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LISTEN TO Built To Exit with Jason Sisneros
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Your Business Is In The Way Of Your Destiny (with Nathan Byrd)
Building a business nobody wants to buy is a trap most owners walk into without realizing it. The real problem is not revenue or marketing. It is founder dependency, missing systems, and never asking who you are building this for. If you are grinding inside your company, overwhelmed by AI hype, unsure what to automate first, or quietly wondering whether your business could survive without you, this one cuts deep. In this episode of Built to Exit, Jason Sisneros sits down with Nathan Byrd, founder of Acquicon (Acquisition Conference), long-time advisor and investor in the lower middle market, to talk about what separates operators who build transferable value from those whose businesses own them. Together, we break down: -Why founder dependency is the silent killer of business value -How to use AI without drowning in ideas you cannot execute -Why SOPs come before automation and what happens when you skip them -The vetting process behind high-integrity business communities -How vision and reflection drive better decisions than speed ever will -Why AI-first companies will reshape the future of transactions and exits -The difference between influence and impact, and which one comes first This episode is for business owners who want to: -Build a company that runs without them in the room -Stop confusing activity with progress -Know what to automate and what to protect You did not start this business so it could own you. Nathan and Jason show where operators get stuck and how to build something worth transferring, to a buyer, to your team, or to your family. Chapters 00:00 - Why the business you built might own you 00:37 - Meet Nathan Byrd and the story behind Acquicon 03:50 - What Acquicon solves for operators and investors 05:22 - From personal training to architecting businesses 10:02 - Why following expert advice actually works 12:22 - What separates action takers from everyone else 16:00 - How to vet people without a ten-question checklist 22:30 - Where AI helps and where it creates overwhelm 28:30 - Why SOPs come before automation 30:30 - AI-first companies and the future of exits 35:00 - How a PE firm used AI and what outperformed it 39:40 - What attendees said after Acquicon 44:55 - The biggest mistake: letting the business own you 🔗 Guest and Event Links Acquicon (Acquisition Conference), October 19-21, Salt Lake City: acquicon.com Jason Sisneros: jasonsisneros.com Built to Exit: builttoexit.biz #BuiltToExit #BusinessExit #SmallBusinessGrowth
How To Kill Your Business (with Kevin Jennings)
Business owners spending thousands on marketing to chase one client at a time are playing the wrong game. Most never consider that the largest buyer in the country already publishes exactly what they want, how much they’ll pay, and where to find the opportunity, every single day. If you’re stuck as the bottleneck in your business, burning cash on client attraction, or sitting on a great company with no idea how to exit it profitably, this conversation will shift how you think about revenue, risk, and what your business is actually worth. In this episode of Built to Exit, Jason Sisneros sits down with Kevin Jennings, government contracting expert, serial acquirer, and founder of The Government Cheese, to break down how everyday service businesses can tap into government contracts, why Kevin’s first exit was a painful masterclass, and what it actually takes to go from running one company to building a nine-figure roll-up. Together, we break down: -Why government contracts eliminate the hardest part of business: finding the customer -How a five-year street sweeping contract at the Las Vegas airport covers all the bases -Why 23% of every federal dollar is earmarked for small businesses and most never go after it -What Kevin got wrong in his first exit and why he calls it a “paid MBA” -How running eight businesses became easier than running one -The four startup traits (arrogance, impatience, wrong team) that must flip before you scale -Why knowing your worth as a person, not just a business, changes every negotiation This episode is for business owners who want to: -Add reliable, long-term revenue without spending more on marketing -Avoid a dictated exit where the buyer controls price, timing, and terms -Build a business that runs without them so they can be present for what matters You do not have to figure out government contracts alone, and you do not have to repeat the mistakes Kevin made on his first exit. This episode shows where service-business owners leave money on the table and how to stop. Timestamps 00:00 – Why business owners never consider the government as a client 02:54 – Kevin’s journey: football, real estate crash, and the pivot to government contracts 06:09 – What the government actually buys (hint: it’s not just guns) 09:30 – The janitor analogy: jobs the government stopped filling and now contracts out 12:22 – How government contracts reduce concentration risk and boost your multiple 13:56 – Five-year deals and guaranteed revenue: why Kevin locks in long-term contracts 17:00 – Zero marketing spend: one website, every federal opportunity, every day 19:30 – Running eight businesses is easier than one, here’s why 21:30 – The mindset shift: killing the ego to scale past eight figures 26:30 – Kevin’s NICU moment and why he had to change how he ran his business 31:00 – Kevin’s first exit: uneducated seller, dictated deal, and the lessons inside the pain 37:30 – Building the seller’s code: controlling price, timing, and terms 43:00 – Kevin’s one piece of advice: know your worth 🔗 Connect with Kevin Jennings Find Kevin across all socials: @thegovernmentcheese Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube: The Government Cheese 🔗 Connect with Built to Exit Website: builttoexit.biz Subscribe for weekly conversations on building enterprise value and exiting on your terms. #GovernmentContracts #BuiltToExit #BusinessExit
The Decisions That Shape Your Freedom, Family, And Future (with Kyle Auffray)
Business owners who play it safe are just employees with more stress. Most entrepreneurs stay stuck not because they lack skill, they lack the guts to match the size of the opportunity to the size of the work they’re already doing. If you’re grinding every day but the payoff never feels worth it, if you’re scared to go bigger, or if you’ve lost sight of why you even started, this one will hit. In this episode of Built to Exit, Jason Sisneros sits down with Kyle Auffray, former NFL player, venture capital operator, and private equity dealmaker, who scaled a company from $600K to $28M in revenue, closed a multi-seven-figure government PPE contract during COVID, and now builds billion-dollar sports development projects. Kyle breaks down exactly how the same skills that got him from undrafted free agent to four NFL teams translate directly into closing deals and building businesses worth owning. Together, we break down: -Why the same skillset produces wildly different income depending on what you attach it to -How Kyle sold himself into the NFL with no agent, no draft pick, and no guarantees -The COVID deal that paid more in three months than the previous four years combined -Why business owners take all the risk but refuse to chase the real reward -How to stop being an employee of your own company -What Kyle’s father taught him about living with urgency and zero regret -Why The Forge exists and what the male suicide crisis means for entrepreneurs This episode is for business owners who: -Know they’re capable of more but keep playing small -Haven’t defined their endgame and can’t explain why they’re still grinding -Need a reality check on whether the juice is worth the squeeze You don’t have to figure this out alone. You don’t have to keep selling used cars when you could be selling Lamborghinis. Kyle and Jason lay out the mindset, the moves, and the community that make the difference. Chapters 00:00 – Why playing it safe as a business owner is the biggest risk 00:30 – Kyle Auffray’s journey: New York kid to NFL to dealmaker 02:00 – The transition most athletes and business owners get wrong 03:00 – Everything is sales, how Kyle sold his way into the NFL 05:00 – Scaling a company from $600K to $28M in four years 05:50 – The COVID PPE deal: multi-seven-figure matchmaking 08:00 – Why the same work earns 10x more with the right product 09:00 – The fearlessness factor: billion-dollar deals and Lake Como meetings 10:00 – Why comfort kills business owners 11:30 – The moment Kyle got the call from the Arizona Cardinals 13:00 – One life, one shot: why your endgame matters more than your hustle 15:00 – Know your endgame or you’re just an employee of your own company 17:30 – The Forge: why male suicide and fatherlessness are an entrepreneur crisis 22:30 – Two books you need in your life, the Bible and your passport 25:00 – What three days with B2X actually does to your business and your life 🔗 Connect The Forge → betheforge.com Dare to Exit Event (Nov 5-6, Atlanta) → daretoexit.com Built to Exit → builtexit.biz #BuiltToExit #BusinessExit #EntrepreneurMindset
How AI Is Changing The Rules Of Business (with Joe Garner)
Business owners in the trades are drowning in six platforms just to run one company. Most AI advice makes it worse because it skips the foundation, your SOPs, your workflows, your people, and jumps straight to the shiny tool. That is how you burn money and lose trust. If you are running an HVAC company, a roofing crew, electrical, plumbing, or any trade-based business and you feel stuck between ignoring AI and going all-in without a plan, this conversation will ground you. In this episode of Built to Exit, Jason Sisneros sits down with Joe Garner, tech entrepreneur, former Department of Defense cryptologist, and founder of a consulting-marketing-software firm with nine platforms in its portfolio. They unpack what AI adoption actually looks like when you do it right, what it costs when you do it wrong, and why the trades have a built-in moat that most industries do not. Together, we break down: Why SOPs are the only thing that will keep your business alive in the age of AI How to tell the difference between a real AI use case and a shiny object What "people, processes, and platforms" actually means when you audit your operations Why AI agents in dispatch, accounting, and HR are here now, not five years away How one platform (Evolve ERP) replaced six tools for a multi-trade company The three AI risks most business owners have not thought about: security, unknown cost, and hallucinations Why the trades are one of the few industries with a real moat against AI displacement This episode is for business owners who want to: Stop paying for six platforms that do not talk to each other Use AI to multiply their team instead of replacing them Build enterprise value that commands top dollar when they exit You do not have to guess at this. You do not have to throw AI at everything and hope it sticks. Jason and Joe lay out what works, what does not, and where to start, with your operations documented first and the tech layered on second. Chapters 00:00 - Why ignoring AI will leave your business behind 00:37 - Welcome to Built to Exit with Jason Sisneros 01:00 - The due diligence mistake most business owners make with partners 02:47 - Joe Garner's journey: DoD cryptology to tech entrepreneur 05:05 - The rare combination: architecture mind meets marketing mind 06:31 - How to pivot when the next wave hits your industry 08:08 - Why SOPs are the only thing keeping you alive in the AI era 10:10 - AI is turning business owners into zombies 13:00 - Joe's true north: faith, family, and doing business with integrity 14:50 - Trust in the age of AI deepfakes and generated personas 17:50 - Evolve ERP: one platform replacing six for trades businesses 22:50 - Why the trades have a moat against AI disruption 24:50 - Price, timing, and terms: who really controls your exit 28:15 - AI agents in the trades: the dispatch example that changes everything 30:50 - Three AI risks no one talks about: security, cost, and hallucinations 35:00 - The "super suit" philosophy: AI as leverage, not replacement 39:30 - Dying breath: what to tell your kids about business 41:00 - Where to find Joe Garner and Evolve ERP 🔗 Connect with Joe Garner Website: https://garner.agency/ 🔗 Built to Exit Website: builttoexit.biz Dare To Exit live event: daretoexit.com #BuiltToExit #AIForBusiness #TradesBusiness
What Is Your Business Really Worth? (with Tomas Milar)
Most business owners have no idea what their company is actually worth, and neither does anyone else. Private companies don’t trade on a market. There’s no ticker, no graph, no daily price. So when it’s time to raise capital, reward early employees, or sell, you’re guessing. That guessing costs you real money. If you’ve been grinding for years, building something real, and you still can’t answer “what’s my company worth today?” this one is for you. In this episode of Built To Exit, Jason Sisneros sits down with Tomas Milar, founder of Eqvista, a company that issues stocks and provides equity valuations for private companies. Tomas has worked with over 20,000 clients and nearly half a billion dollars in client assets, all bootstrapped, no VC money. Together, we break down: How to price a private company when there’s no public market to reference Why rewarding early employees with equity is a competitive weapon, not just a nice gesture How a logistics company cut from 170 employees to 24 and went from $28M to $12M in revenue with better margins Why raising $35M on $5M in revenue can leave a founder with $8-10M after a $100M exit How AI should be used to make your business efficient without replacing the human judgment that keeps clients safe Why revenue before fundraising is the discipline that separates builders from burn-rate companies What “cap table hygiene” means and why ignoring it kills your exit This episode is for business owners who want to: Understand what their company is actually worth right now Stop diluting themselves into a corner with bad fundraising math Use AI and lean operations to increase enterprise value before they sell You don’t have to figure out valuation, equity, and exit math alone. Tomas and Jason lay out where business owners go wrong and what the smartest operators are doing differently. Chapters 00:00 – Why most business owners can’t answer “what’s my company worth?” 00:27 – Welcome to Built To Exit 01:07 – Tomas Milar’s story: from Hong Kong incorporations to private-company valuations 04:22 – The core question: how do you price something that doesn’t trade? 07:43 – What “always ready to sell” actually means 11:01 – Operator vs. executor: the shift that makes a business transferable 11:39 – Rewarding the believers: stock liquidity for early employees and investors 15:11 – WIIFM: how gamifying your business changes everything 19:29 – AI in business: why “automate but human-deliver” works 22:26 – The real cost of replacing your analyst with AI 25:51 – Two identical businesses, one with AI: what happens to valuation 30:02 – Future revenue multiples and the three things owners can do today 34:16 – The $35M raise on $5M revenue: a cautionary tale in dilution math Connect with Tomas Milar & Eqvista Website: eqvista.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tomasmilar/ Built To Exit Website: builttoexit.biz Dare To Exit live event: daretoexit.com #BuiltToExit #BusinessValuation #ExitStrategy
