Built to Sell Radio

Most founders approach a sale with one goal: get the highest price possible. But Mark Ferrer argues that focusing only on price can lead to the wrong deal, the wrong partner, and a painful transition after closing. 

In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, John Warrillow talks with Ferrer about what he has learned after moving from founder to buyer, and why every owner needs to know whether they are a transactional, transitional, or transformative seller before they go to market. In this episode, you discover how to identify your seller type before a buyer does it for you. 

You'll learn: 

Why a transactional founder who insists they just want the money often turns out to be something else entirely — and why getting that wrong poisons the deal 


What a buyer learns about you when they ask whether you would sell to your biggest competitor for the same price 


Why the multiple is just the starting point, and how cash at closing, seller financing, and rolled equity can swing the real outcome by more than most founders expect 


How Mark lost 8 to 14 percent of his own deal proceeds not because of bad faith, but because he did not ask the right questions about his rolled equity 


Why pushing for agreement after a sale closes is the fastest way to destroy a partnership — and what to focus on instead 


What working capital and normalized earnings actually mean, and why founders who gloss over both almost always regret it 


How to clarify the role you want after closing before it becomes the source of tension no one saw coming

Most business owners assume their buyer will be a private equity group or a strategic acquirer. But if you run a smaller business in a niche category, the person most likely to buy you is an individual — someone who likes what you've built, can see a path to improve it, and is willing to put their own name on the line to finance the deal. 

This week on Built to Sell Radio, Joe Soelberg joins the Inside the Mind of an Acquirer series to pull back the curtain on what that kind of buyer actually looks like — and what it means for you as a seller. Listen and you discover how to: 

spot the tells of a real buyer versus "capital partners" theater 


pressure-test proof of funds without turning it adversarial 


use a seller note as a credibility filter, not just a concession 


understand why individual buyers consistently misread the cash down, seller note, bank structure and how to use that to your advantage 


ask questions that surface risk early, before lawyers get involved

Andrew McConnell built a SaaS company that helped vacation rental managers price homes like airlines using dynamic pricing based on demand. He eventually successfully exited, but not before learning the hard way that building a company and selling one require two entirely different skill sets. 

In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Andrew walks through the pivot that saved his business, why his VC backers stayed on board, and the exact moment he realized that a "short buyer list" is a dangerous trap for founders. 

Listen in to discover how to: 

Spot the "hidden ceiling" in a business that looks like it's doubling—right up until it isn't. 


Move a cap table from a failed bet into a new one without lighting your professional relationships on fire. 


Understand liquidation preference in plain English (and why it can erase a founder's take-home pay at exit). 


See why a banker's real value isn't just managing the process—it's forcing pressure and widening the field of potential acquirers 


Avoid the "I can sell this myself" mindset that often results in a year of free research for buyers and zero leverage for you.

This episode is part of our Inside the Mind of an Acquirer series, and it unpacks the ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) wave now flooding the market. 

For business owners, ETA is a double-edged sword. On the upside, more buyers courting you means more choice, more urgency, and more liquidity. On the downside, many ETA buyers are first-timers who lean on heavy leverage and seller financing. If they misread your business or hit a snag they can't handle, the part of the deal you financed can quickly become the part you never collect.

We often think of a "successful exit" as handing over the keys to a perfectly oiled machine—a business that is growing, profitable, and operationally sound. 

But what happens when the machine starts to sputter? 

What if the margins are too thin, the operations are exhausting, and you are simply burned out? 

It is easy to assume that a broken business model means a worthless company. But as this week's guest on Built to Sell Radio proves, sometimes the individual parts are worth more than the whole. 

Meet Jason Patel. 

Jason built Transitions Education, a college counseling marketplace. On the surface, it looked great: upper six-figure revenue and a noble mission. But under the hood, customer acquisition costs were eating his margins, and he was carrying $250,000 in personal debt to keep it afloat. 

He was ready to walk away. He assumed he had zero leverage. 

Then, a "Micro Private Equity" firm reached out. They didn't want his headaches. They didn't want his operations. They didn't even want his business model. 

They wanted his "parts." 

Specifically, they wanted his SEO ranking, his blog traffic, and his 5-star reputation. They realized they could strip away the expensive service delivery and plug his high-performing marketing assets into their own portfolio. 

In this episode, Jason breaks down how he structured an asset sale that allowed him to: 

Sell the high-value "parts" (marketing assets) without the operational baggage. 


Avoid a grueling earn-out (because the buyer didn't need him to run the company). 


Pay off his debt and fund his next venture. 


If you feel like your business model is grinding you down, this episode will open your eyes to the hidden value sitting on your balance sheet right now.