Dan Martell - 4 lessons from my first business exit

00:00:00.000 This is what I wish I knew before I exited my first company.

00:00:02.740 Number one, start with the end.

00:00:04.980 If you're building the business,

00:00:06.100 you need to know how you lean the ladder

00:00:07.980 against the wall of success.

00:00:09.200 Because what I did is I burnt myself out.

00:00:10.940 I built a business where everybody reported to me.

00:00:13.020 And yeah, I might've exited the company,

00:00:14.480 but let me tell you,

00:00:15.240 there was some collateral damage along the way.

00:00:17.100 Number two is early equity is expensive AF.

00:00:20.660 If you have a co-founder, make sure they're vested

00:00:23.020 because I can't tell you the amount of times

00:00:24.460 I look at a cap table and I call it ghost equity,

00:00:26.860 where there's a name and a person

00:00:28.100 that owns 30, 40, 50% of business

00:00:30.420 and I can't see them in the office.

00:00:32.240 Number three, hire owners, not doers.

00:00:35.580 Your team has to feel like they're owners in the business.

00:00:38.160 So make sure you give them equity

00:00:39.240 and just involve them in the culture

00:00:41.060 to get them involved in the business.

00:00:42.520 Number four, the most important,

00:00:44.180 make sure you build to sell.

00:00:46.100 A business that is built so you can sell it

00:00:48.120 even if you never plan on selling it

00:00:49.620 is a great company to own.

00:00:51.540 And I'll tell you, it also gets you clear

00:00:53.020 on who could buy it,

00:00:54.040 which gives you time to build relationship with them

00:00:56.080 so that you can make the exit process super easy.

Dan Martell - April 16, 2025