Think your business is sellable? Try removing yourself for 90 days. If everything breaks without you, it’s not sellable. It’s dependent. Buyers don’t acquire founders. They acquire systems. → Recurring revenue → Audited financials → A team that scales the machine → A clean

In hot markets like 2021, everyone wanted to sell. But not everyone could. The truth? Not all exits are equal. Some businesses sail through due diligence, get top-dollar offers, and close in 90 days. Others get stuck — buried in red flags, missing systems, and endless

AI is speeding up everything—but is it improving your predictability… or just increasing your throughput? My December Forbes piece breaks down the difference. Read the full article here: bit.ly/44Lpokl

Good News: Scientists discover a way to regrow cartilage, stop arthritis notthebee.com/article/good-n…

January is when motivation gives way to discipline. This reel covers a few less talked-about decisions that make businesses stronger, more investable, and easier to sell over time. Curious which one matters most for your Q1? #GoingLiquid #ExitReadiness #BusinessValuation

If you’re serious about optionality, you can’t build a business that only works when you’re in the room. A strong early hire isn’t “overhead.” It’s what turns execution into a system, and the founder into a lever. The goal isn’t just smoother operations. It’s a business that

Two things buyers notice fast—your ability to attract talent, and your ability to avoid unnecessary mess. If hiring is a grind or disputes keep turning into lawyers, the business feels founder-dependent and volatile. That usually shows up in price, terms, or interest. This reel

It’s rarely the P&L. It’s the risk they can’t price. If a buyer can’t answer these fast, they hesitate—or they leave: → Who owns the key relationships? → What happens when the founder is unavailable? → Can we trust the reporting? → Are contracts, compliance, and controls

Most of the risk isn’t the work—it’s the decisions. If the decision-making lives in your head, the business is still you. DOCUMENT the process, then hand it off—MEASURE PERFORMANCE #GoingLiquid #LiquidityMindset #MichaelPlatner

I sat down with Capital Analytics Associates to talk about where AI is creating real leverage—and real risk—plus what business leaders should be paying attention to right now. Read the full spotlight here: capitalanalyticsassociates.com/spotlight-on-m…

Red flags don’t mean you’re “not sellable.” They mean you have a clear list of what to tighten. Churn, turnover, personal guarantees, founder-dependence, slow collections—buyers notice these fast. The good news is they’re fixable, and fixing them usually makes the business run

Customer concentration is a valuation haircut in disguise. If one account drives the business, buyers see counterparty risk—not a moat. They don’t argue with it. They protect themselves: lower price, tighter terms, earnouts. Gut-check: if your biggest customer walked, do you

A buyer will pay for your upside—if they believe it’s repeatable. But they’ll discount for anything that makes them feel exposed: surprises in the numbers, unclear ownership of key decisions, weak controls, messy contracts, cash leakage. That’s what “pricing your fears” looks

Most private company owners don’t have an effort problem. They have a clarity problem. If you can’t explain why performance moved this month—what lever changed, what broke, what worked—everything feels reactive. And when everything feels reactive, focus gets scattered, decisions

Culture test: if you step out for 30 days, does execution hold—or does everything route back to you? Buyers don’t buy “great vibes.” They buy a repeatable operating system. Culture + Systems = Transferable Value. #MichaelPlatner #GoingLiquid #LiquidityMindset

Honored to be recognized as an Innovators of the Year finalist by Daily Business Review. Thank you for the recognition. Read more: law.com/dailybusinessr…

Most owners think value is built when the buyer arrives. It’s built long before that. Three things move the needle: 🗂️ A real succession plan. If the business can operate without you for a few weeks, that says a lot about leadership depth, continuity, and buyer confidence. 📊

Price isn’t just a function of what you built. It’s a function of how much risk a buyer has to underwrite. That’s why this framework matters: 🎯 Clean numbers reduce debate. 🎯 Transferability reduces key-person fear. 🎯 Cash discipline reduces “surprise” risk in working capital

Your business may be generating income. That does not automatically make it an asset. That’s where thinking like an investor changes the lens. Serious investors look at it differently. They want to know what it’s worth, what drives that value, and whether it can convert into

Most founders think succession risk starts with them. It doesn’t. A buyer also wants to know what happens if your operator, head of sales, or finance lead disappears. If too much of the business sits inside one other person, that’s not leverage. That’s hidden fragility.