M&A Exit FAQ — Valence Exit Studio

Question 1

Who does Valence Exit Studio work with?

Accepted Answer

Founders of digital, SaaS and tech-enabled businesses in the $1M–$10M enterprise value band. We work best with owners who are 6–24 months from a process and want to engineer the multiple before going to market rather than accept the first number offered.

Question 2

How long does a typical sell-side process take?

Accepted Answer

Preparation sprints run 8–16 weeks depending on how much founder decoupling and revenue-quality work is required. Once in market, a competitive process usually runs 12–20 weeks from outreach to signed LOI, plus 30–60 days of confirmatory diligence to close.

Question 3

What is the Sellability Score and how is it calculated?

Accepted Answer

It is a 0–100 index built from an 11-question audit across eight value drivers — margins, growth, revenue quality, customer concentration, payment terms, retention, founder dependency and acquisition channel — plus the three defensibility axes. Each answer carries 1 to 4 points, normalized to 100.

Question 4

Why does my multiple range move when I complete sprints?

Accepted Answer

Each remediation sprint carries a quantified uplift. Closing a concentration or founder-dependency gap removes a discount a buyer would otherwise price in, so your effective multiple range and estimated enterprise value both re-rate in the workstation.

Question 5

How does the Triangulated Valuation Engine work?

Accepted Answer

We model three independent views: a discounted cash-flow value, market comparables applied to your revenue base, and a synergy-adjusted buyer-side value. The spread between them is the negotiating room — we anchor at replication cost and argue toward the synergy number.

Question 6

Where does the acquirer target list come from?

Accepted Answer

We analyze your website to map industry, niche, ICP, competitors and complementary platforms, then match acquirers across four archetypes: distribution acquirers, capability and data acquirers, consolidation or roll-up platforms, and vertical expansion buyers. Each card carries a synergy rationale and a multiple-uplift estimate.

Question 7

Why do you insist on more than one buyer at the table?

Accepted Answer

A single unsolicited bidder controls the timeline, the price and the re-trade. With two or more buyers past NDA on a common LOI deadline, competitive tension converts a fair price into a maxed-out price. That is what the Bidding Tension Gauge in the pipeline tracks.

Question 8

How do you protect confidentiality during outreach?

Accepted Answer

Outreach opens with a blind teaser that describes the asset without naming it. Company identity, customer names and financial detail are released only after an NDA is signed, and data-room access is staged and logged.

Question 9

How is Valence compensated?

Accepted Answer

Preparation work is a fixed engagement fee; the sell-side mandate is a success fee on closed enterprise value. We share the exact structure on the Studio Review call — there are no retainers that survive a dead process.

Question 10

What if I decide not to sell?

Accepted Answer

Nothing is wasted. The same work that raises a sale multiple — cleaner revenue, less founder dependency, defensible IP — raises cash flow and owner optionality. Many founders run the sprints first and re-enter the market a year later at a materially higher number.

Question 11

Do I need a Quality of Earnings report?

Accepted Answer

Above roughly $3M of enterprise value, a sell-side QoE almost always pays for itself: it removes the buyer's easiest lever for a working-capital or add-back re-trade. We flag when your readiness score makes a QoE worth commissioning.

Question 12

What documents should be ready before outreach?

Accepted Answer

Three years of financials with add-backs documented, a customer cohort and concentration file, contracts and renewal terms, an org and delegation map, IP and code ownership evidence, and your security or compliance posture. The diligence checklist in the workstation tracks each one.

Exit questions, answered straight.

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