From first call to wire transfer
What actually happens when you sell your business.
Week by week. No surprises. Built from 75+ real transactions across ecommerce, SaaS, and digital agencies.
Engagement & intake
Sign the engagement agreement. Nate runs a deep intake: business model, revenue, financials, operations, team, client relationships. The goal is to understand the business before a single buyer sees it.
“Nate is building the thesis that will drive the entire process.”
Nate Lind
Financial documentation
Pull 3 years of financials. Document all addbacks (owner salary, health insurance, discretionary expenses). Calculate verified SDE and EBITDA. Clean books now prevents retrades later.
“Buyers and their lenders will scrutinize every line. Get ahead of it.”
Nate Lind
Valuation + positioning
Establish a realistic pricing range based on current market comparables. Identify which buyer types are most likely — PE, strategic, or individual operator.
“The worst thing you can do is go to market overpriced. Six months of momentum burned.”
Nate Lind
CIM creation
Build the Confidential Information Memorandum. Multiple versions — one for PE, one for strategics, one for individuals. The CIM is what buyers use to decide whether to proceed. A weak CIM kills deals before they start.
“Most brokers use one template. I build different versions because different buyers need different stories.”
Nate Lind
Go to market
Release the teaser (no company name). Hit 8,000+ personal buyer relationships and the 150K-person buyer database. List on strategic platforms. The outreach is targeted, not broadcast.
“Average listing attracts ~97 buyers who sign NDAs. That number is what creates leverage.”
Nate Lind
NDA processing + CIM distribution
Qualified buyers sign NDAs. Review financials and receive the full CIM. Nate screens buyers before they touch the CIM — not every interested party deserves access.
“Buyers who get the CIM are serious. Tire-kickers never see the real numbers.”
Nate Lind
Management calls
Serious buyers get on calls with you. Nate manages these — he knows what questions signal real intent and which ones are fishing. You'll typically speak with 8–15 buyers at this stage.
“How you present on these calls changes the offer. Preparation matters.”
Nate Lind
LOI deadline
Set a hard deadline for Letters of Intent. This creates urgency and surfaces serious buyers. Multiple LOIs create competitive tension — the difference between accepting one offer and negotiating between three.
“The LOI is not the finish line. It's where the real negotiation starts.”
Nate Lind
LOI negotiation + selection
Review all LOIs. Negotiate terms — not just price, but structure: cash at close, seller note, earnout, equity rollover. Choose the buyer with the best combination of price, structure, and certainty to close.
“The highest offer isn't always the best offer. Deal structure determines what you actually walk away with.”
Nate Lind
Data room setup
Organize the data room before the buyer asks for anything. Financial statements, tax returns, customer contracts, employee agreements, IP documentation, supplier contracts. Proactive = momentum.
“Every day of delay in diligence is a day where something can go wrong.”
Nate Lind
Due diligence
Buyer and their team (accountants, lawyers, technical experts) go deep. Financial QoE, legal review, customer calls, employee interviews. Nate manages the timeline and answers every question within 24 hours.
“Surprises kill deals. Known issues with documented plans rarely do. That's why preparation matters.”
Nate Lind
Retrade defense (if needed)
Buyers sometimes try to renegotiate price after diligence. With multiple offers in reserve and a well-prepared seller, Nate is in a position to hold firm or walk. Having alternatives is the only real defense.
“On a $11.5M deal, the buyer tried a retrade. We told them we were walking. They backed down. Deal closed.”
Nate Lind
Purchase agreement
Attorneys draft the Purchase and Sale Agreement. Working capital targets, escrow/holdback terms, rep and warranty provisions, non-compete. Every clause matters.
“The legal docs are where deal terms get locked in. Read everything. Understand what you're signing.”
Nate Lind
Financing confirmation
If the buyer is using SBA or bank financing, confirm the loan is approved and funded. This is the most common last-minute deal killer — external events can move lenders. Stay close to the timeline.
“I watched a fully-signed deal collapse over a weekend because a tariff announcement spooked the lender. Momentum is real.”
Nate Lind
Wire + transition
Funds wire. Keys transfer. The transition period begins — typically 90 days of structured knowledge transfer. Introductions, training, relationship handoffs. You leave the business in good hands.
“The wire is the moment. Everything before it is preparation to get there.”
Nate Lind
The honest version
The timeline above assumes a well-prepared business and a competent buyer with financing in place. Real deals have delays. Diligence takes longer than expected. Buyers get cold feet. Lenders add conditions.
The most important thing you can do is control what's in your control: clean financials, documented operations, and a process designed to create competing offers. Everything else is risk management.
My close rate over the last two years is above 75%. The industry median is under 8%. That gap comes from preparation — not luck.
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