Scale to Exit™ with Alejandra Santos

Alejandra Santos
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Are you an aspiring business owner with big dreams and a vision? Then this is your podcast. Alejandra Santos is a seasoned business owner, strategist, Fractional COFO, and Certified Exit Planner who has helped hundreds of businesses scale lean and prepare for an exit.  In this podcast, she shares the secret sauce of what makes a business valuable, interviews successful entrepreneurs, and shares mistakes so you can get the roadmap you need to build or scale your company for an exit. Alejandra Santos is the proud owner and CEO of Into the Next Consulting™, The Educated CEO™, Comeverge™, and the Scale to Exit podcast™. Connect with her on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos and www.thealejandrasantos.com  Is your business truly scale-ready or exit-ready? Discover the answer with our proprietary Scale and Exit Readiness Index™. Email hello@thealejandrasantos.com to schedule your assessment now!

  1. 11/07/2025

    How to Align Yourself to Your Type of Exit with Alejandra Santos

    Not every exit looks like selling your company for millions — and not every founder wants that. In this solo episode, Alejandra Santos breaks down the different types of exits founders and business owners can pursue — from strategic sales and recapitalizations to management buyouts, family transitions, and simply stepping back from day-to-day operations. You’ll learn how to: 💡 Define what “exit” truly means for you 💡 Identify your “freedom number” — the number that gives you the life you actually want 💡 Understand how personal factors (like health, burnout, or retirement goals) influence your ideal exit path 💡 Evaluate the trade-offs between selling, staying involved, or delegating operations Whether you’re building toward retirement, preparing for a market-timed sale, or simply craving more freedom from your business, this episode helps you get clear, grounded, and aligned with your next move.   You can connect with Alejandra Santos https://www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos www.intothenext.com www.thealejandrasantos.com

    18 min

  2. 10/29/2025

    Bootstrapped to Exit: How Justin Gray Built, Sold & Now Backs Founders

    Serial entrepreneur turned VC, Justin Gray, joins Alejandra to unpack how he built LeadMD from a bedroom idea to $17M in revenue, exited at the top of the market, and why his operator-immersive VC model bets on singles, doubles, and triples, not unicorn lottery tickets. We get tactical on making revenue predictable, using equity to retain A-players, diagnosing a real pipeline (not hope), and knowing when it’s time to sell emotionally and operationally. If you’re scaling a services or vertical SaaS company, this is your masterclass. You’ll learn: bootstrapping vs. VC, GTM hiring that actually works, partner ecosystems that spark M&A, and how to prep your business so buyers believe your forecast. Hit follow, share with a founder friend! Show notes/highlights. Bootstrapping mindset vs. venture fuel Building predictable revenue (and what “real pipeline” means) Equity as a retention engine in services Timing the exit: performance + founder energy Operator-immersive VC: hands-on GTM help Partners as your M&A on-ramp You can connect with Justin Gray on  https://www.linkedin.com/in/inrevenue/

    1h 1m

  3. 10/16/2025

    Turning Big Vision into Real Results: How to Align Your Team Using the Balanced Scorecard with Alejandra Santos

    Every founder starts with a vision, but somewhere between the whiteboard and the workday, that vision gets lost in the noise of operations. In this episode, Alejandra Santos breaks down how to use the Balanced Scorecard to turn your vision and mission into a living, breathing strategy that guides every decision across your business. Discover how to align your leadership team, define what success actually looks like, and create clarity so every employee understands how their role contributes to the bigger picture. Whether you’re preparing for an exit or simply want more freedom, structure, and focus, this episode will help you build a company that runs with intention, not by accident.   Connect with Alejandra Santos  https://www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos www.thealejandrasantos.com www.intothenext.com

    17 min

  4. 10/10/2025

    From Red Picnic Basket to 6 Locations: How Amy Chinian Is Disrupting Lice Care

    In this conversation, Amy shares how an “itchy” crisis during pregnancy led to the creation of a purpose-driven company with six locations, a private-label product line, and thousands of happy families. We cover the real costs of Amazon, why YouTube & micro-influencers are next, how to keep rent low while expanding, protecting culture when hiring, and what buyers look for when you’re planning an exit. You’ll learn: How to test new markets before signing a lease The hiring lens Amy uses to find needle-in-a-haystack teammates Diversifying revenue: salon, in-home, schools/camps, Amazon, DTC The KPIs that make your business predictable (and acquirable) Preparing for exit: moving to employees, reviews, and repeatable ops Connect with Amy: myhairhelpers.com • TikTok/IG/FB/YT: @myhairhelpers Free resource mentioned: Scale & Exit Readiness Index™ (Alejandra’s quick assessment) Into the Next Enterprises

    1 hr

  5. 10/01/2025

    Exit Strategy as a Business Strategy for Hiring & Retaining Employees with Alejandra Santos

    Exit planning isn’t something you only think about when you’re ready to sell it’s something you build every single day through the choices you make about your team. In this solo episode of Scale to Exit, Alejandra Santos dives deep into why employees are one of the most important and overlooked multipliers of business value. From hiring and training to incentives, culture, and retention, every decision shapes whether your company will be worth 2x or 5x in a future transaction. Alejandra shares practical strategies for turning everyday employee decisions into long-term value drivers, including: How to hire with exit in mind (long-term value vs. quick fixes). Why training and development increase both continuity and company worth. The power of equity, incentives, and culture in retaining A-players. How employees can be your biggest multiplier or your biggest risk. If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not planning to exit anytime soon, so why does this matter?” this episode is for you. Learn how building a transferable, scalable business starts with the people decisions you’re making right now.   You can connect with Alejandra Santos www.thealejandrasantos.com www.intothenext.com or email her at alejandra@thealejandrasantos.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos

    25 min

  6. 09/24/2025

    Preserve the Win: Risk-Smart Wealth Moves Before (and After) Your Exit with Tim Smith

    In this Scale to Exit episode, Alejandra Santos delves into a conversation with certified financial advisor and entrepreneur Tim Smith on how to preserve the big win well before a sale and long after the close. Tim unpacks the money misconceptions many owners bring from the boardroom to Wall Street, why liquidity beats “asset-rich but cash-poor,” and how to right-size risk without picking five “favorite” stocks. You’ll hear practical pre-exit moves (tax/estate structures, trust strategies, and due diligence readiness) and post-exit frameworks for diversification, income needs, and avoiding decision paralysis. They also riff on AI hype vs. reality, crypto speculation vs. adoption, and the investor book Tim gives clients. What you’ll learn When to start funneling cash out of the business—and why illiquid real estate isn’t always first A simple liquidity cushion framework + marketable, conservative instruments Diversification that actually reduces risk (funds/ETFs > five stock bets) Teaming up: the “quarterback” model across tax, legal, and wealth Post-exit mindset: preserve the win, don’t chase 20% every year Resources • Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds • Tim’s channel: “The Financial Dad” (YouTube) Connect Guest—Tim Smith https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-l-smith-cfp-r-b1293443/ Host—Alejandra Santos | IntoTheNext.com | Scale to Exit Podcast www.thealejandrasantos.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos   Chapters 00:00 Why Tim does this work 02:00 Owners’ biggest money misconceptions 04:30 When to start personal wealth planning 08:30 Liquidity > illiquid assets 12:45 Pre-exit tax & trust strategies 15:10 Due diligence that speeds a sale 17:10 Portfolio strategy after a transaction 22:30 AI & crypto: speculation vs. adoption 37:45 Identity shifts post-exit 44:00 Practical risk management (diversify) 49:15 “Preserve the win” mindset

    1h 10m

  7. 09/18/2025

    Get Out of the Way of Your Own Business Success with Alejandra Santos

    Scaling a business isn’t just about revenue, funding, or strategy—it’s about clearing the hidden blocks that keep you stuck. In this episode of Scale to Exit, Alejandra Santos breaks down the four biggest invisible barriers that prevent founders from growing and positioning their businesses for long-term success: mindset, leadership style, operations, and team. From shifting your mindset from operator to owner, to evolving your leadership style, building scalable operations, and aligning your team for outcomes, Alejandra shares real-world insights and strategies that help you unlock growth and move closer to an exit. If you’ve ever felt like your business hit a ceiling and you can’t quite put your finger on why, this episode will show you where those blocks are hiding—and how to remove them. Alejandra Santos has over 16+ years and is the CEO of Into the Next where she prepares business for an exit and support business owners in scaling lean and exiting on their own terms.   You can learn more about her: www.thealejandrasantos.com Connect with her on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos or send her an email alejandra@intothenext.com Episode sponsored by Into the Next- On a mission to help bridge the gap between a business and a sellable asset. Supporting businesses in operations finance and exit planning since 2021.

    20 min

  8. 09/10/2025

    From Coas to Cadence with Rachel Losser, How to Keep Your Team Aligned while Scaling.

    On this episode of Scale to Exit, Alejandra sits down with Rachel Lasser, Founder & CEO of Lasser Consulting, a project delivery powerhouse serving companies from high-growth SMBs to $1B+ enterprises. Rachel breaks down why “great delivery” is the ultimate growth lever—and how even large organizations stall without the right checkpoints, communication cadence, and leadership follow-through. We cover the red flags of scaling too fast, how to align global/cross-functional teams around the same KPIs, and why your “say-do ratio” is the foundation of trust in any transformation. Rachel also shares how to choose the right-sized tech stack (no Lamborghinis when you need a Civic), when to start building a data foundation (hint: as soon as you hire your first employee), and practical ways to find and fix bottlenecks—without defaulting to “fire someone.” You’ll learn: The #1 red flag when companies scale without a delivery framework How leaders create accountability (and what breaks it) A comms playbook for change: repeat, multi-channel, consistent Simple exercises to kill wasteful meetings (Start/Stop/Continue + “What would a big shot change?”) KPI traps—and how to measure process maturity before velocity Bottleneck diagnosis: handoffs, approvals, and…sometimes the leader Tooling that actually fits (Smartsheet/Airtable/Hive, ERP/CRM + data lakes) Balancing agility with structure: where to experiment vs. standardize Who it’s for: Founders, COOs/CFOs, PMO leaders, and any team stuck in “lots of meetings, little movement.” Connect with Rachel: LinkedIn Rachel Losser (Lapidus) | LinkedIn Home | Losser Consulting Solutions | Project Management Consulting Connect with Alejandra: www.intothenext.com  www.thealejandrasantos.com www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos

    57 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Are you an aspiring business owner with big dreams and a vision? Then this is your podcast. Alejandra Santos is a seasoned business owner, strategist, Fractional COFO, and Certified Exit Planner who has helped hundreds of businesses scale lean and prepare for an exit.  In this podcast, she shares the secret sauce of what makes a business valuable, interviews successful entrepreneurs, and shares mistakes so you can get the roadmap you need to build or scale your company for an exit. Alejandra Santos is the proud owner and CEO of Into the Next Consulting™, The Educated CEO™, Comeverge™, and the Scale to Exit podcast™. Connect with her on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/aalejandrasantos and www.thealejandrasantos.com  Is your business truly scale-ready or exit-ready? Discover the answer with our proprietary Scale and Exit Readiness Index™. Email hello@thealejandrasantos.com to schedule your assessment now!

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