Todd Sullivan has built and sold four companies, played professional hockey, and is now on his fifth venture — ExitWise, a marketplace that connects business owners with exited founders who've sold companies to some of the biggest names in the world. In this episode, Todd talks to Rick Plaskett about what most founders get catastrophically wrong when it's time to sell, why your investment banker and attorney are not actually on your side, and how having someone in your corner who's already been through the emotional rollercoaster of M&A can be the difference between a deal dying and a deal closing.
The conversation covers the full arc of what ExitWise does — from working with founders 2-3 years before they're ready to sell, right through to closing — and why personality fit between a seller and their M&A team matters more than the size of previous deals. Todd also shares his thinking on goal-setting, why his superpower is zero to one, and what the goalie mindset from his hockey days taught him about running a business.
What you'll take away:

Why ExitWise clients sell for 30% or more above market — and what role exited founders actually play in getting there
The red flag Todd watches for immediately: if your attorney is taking weeks to turn around an NDA, he'll walk
Why searchers and fundless sponsors have ruined multiple deals — and why Todd advises staying away from them
The difference between what a banker wants, what a lawyer wants, and what you actually need as a founder going into a sale
How exited founders translate emotion into finance and back again — and why bankers say they've saved deals because of it
Todd's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: treat it as a career, go work inside the industry you want to disrupt, and launch with customers already in hand
Why his magic wand answer is a tighter ICP — and why AI is changing how quickly they can prepare a business to go to market

Connect with Todd Sullivan:
Website: exitwise.com
Email: tod@exitwise.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan
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– Rick and the Ohio Business Unfiltered podcast team

Connect with Rick Plasket on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-plasket-4b6a157
Visit the ActionCOACH website here: https://rickplasket.actioncoach.com

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Ohio Business Unfiltered is the podcast for Ohio business owners who want straight talk on what it actually takes to build a profitable, sustainable company. Each week, Rick Plasket sits down with entrepreneurs, executives, and business leaders from across the state to get into the real conversations — the obstacles they faced, the decisions that changed everything, and what they wish they had known sooner.
Rick Plasket is a certified ActionCOACH, West Point graduate, and Army veteran with decades of experience spanning corporate leadership and business coaching. He works with business owners across Columbus and Ohio to help them stop working in their business and start working on it — building systems, developing teams, and reclaiming the freedom they got into business for in the first place. On Ohio Business Unfiltered, Rick brings that same direct, accountability-driven approach to every conversation.