentally in my business. But if it's just a cash flow business, that's great. Cash business can be awesome. >> Have you ever talked to any bankers or brokers? >> I haven't. >> A lot of times people only do that when
53:07they're ready to sell when you should have done it three years earlier and you find out you're like, I have a number in my mind. Just tell me what I need to achieve to make that number possible and I'm just going to go do that for two years. >> Tell me three companies you looked at that are like this. What did they sell for? why did they get that model they
53:21got? When did they do it? >> And you're like, "Okay, it could be like this revenue, this cash flow, and you know, these are the the five or six other metrics. I'll just do that for 3 years and and then I'll look up and be like, okay, >> okay." Yeah. I If you guys know any I I had some people reach out on LinkedIn about it, but they seem kind of skezy,
53:36so I was like, I'm good. >> Yeah. No, I would. So, I would talk to Quietite. They're more of a online brokerage, but they're easy to talk to. go to they if you go look at their thing they they have a lot of these like FBA businesses that they sell that like are kind of like I would say >> lower durability lower quality businesses overall but they seem to be
53:55selling so like they know how to package those what type what business is working >> quietite brokerage >> yeah.com so go to them and then go look up brokers in your space maybe like you know you just have to Google and like tell chat GB go do deep research on who s you know who are bankers that sell products like mine like I don't even know what the name of this category is,
54:13but it might be like >> noness non-medical wellness devices. Okay, cool. And >> you can you email the founders of people who have had exits and you say, "Who did you who all did you talk to?" Cuz everyone who sells at a company will talk to three or four. They'll say, "I used this person. They were great. These two were kind of good." >> But I would not delay this. What Sam
54:30said is absolutely right. You don't talk to them when you're it's time to sell. You first talk to them a year or two before to actually understand what you need to do in the next 24 months to be a sellable business in the end. And it the good thing about a sellable business is if somebody else is going to want to own it, it's probably the same like reasons
54:47you would want to own it. So there's no harm in building a very sellable business because at the very least you made a business that's higher desiraability to own for yourself or for somebody else. >> Yeah, dude. Thanks for doing this. You're awesome. >> No, of course. Thanks for having me. >> Good luck in China. >> Yeah, [laughter] >> all right. That is part two of Shoot