Part IX
Own
Every advisor's revenue stops at close. Yours starts. The first ninety days, the cash reality, what an operating cadence looks like when it works, what to do when it does not, and the exit you should be building toward from day one.
The First 90 Days
- L9.1.1
The Don't-Change List
The post-close plan built around what not to touch. Day-one retention moves, showing up, and the support cliff: the moment the advisors leave is the moment the risk starts.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced - L9.1.2
Take Over the Books
Week-one financial control: bank accounts and signatories move at funding, payroll runs under you before the first cycle, the bookkeeper transition, daily cash visibility, and the customer and employee communication plan.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced
The Cash Reality
- L9.2.1
Working Capital Eats Heroes
Cash-conversion cycles, payroll as a clock that does not care, seasonality, and the sacred cash cushion. Told straight through the founder's own failure.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced
When It Works
- L9.3.1
Operating Cadence
The weekly rhythm, the handful of systems that turn a business into an asset, and why incentive alignment beats supervision.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced - L9.3.2
Growth and Add-Ons
When a second acquisition makes sense, the prerequisites for a roll-up, and the accidental roll-up trap of buying the second company before the first one is understood.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced
When It Goes Wrong
- L9.4.1
The Workout
Lender workouts, what a personal guarantee actually reaches, the difference between business bankruptcy and personal bankruptcy, the settlement, and how to wind a business down the right way.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced - L9.4.2
Survival
Identity after failure, the claim that failed operators become unemployable and the kernel of truth inside it, and the rebuild path. This curriculum is the proof that it exists.
TraditionalSelf-FundedAdvanced
Exit and the Long Game
- L9.5.1
Exits Below the Radar
Most small-company exits are recapitalizations into private equity with a rollover attached, and reliable comparables are scarce at this size. Build the business an exit buyer's box wants from day one.
TraditionalSelf-FundedSponsorAdvanced - L9.5.2
The Second Act
Operator to sponsor: what the first deal is actually for, and how the record of running one company becomes the credential for raising capital to buy the next.
TraditionalSelf-FundedSponsorAdvanced