Welcome back fellow investopreneurs!

Every founder exits.

Some by choice, some by force.

The only question is: will you walk away with equity, or leave everything you built on the table?

That’s why Lexi Grant’s work at TheyGotAcquired matters.

She documents the untold stories of founders who sell their businesses outside the unicorn bubble … everyday entrepreneurs who walk away with six, seven, or even eight-figure exits.

The kind of stories that bootstrappers rarely hear, but desperately need.

The exact kind of stories we’ve built Bootstrapper.ai to help create.

On Episode 7 of Bootstrapping to Billions, Lexi dropped a roadmap every entrepreneur should follow if they want to build equity, unlock capital, and exit with ownership.

🥳 Side note celebration: This may be the first episode of the pod to break 20k views in it’s first week running.. so please leave a like and comment to help us get there.

Why Exits Matter (Even If You’re Not Selling Yet)

Most founders don’t think about exits until they’re exhausted. That’s a mistake. As Lexi points out, “Every entrepreneur will eventually exit … through sale, succession, or shutdown.”

Whether you’re building a lifestyle business or chasing scale, preparing for exit is the most powerful way to run a better company today. Because the same things that make your business sellable … clear documentation, transferable systems, recurring revenue … are what make it sustainable and profitable right now.

1. Prepare Early for Exits

Don’t wait until burnout forces your hand. Design your company so it can operate without you:

… Document processes. SOPs turn chaos into continuity.
… Build a team. Delegation reduces dependence on you.
… Create systems. Automation and structure make growth repeatable.

Ironically, exit prep is the secret to staying in love with your business.

2. Sell While Growing

Buyers don’t want stability. They want momentum.
… At the plateau: you look like a risk.
… During growth: you look like opportunity.

That means the best time to sell isn’t when you’ve “arrived.” It’s when you’re still climbing.

3. Profit Beats Revenue

Revenue is vanity … profit is sanity. Acquirers look at EBITDA, not ego metrics. Boosting margins doesn’t just fatten your wallet … it multiplies your valuation.

4. Kill Key Person Risk

If your business collapses without you, buyers will slash their offers. Build a brand bigger than your name. Shift trust from you … team … brand.

5. Seek Recurring Revenue

The holy grail: predictable cash flow. Whether SaaS or services, productize into subscription-like streams. Buyers pay more for certainty.

6. Be Proactive, Not Reactive

Exits feel like marathons and sprints at the same time. Anticipate challenges before they hit. Scenario planning saves you from panic selling.

7. Treat Early Attempts as Training

First business? First exit? Expect mistakes. That’s not failure … it’s tuition. Each round makes the next one cleaner, faster, and more valuable.

8. Balance Growth with Lifestyle

You don’t have to scale endlessly. A steady, fulfilling lifestyle business can still command a great exit if you run it well. Align growth with your personal goals … not just external expectations.

9. Underestimate Due Diligence at Your Peril

Due diligence is brutal. It’s like running two businesses at once … your actual business and the binder of proof. Prepare early and keep records clean so the process doesn’t kill your momentum.

10. Network and Use Experts

Acquisition is an inefficient market. The best deals rarely show up on public listings. Build relationships. Hire advisors. Deal flow comes through people … not platforms.

11. Buy vs. Build: Choose Wisely

Starting from scratch teaches resilience. Acquiring skips zero-to-one … but takes capital and courage. Do both over your career. Just know where you are on the curve today.

12. Plan Your Post-Exit Life

Money in the bank doesn’t equal meaning in life. Many founders feel lost after selling. Plan the next chapter early … investments, new ventures, or even just rediscovering freedom.

13. Keep Learning, Always

Markets evolve. AI shifts. Strategies age. The only founders who win long-term are those who never stop learning … from stories, mentors, and communities.

14. Celebrate Small Wins

You don’t need a unicorn exit to change your life. Stack small exits. Build equity in bite-sized chunks. Compounding wins … beat one-shot wonders.

15. Innovate Amid Disruption

AI. New media. Market swings. Disruption is inevitable. Founders who experiment survive. Founders who cling to the past … get left behind.

16. Anchor in Purpose

Money motivates in the short term. Purpose sustains for the long term. Build from a mission bigger than yourself … and both resilience and valuation follow.

17. Build for Optionality

The ultimate advantage isn’t just profit or growth … it’s freedom. Design your business so you always have options: keep running it for cash flow, sell for equity, roll up into a HoldCo, or pass it down. Optionality is power. When you aren’t trapped by one path, you can choose the exit that aligns with your life, your goals, and your legacy.

Lexi’s Core Message for Bootstrappers

Lexi Grant reminds us: you don’t need to be a unicorn to win big.
Most exits don’t make headlines. They’re quiet, meaningful, and life-changing for the founder.

That’s the bootstrapper path … building a business that pays you today, grows in value tomorrow, and eventually sets you free.

The only question is: will you exit with ownership, or without it?

This is exactly why we’ve built the Exit Studio inside Bootstrapper.ai 

Announcement! We are accepting sponsors!

For the first time ever we are looking to take on sponsors that align with the value we try and create for our audience.

Some key stats about us:

If you’d like to run a sponsorship in the newsletter + our Bootstrapping to Billions podcast + co-host a live bootcamp webinar…

Please let us know!