"I sold my business for $10 million" sounds great, but it's rarely the number that lands in the seller's bank account. In this episode, David and Shaun unpack the gap between the headline purchase price (enterprise value) and what a seller actually walks away with (equity value), and why understanding that difference matters more than the number everyone likes to quote.

They break down what comes off the top before closing: debt payoff on a cash-free, debt-free basis, working capital adjustments, holdbacks and escrows, indemnity provisions, and deal fees. They also explain when reps and warranties insurance can reduce how much money gets held back, and why the purchase price you hear about is almost never the number that matters most.

Closing the deal isn't the finish line. It's the start of the part that actually determines whether the deal works. In this episode, David and Shaun break down what post-close integration really means, why it's one of the biggest factors in whether a deal succeeds or fails, and what a detailed integration plan (100+ checklist items and counting) actually covers.

They dig into the two priorities that matter most, teammates and customers, including why the first 48 hours after closing can make or break a new hire's experience, how data migration and brand equity get handled behind the scenes, and why keeping the seller involved in planning leads to smoother transitions.

Not all deal structures are created equal, and the one you end up with can change your tax bill, your liability exposure, and how much work closing actually takes. In this episode, David and Shaun break down the two most common deal types, asset deals and stock deals, and explain why the structure matters just as much as the price.

They cover why buyers generally prefer asset deals (clean title, no legacy liabilities, a tax step-up on assets), why sellers often prefer stock deals (favorable tax treatment on partial sales), and what happens to the old legal entity after an asset deal closes. They also touch on more advanced structures like F-reorgs, and explain how milestone or earn-out payments can bridge a valuation gap between buyer and seller regardless of which structure is used.