M&A Brokers and Pre-Transaction Advisors
Most exits are improvised —
engineer yours.
Exit Engine is an M&A brokerage and pre-transaction advisory firm for owner-led businesses. We close the gap between what your business is worth today and what it could be worth to a buyer — before you go to market. One coordinated team of M&A advisors, CPAs, transaction attorneys, fractional CFOs, and wealth managers, from valuation through close.
Every discipline an exit requires, already in the room.
Most brokers refer out the work that decides your outcome — the QofE, the tax structure, the legal prep, the wealth plan. Exit Engine was built the other way: seven specialists, one shared plan, on every engagement.
Six of them have spent careers on the five places exits break — financial, operations, legal, tax, and wealth planning — and each runs a practice in that discipline today. The seventh works the earliest gap: reaching owners who start exploring a sale 12–24 months before they call anyone. When your deal hits a hard question, the person answering it is the specialist, not a generalist relaying their notes.
- 7Specialists on every engagement
- 5Disciplines, one shared plan
- 0Handoffs, advisory through close
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BJ Thomson, MBA, CM&AA
Sell-Side Brokerage & QoE
Certified M&A advisor who runs the sell side — QofE, valuations, CIMs, and key-point negotiation.
Certified M&A Advisor
Milestone Financial Engineers -
Dave Hinckley
Operations & Process
Entrepreneur and CEO of Alloy Companies who installs durable processes where inefficiencies drag value.
Founder & CEO
Alloy Companies -
Jake Rust, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, CEPA®
Wealth Management
Wealth manager who prepares owners for the influx of capital that comes from a sale — optimized for risk, cost, and tax.
Managing Partner
Hudson Oaks -
Josh Freeman, JD
Legal & Deal Structure
Transaction attorney who structures companies ahead of sale — maximizing returns while minimizing legal risk.
Attorney
Freeman Lovell -
Ryan Freeman
Due Diligence & AI Impact
Senior M&A paralegal leading the focus on how AI is reshaping company value, operations, and M&A transactions.
Sr. M&A Paralegal
Legal AI Lead -
Ryan Rees, CPA
Tax & Structuring
CPA who navigates the tax complexity of a sale — pre-transaction planning with an outsized impact on after-tax proceeds.
Managing Partner
Hartle & Rees -
Spencer Wright
Owner Education & Founder Transition
Founder of The Pod Mill and the Founder's Therapy podcast — the mindset and personal transition of letting go, the gap most M&A advisors leave open.
Founder
The Pod Mill · Founder's Therapy
Most owners get one shot at their exit.
The M&A industry is built to serve the transaction, not the seller. We invest in pre-go-to-market work so that when you do go to market, you go from a position of strength.
- 9Dimensions assessed in every engagement
- 5Specialist disciplines, one shared plan
- 1Side of any deal we represent — never both
- 0Handoffs between advisory and brokerage
A business you may not want to sell after all.
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Operational Independence
The business runs on its own systems and team, not on you — so a buyer isn't just paying for your presence.
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Trustworthy Financials
Clean, accurate books and records that hold up to a buyer's scrutiny — no surprises waiting in due diligence.
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Legally Secure
Contracts, ownership, and paperwork in order, so the legal risks buyers worry about are handled before they ever come up.
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Tax-Smart
Structured the right way ahead of time, so more of the sale price ends up in your pocket instead of the tax bill.
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Clean Closing
Tight documents and no loose ends, so the sale moves quickly and closes without last-minute surprises.
Five stages, always in order.
What happens when you skip stages is what happens in most exits — value left on the table, tax leakage, retrades in diligence.
- Exit Readiness ScorecardA free readiness score across the nine domains buyers price — and the gaps their diligence would find. FREE · 10 MIN
- Value StudyA 3-method valuation with the gaps that hold the multiple back. 1–2 WEEKS
- Value Acceleration MapDate-driven milestones with named owners and quantified impact. 4–6 WEEKS
- ConsultingExecute the Value Acceleration Map alongside your existing advisors. No handoffs. 3–12 MO
- Go to MarketBrokered sale on engineered terms — net-after-tax protected. 6–12 MO
Built to serve the client, not the transaction.
Built for the right deal, not just a closed one.
Most brokerages are incentivized to close. We invest months in pre-go-to-market work before we ever list, because the net-after-tax outcome is what matters — not the headline number.
Advisory and brokerage under one roof.
The handoff between pre-exit advisory and exit brokerage is where value leaks. We don't hand off. The same team that quantifies your value runs your exit.
We work alongside your CPA, attorney, and wealth advisor.
We don't replace the people who already know your business. We coordinate with them — which is why referral partners trust us with their best clients.
Let's talk about your exit.
Most conversations start with a 20-minute call — no pressure, no pitch deck, just an honest read on where you stand and what would help most.
Book a consultationA partner your clients can trust.
CPAs, attorneys, wealth advisors, and fractional CFOs send us their best clients. We coordinate. We don't replace you.
Partner with us →