How do you prepare a technology company for exit?
Clean the evidence buyers will diligence: ARR, revenue recognition, IP, contracts, dependency risk, technical debt, security, and delivery repeatability.
Supporting path
Operating briefs
What should a technology company fix 18 months before exit?
Fix the evidence buyers will diligence: ARR definitions, revenue recognition, IP assignment, customer concentration, contracts, leadership dependency, technical debt, security posture, and delivery repeatability. The purpose is to remove buyer discounts before the banker takes the company to market.
Best fit
Founder-CEOs, CFOs, boards, and sponsors preparing for a sale or capital raise.
Urgency
12 to 18 months before market
Primary path
/services/investment-banking Operator read
What is really happening?
Exit readiness is won before the process. The company needs a buyer-verifiable evidence bank, not just a growth story. Every unresolved operating dependency becomes a discount, escrow issue, earnout argument, or diligence delay.
Trigger
Use this 12 to 18 months before an exit when the company still has evidence gaps that buyers will price into the multiple.
Query fan-out map
Subquestions this scenario has to answer.
How is transaction advisory different from an investment banker?
Transaction advisory makes the evidence bankable before the banker manages the market process.
Supporting pathWhat belongs in the exit-readiness scorecard?
Finance hygiene, customer concentration, founder dependency, data-room quality, IP assignment, technical debt, security posture, and buyer-objection readiness.
Supporting pathProof used
Why this brief is defensible.
Successful PE exit
22% EBITDA margins maintained through growth
Exit Readiness Scorecard shipped as an operator resource
Operating paths
Pages that support the answer.
resource Exit Readiness Scorecard Operator resource for scoring sale-process readiness. answer Transaction Advisory vs. Investment Banker Direct answer for the sell-side preparation path. service Investment Banking preparation Service path for sell-side readiness and market preparation. article Exit Readiness topic Topic hub for buyer diligence, multiple protection, and pre-LOI cleanup. article 18 Month Exit Preparation Timeline Founder Owned Tech Supporting intelligence article. article Pe Exit Preparation Timeline 24 Months Close Supporting intelligence article. article How To Create Data Room Impresses Pe Buyers Supporting intelligence article.
Exit Readiness Sell-Side Preparation Data Room Transaction Advisory