---
title: "Exit Engine — M&A Brokers & Pre-Transaction Advisors"
description: "M&A brokers and pre-transaction advisors for owner-led businesses. One team values, prepares, and sells your company — from free Scorecard to close."
url: https://exit-engine.com/
last_modified: 2026-09-10
---
# 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.

[Meet the full team →](https://exit-engine.com/team.html)

- 7 · Specialists on every engagement
- 5 · Disciplines, one shared plan
- 0 · Handoffs, advisory through close

- ### [BJ Thomson, MBA, CM&AA](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#bj-thomson) · 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](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#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®](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#jake-rust) · 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](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#josh-freeman) · Legal & Deal Structure · Transaction attorney who structures companies ahead of sale — maximizing returns while minimizing legal risk. · Attorney Freeman Lovell
- ### [Ryan Freeman](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#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](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#ryan-rees) · 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](https://exit-engine.com/team.html#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.

- 9 · Dimensions assessed in every engagement
- 5 · Specialist disciplines, one shared plan
- 1 · Side of any deal we represent — never both
- 0 · Handoffs between advisory and brokerage

## A business you may not want to sell after all.

1. ### Operational Independence · The business runs on its own systems and team, not on you — so a buyer isn't just paying for your presence.
2. ### Trustworthy Financials · Clean, accurate books and records that hold up to a buyer's scrutiny — no surprises waiting in due diligence.
3. ### Legally Secure · Contracts, ownership, and paperwork in order, so the legal risks buyers worry about are handled before they ever come up.
4. ### 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.
5. ### 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.

1. [Exit Readiness Scorecard](https://exit-engine.com/services-scorecard.html) A free readiness score across the nine domains buyers price — and the gaps their diligence would find. FREE · 10 MIN
2. [Value Study](https://exit-engine.com/services-business-value-report.html) A 3-method valuation with the gaps that hold the multiple back. 1–2 WEEKS
3. [Value Acceleration Map](https://exit-engine.com/services-value-acceleration-plan.html) Date-driven milestones with named owners and quantified impact. 4–6 WEEKS
4. [Consulting](https://exit-engine.com/services-consulting.html) Execute the Value Acceleration Map alongside your existing advisors. No handoffs. 3–12 MO
5. [Go to Market](https://exit-engine.com/services-brokerage.html) Brokered sale on engineered terms — net-after-tax protected. 6–12 MO

[See every phase in detail →](https://exit-engine.com/services.html)

## 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.

[Or start the free Exit Readiness Scorecard →](https://exit-engine.com/services-scorecard.html)

### A partner your clients can trust.

CPAs, attorneys, wealth advisors, and fractional CFOs send us their best clients. We coordinate. We don't replace you.