Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth?
With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business.
You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit
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In this episode of The Exit Podcast, host Steve sits down with Lee Smith, an acquisition entrepreneur at Verdani Capital with 12 years of M&A experience. Lee shares hard-won lessons from acquiring 20+ businesses and reveals what buyers really look for when evaluating companies for acquisition.
KEY TOPICS COVERED:
The #1 Red Flag Buyers See (And How to Fix It)
Lee reveals why owner-dependency kills deals and how to build transferability into your business 2-3 years before exit
Inside the Valuation Process
Real multiples for blue-collar businesses (2-4x true profit, not EBITDA) and why adjusted earnings can backfire
Deal Structure That Works
How Lee structures acquisitions to align incentives: buying 60-80% stakes with future upside potential that often doubles the founder's payday
The Biggest Deal Mistakes
From buying distressed companies to discovering hidden equity agreements 30 minutes before closing—lessons learned the hard way
The £1 Business Acquisition Strategy
How Lee has purchased 20 businesses for just one pound, including a remarkable turnaround that saved a founder from £500K in debt
When Concentration Risk Isn't a Deal-Breaker
Strategic approaches to handling clients that represent 60-70% of revenue, including key customer clauses in SPAs
Building Trust in M&A Deals
Why "two ears, one mouth" matters more than spreadsheets when structuring successful acquisitions
The EOS Framework for Integration
Using simple systems to manage acquired businesses without disrupting teams or culture
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Lee Smith is a values-driven entrepreneur and dealmaker with more than 25 years of experience and a respected track record in UK M&A. After completing his first acquisitions in 2014, he went on to buy and turn around nine underperforming companies before founding Verdani Capital, where he continues to acquire and scale larger UK businesses. To date, Lee has completed 26 acquisitions across sectors such as Manufacturing, Professional Services, Construction, HVAC, and IT Services, supported by training from leading M&A mentors in the UK and US. His current portfolio generates over £2M in annual profit with a clear path toward £10M, strengthened by three strategic exits in 2024. Grounded in spirituality and conscious leadership, Lee combines substance, strategy, and long-term thinking in every partnership.
Website - https://www.leeasmith.co.uk/
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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/
All content for The Exit - Presented By Flippa is the property of The Exit - Presented By Flippa and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth?
With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business.
You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit
--
In this episode of The Exit Podcast, host Steve sits down with Lee Smith, an acquisition entrepreneur at Verdani Capital with 12 years of M&A experience. Lee shares hard-won lessons from acquiring 20+ businesses and reveals what buyers really look for when evaluating companies for acquisition.
KEY TOPICS COVERED:
The #1 Red Flag Buyers See (And How to Fix It)
Lee reveals why owner-dependency kills deals and how to build transferability into your business 2-3 years before exit
Inside the Valuation Process
Real multiples for blue-collar businesses (2-4x true profit, not EBITDA) and why adjusted earnings can backfire
Deal Structure That Works
How Lee structures acquisitions to align incentives: buying 60-80% stakes with future upside potential that often doubles the founder's payday
The Biggest Deal Mistakes
From buying distressed companies to discovering hidden equity agreements 30 minutes before closing—lessons learned the hard way
The £1 Business Acquisition Strategy
How Lee has purchased 20 businesses for just one pound, including a remarkable turnaround that saved a founder from £500K in debt
When Concentration Risk Isn't a Deal-Breaker
Strategic approaches to handling clients that represent 60-70% of revenue, including key customer clauses in SPAs
Building Trust in M&A Deals
Why "two ears, one mouth" matters more than spreadsheets when structuring successful acquisitions
The EOS Framework for Integration
Using simple systems to manage acquired businesses without disrupting teams or culture
--
Lee Smith is a values-driven entrepreneur and dealmaker with more than 25 years of experience and a respected track record in UK M&A. After completing his first acquisitions in 2014, he went on to buy and turn around nine underperforming companies before founding Verdani Capital, where he continues to acquire and scale larger UK businesses. To date, Lee has completed 26 acquisitions across sectors such as Manufacturing, Professional Services, Construction, HVAC, and IT Services, supported by training from leading M&A mentors in the UK and US. His current portfolio generates over £2M in annual profit with a clear path toward £10M, strengthened by three strategic exits in 2024. Grounded in spirituality and conscious leadership, Lee combines substance, strategy, and long-term thinking in every partnership.
Website - https://www.leeasmith.co.uk/
--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/
From Engineering to Exits – Christy Brown’s Journey Building & Selling Businesses
The Exit - Presented By Flippa
36 minutes 4 seconds
4 months ago
From Engineering to Exits – Christy Brown’s Journey Building & Selling Businesses
Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth?
With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business.
You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit
--
In this episode of The Exit: Steve McGarry sits down with Christy Brown, CEO of Dr. Noze Best, to unpack her remarkable journey from engineer to multi-exit entrepreneur. Raised in a family of gritty builders and innovators, Christy shares how early exposure to a family-run real estate business inspired her transition from corporate consulting to launching her first eCommerce-focused agency in the early 2000s.
Key topics discussed:
The Power of Accelerators: Christy breaks down how accelerators build founder confidence, drive growth, and connect entrepreneurs with critical networks.
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: She details her role in leading a women-focused accelerator that graduated 260+ founders, contributing over $2.5B in economic impact.
Exit Strategy Insights: Christy shares candid lessons from her exits—including a public company earn-out—and the emotional and cultural shifts that follow a sale.
Misconceptions about Exits & Venture Funding: From unrealistic timelines to overestimated payoffs, Christy demystifies what exits actually look like behind the headlines.
Personal Advice: From reverse-engineering your life around your business to negotiating with clarity, Christy offers practical guidance for both aspiring and seasoned founders.
Final takeaway: “Scaling is a strategy. Exiting is personal.” – a reminder that success is defined not just by valuation, but by the life you build alongside your business.
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Christy Brown is a proven leader with twenty years of leadership in entrepreneurship, customer development, and strategic innovation and solutions. Christy is a known resource for innovating traditional business models and scaling emerging businesses from inception to exit. She is a solution-oriented leader with expertise in technology, financial, and operational areas of growth stage businesses. Christy brings a heavy-duty management acumen with a focus on culture, diversity of thought, and design thinking. Her experience drives improvements and scale in organizations, fostering a culture of transformational change.
Christy Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-brown-a54aa0/
Website: https://drnozebest.com/
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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/
The Exit - Presented By Flippa
Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth?
With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business, and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business.
You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit
--
In this episode of The Exit Podcast, host Steve sits down with Lee Smith, an acquisition entrepreneur at Verdani Capital with 12 years of M&A experience. Lee shares hard-won lessons from acquiring 20+ businesses and reveals what buyers really look for when evaluating companies for acquisition.
KEY TOPICS COVERED:
The #1 Red Flag Buyers See (And How to Fix It)
Lee reveals why owner-dependency kills deals and how to build transferability into your business 2-3 years before exit
Inside the Valuation Process
Real multiples for blue-collar businesses (2-4x true profit, not EBITDA) and why adjusted earnings can backfire
Deal Structure That Works
How Lee structures acquisitions to align incentives: buying 60-80% stakes with future upside potential that often doubles the founder's payday
The Biggest Deal Mistakes
From buying distressed companies to discovering hidden equity agreements 30 minutes before closing—lessons learned the hard way
The £1 Business Acquisition Strategy
How Lee has purchased 20 businesses for just one pound, including a remarkable turnaround that saved a founder from £500K in debt
When Concentration Risk Isn't a Deal-Breaker
Strategic approaches to handling clients that represent 60-70% of revenue, including key customer clauses in SPAs
Building Trust in M&A Deals
Why "two ears, one mouth" matters more than spreadsheets when structuring successful acquisitions
The EOS Framework for Integration
Using simple systems to manage acquired businesses without disrupting teams or culture
--
Lee Smith is a values-driven entrepreneur and dealmaker with more than 25 years of experience and a respected track record in UK M&A. After completing his first acquisitions in 2014, he went on to buy and turn around nine underperforming companies before founding Verdani Capital, where he continues to acquire and scale larger UK businesses. To date, Lee has completed 26 acquisitions across sectors such as Manufacturing, Professional Services, Construction, HVAC, and IT Services, supported by training from leading M&A mentors in the UK and US. His current portfolio generates over £2M in annual profit with a clear path toward £10M, strengthened by three strategic exits in 2024. Grounded in spirituality and conscious leadership, Lee combines substance, strategy, and long-term thinking in every partnership.
Website - https://www.leeasmith.co.uk/
--
The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/
