Exit Algorithms

Peter Vera

Unlock growth, streamline operations, and prepare your business for a high-value exit. Exit Algorithms features founders, 3PL leaders, and forward-thinking execs who share proven strategies for leveraging technology, automation, and AI to maximize value so you can scale smarter and sell stronger. Tailored for business owners who want to grow, scale, and plan a successful exit.

  1. 2h ago

    Lessons from 3 Exits and How to Implement AI in Your Business with Andrew Brooks (#76)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. 2026 is the year to stop running AI pilots and start deploying into production. In this episode, we break down how to implement AI that drives immediate ROI, how to prepare your company for a clean exit, and why owning your AI stack matters, with Andrew Brooks, the Princeton-educated founder behind exits to Sun Microsystems, ReachLocal, and Samsung, now CEO of Contextual.io. Andrew co-founded Smart Things (acquired by Samsung) and has built multiple companies with the same core team over 20 years. We cover: – How Andrew built and exited companies to Sun, ReachLocal, and Samsung. – Why building with the same trusted team for 20 years creates a startup advantage. – What changes after the deal: integration, standalone units, and earnout risk. – The paperwork and contracts to button up from day one to avoid diligence scrambles. – Why lower mid-market companies can now leapfrog into purpose-built AI systems. – The biggest AI mistakes: waiting, going too big, and fearing messy data. – What "Own Your AI" means and how to avoid hyperscaler lock-in. – Andrew's tip: set up long-running AI assistants by function and start today. Check out Andrew’s work at contextual.io.  Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 75: Why Most Paid Ad Spend Fails (And How to Fix It) with Ari Pirutinsky – Ep. 74: How AI Turns One Story Into Content for Every Channel with Siva Chellamuthu 00:00 Intro: Meet Andrew Brooks of Contextual.io 00:55 From Princeton chemistry to startups and exits 03:36 The power of building with the same team for 20 years 05:22 Three exits: Sun, ReachLocal, and Samsung 07:25 What to understand about life after the transaction 11:10 How to prepare your business and paperwork for a sale 13:38 What an AI business system actually is 16:19 The biggest mistakes companies make implementing AI 19:58 "Own Your AI" and avoiding vendor lock-in 21:36 How AI compares to past technology shifts 25:08 Managing energy, focus, and AI task switching 28:16 Andrew's tip: set up long-running AI assistants now #AIforBusiness #BusinessExit #ExitStrategy #AIImplementation #AIROI #SellYourBusiness #PrivateEquity #MidMarket #AIStrategy #VendorLockIn #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship

    30 min

  2. 1d ago

    Why Most Paid Ad Spend Fails (And How to Fix It) with Ari Pirutinsky (#75)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. Most paid ad budgets fail for one reason: you cannot tie marketing data to business outcomes. In this episode, we break down how to build a paid media engine that actually drives revenue, why measurement comes before creative, and how to use AI without losing authenticity, with Ari Pirutinsky, founder and CEO of Steady Growth Partners. Ari spent seven years as the first employee at one of the top Google Ads agencies in the country, scaling it to 60 employees and three offices before launching his own firm. We cover: – Why Ari starts every client engagement at the goal, not the ad account. – How to find the leverage points in your funnel where small tweaks make the biggest impact. – Why comparing your results to other brands sets up the wrong questions. – The bottom-of-funnel-first framework for building paid campaigns that scale. – Why native, short-form, authentic video beats polished static ads. – How AI slop is making authentic brands easier to recognize and win. – How Steady Growth uses AI internally to augment the team, not replace the human layer. – Ari's tip: if you cannot track the user journey from ad click to customer, start there. Connect with Ari on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/aripirutinsky/) and grab a free attribution roadmap at www.trysteadygrowth.com/offer-landing. Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 74: How AI Turns One Story Into Content for Every Channel with Siva Chellamuthu – Ep. 73: How to Get Your Business Discovered in AI Search with Chris Panteli 00:00 Intro: Meet Ari Pirutinsky of Steady Growth Partners 00:57 Seven years scaling a top Google Ads agency 03:08 The biggest lesson: nobody knows anything, everyone is faking it 05:03 Why every client engagement starts at the goal 07:18 How metrics relate and where the real leverage points are 12:43 The bottom-of-funnel-first paid media framework 16:15 Why native short-form video beats static ads 18:32 How AI slop makes authentic brands win 20:57 How Steady Growth uses AI internally 26:45 Ari's tip: tie marketing data to business outcomes #PaidMedia #PaidAds #GoogleAds #PerformanceMarketing #MarketingAttribution #PaidSocial #DigitalMarketing #AdSpend #MarketingFunnel #AIinMarketing #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #SmallBusinessMarketing

    29 min

  3. 2d ago

    How to Use AI for Content That Actually Converts with Siva Chellamuthu (#74)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. One raw story can become a carousel, a blog post, a newsletter, and a funder update, if you build the right system. In this episode, we break down how to use AI to create content at scale, why context beats clever prompts, and how small teams now operate like big ones, with Sivakumar Chellamuthu (Siva), CTO and co-founder of Poster Child.ai who previously built products at TikTok and Meta. Siva helped build TikTok's Photo Mode for hundreds of millions of users. He now applies that scale mindset to AI-powered storytelling and fundraising. We cover: – How Siva went from nonprofit work in India to TikTok and Meta to founding Poster Child. – Why building a strong data layer matters more than wrapping an LLM around a workflow. – How the same story should change for each channel, audience, and outcome. – The eight content types every brand should rotate to keep a feed diverse. – Why LinkedIn and Instagram serve very different audiences and goals. – The biggest AI mistake: using it like a search engine with no context. – How dynamic prompts, evals, and feedback loops improve output quality. – Siva's tip: build the rules once so one piece of raw content reaches many channels. Check out Siva’s work at posterchild.ai ! Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 73: How to Get Your Business Discovered in AI Search with Chris Panteli – Ep. 72: How to Build a Marketing Engine That Drives Revenue with Alan Gonsenhauser 00:00 Intro: Meet Siva Chellamuthu of Poster Child.ai 01:07 From nonprofit work in India to TikTok and Meta 03:58 What zero-to-one problems look like at Poster Child 05:34 Lessons from TikTok and Meta on content and scale 07:25 Building the platform, the data layer, and early traction 09:34 How AI answers four practical content questions 12:11 What an effective social media campaign looks like 13:09 The biggest content mistakes nonprofits make 14:17 How Siva uses AI across the product and the team 16:49 Why context beats clever prompts 19:15 Siva's tip: build the rules once, reach many channels #AIContent #ContentMarketing #ContentAtScale #StorytellingForBusiness #ContentRepurposing #PromptEngineering #AIinBusiness #SocialMediaMarketing #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #SmallBusiness #StartupLessons

    22 min

  4. 5d ago

    The New SEO: How to Rank in ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity with Chris Panteli (#73)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. Your customers are no longer Googling. They are asking ChatGPT, and the question is whether your business gets recommended. In this episode, we break down how to get discovered in AI search, build brand authority through digital PR, and earn the trust that gets you onto the short list, with Chris Panteli, founding partner of Linkify and founder of Total Authority. Chris went from running a fish and chip shop to building one of the world's largest PR agencies. He now helps companies get discovered inside AI-powered search engines through earned media and personal brand building. We cover: – What backlinks are and why earned media is the safest way to build search authority. – Why you must put your founders and experts forward, not faceless company entities. – How LLMs recommend specific people, not just businesses, and what that means for you. – What query fan-out is and how to create content for the way people actually search now. – How to find the exact sources ChatGPT pulls from and get listed there. – Why consistent information across every platform builds algorithmic trust. – How to use inbound journalist requests like Harrow to land tier-one coverage. – How Chris uses AI to analyze pitch data, with wins tied to replies sent within an hour. – Chris's tip: fix your About page first so people can see who is behind the business. Connect with Chris through Linkify and grab his free cheat sheet at https://www.linkifi.io.  Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 72: How to Build a Marketing Engine That Drives Revenue with Alan Gonsenhauser – Ep. 68: Communications Strategy and Brand Building with Joshua Altman 00:00 Intro: Meet Chris Panteli of Linkify and Total Authority 00:50 From a fish and chip shop to building a global PR agency 03:11 What backlinks are and why they matter for discovery 05:07 How businesses get listed on big-name publications 06:18 What to audit when onboarding a new client 08:00 The biggest mistake: not putting your founders forward 10:32 How AI search is reshaping online visibility 12:57 Query fan-out and optimizing for how people really search 14:24 How to find the exact sources ChatGPT pulls from 16:52 Choosing the right social platforms for your audience 18:17 Why consistency across platforms builds AI trust 21:35 Using inbound journalist requests to land tier-one coverage 23:30 How Chris uses AI to analyze pitch data and operations 25:42 How to choose the right AI tools without shiny object syndrome 29:30 Chris's tip: fix your About page first #AISearch #SEO #DigitalPR #GenerativeEngineOptimization #BrandAuthority #EarnedMedia #ContentMarketing #PersonalBranding #AIinBusiness #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #SmallBusiness

    31 min

  5. 6d ago

    How to Build a Marketing Engine That Drives Revenue with Alan Gonsenhauser (#72)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. By the time a buyer calls you, 95% of the decision is already made. In this episode, we break down how to build a marketing engine that drives revenue, why brand gravity wins deals before they start, and how AI is reshaping B2B marketing, with Alan Gonsenhauser, an 11-time chief marketing officer and founder of Demand Revenue. Alan has spent 25 years driving growth in PE-backed B2B SaaS companies, mentored over 150 CMOs, and now serves as a fractional and interim CMO helping growth-stage companies build revenue engines that scale. We cover: – Why most of the buying journey happens before a buyer ever contacts you. – What brand gravity is and how it gets you onto the short list of vendors. – The three growth phases: problem-market fit, product-market fit, and platform-market fit. – The metrics PE firms care about: LTV to CAC, gross and net revenue retention, and win-loss ratio. – Why misaligned teams and silos quietly kill growth, and how aligned companies grow 19% faster. – How to design your website and content for LLMs, not just Google. – How brand equity and recurring revenue increase your company's valuation at exit. – Alan's tip: narrow down, understand your buyer's problems, and stop posting product selfies. Connect with Alan at demandrevenue.com or on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/alangonsenhauser ). Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 71: How to Build a Business That Sells with Steven Pivnik – Ep. 68: Communications Strategy and Brand Building with Joshua Altman 00:00 Intro: Meet Alan Gonsenhauser, 11-time CMO and founder of Demand Revenue 01:18 From finance to 11 CMO roles and founding Demand Revenue 03:58 Why a financial background changes the marketing conversation 04:48 How the B2B buying process has changed since 2013 06:30 Short-term pipeline versus long-term growth 08:04 The three growth phases every company moves through 11:33 How to build brand gravity 13:07 Content cadence and designing for LLMs, not just Google 14:24 How to optimize content for AI models with Q&A 16:06 How to build a revenue engine and spot churn early 17:48 Why alignment beats silos: 19% faster growth 19:31 Common marketing mistakes and the will/will-not list 21:43 How marketing strategy changes under private equity 22:35 How brand gravity affects company valuation at exit 23:45 How Alan uses AI, including a virtual board panel 26:38 Alan's tip: narrow down and solve your buyer's problems #FractionalCMO #B2BMarketing #BrandGravity #DemandGeneration #RecurringRevenue #MarketingStrategy #PrivateEquity #RevenueGrowth #AIinMarketing #ExitPlanning #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth

    28 min

  6. Jun 10

    How to Build a Business That Sells: Exit Planning Lessons with Steven Pivnik (#71)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. The best time to prepare your business for sale is years before you actually sell it. In this episode, we break down how to build a business that sells, what acquirers actually score, and the exit planning lessons that lead to a high-value outcome, with Steven Pivnik, founder who built Binary Tree into a 200-person Inc. 500 company before exiting to a $4 billion competitor. Steven is a Harvard Business School alumnus, TEDx speaker, bestselling author of Built to Finish, Ironman triathlete, and now a partner at The CEO Project advising founders on how to scale and exit. We cover: – Why KPIs and a monthly operating review can send performance through the roof across every department. – The "always be closing your books" rule and why you should always be ready for due diligence. – How a buttoned-up shop let Steven close his acquisition in just 30 days. – The 8 categories acquirers score, including recurring revenue, monopoly control, and hub-and-spoke owner dependence. – Why you should start exit planning years early, especially for tax strategy. – How Steven replaced himself with a COO turned CEO in three months, not a year. – How he uses AI for podcasting, social media, training plans, and even building an app mid-flight. – Steven's tip: find an exit advisor tied to your personal success, not just the company's. Connect with Steven at stevenpivnik.com.  Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 70: Warehouse Automation for Business Owners with Dan Cahalan – Ep. 67: Remove Key Person Risk and Sell to Private Equity with Michelle Stuntz 00:00 Intro: Meet Steven Pivnik, founder and author of Built to Finish 01:05 From Binary Tree to a $40M niche business and exit 02:06 Lessons from 26 years: KPIs, leadership, and advisors 04:32 How to build a strong culture while scaling internationally 06:49 The methodical process behind his exit 08:35 Why a buttoned-up shop closed the deal in 30 days 09:47 How to organize your business to be sellable 11:14 Built to Finish, BHAGs, and the power of visualization 14:03 Why exit planning should start years early 14:57 The 8 categories acquirers score 16:41 How recurring revenue is measured and why it matters 18:12 Hub-and-spoke and testing for key person risk 20:09 How Steven uses AI for business and training 23:46 Why treating AI like a search engine is a mistake 24:22 Steven's tip: find an advisor tied to your success #ExitPlanning #HowToSellABusiness #BusinessValuation #RecurringRevenue #KeyPersonRisk #FounderExit #BuiltToFinish #DueDiligence #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #SmallBusiness #BusinessGrowth #AIinBusiness

    26 min

  7. Jun 4

    Warehouse Automation for Business Owners: What to Automate and When with Dan Cahalan (#70)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. Automation is not just for Amazon. In this episode, we break down warehouse automation for business owners: how to decide what to automate, when it actually pays off, and the costly mistakes to avoid, with Dan Cahalan, sales director at Swisslog, one of the world's leading warehouse automation companies operating in over 50 countries. Dan spent six years on the customer side at Kohl's deploying automated fulfillment systems before moving to the integrator side. He now guides companies from first conversation through data analysis, concepting, and pricing. We cover: – Who warehouse automation is really for, and why the better question is what automation you are a fit for. – How to justify automation: labor savings, storage density, error reduction, ergonomics, and safety. – The silver bullet fallacy and why solving 90% of the problem often beats chasing 100%. – Why involving your operations team early prevents costly design mistakes. – What lights-out warehouses really are and why humans still matter in most facilities. – The real ROI of automation: throughput, peak-season flexibility, faster ramp-up, and higher quality. – Dan's tip: do not go it alone. Lean on integrators, suppliers, and even your competitors. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/dan-cahalan-9a4242186/. Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 69: How Investors Evaluate Your Business with Kim Lundberg – Ep. 68: Communications Strategy and Brand Building with Joshua Altman 00:00 Intro: Meet Dan Cahalan of Swisslog 01:23 From industrial engineering to warehouse automation 04:44 Why customer-side experience makes a better automation advisor 07:29 What a typical Swisslog engagement looks like 13:18 Is automation only for Amazon-scale operations? 14:46 Who automation is for and how to justify it 17:07 The biggest mistakes companies make when automating 19:37 Why you must involve operations early 21:36 What a lights-out warehouse really is 25:43 The real ROI of automation beyond labor savings 28:46 How automation flattens peak-season staffing 31:23 Dan's tip: do not go it alone #WarehouseAutomation #LogisticsAndWarehousing #SupplyChain #WarehouseRobotics #FulfillmentAutomation #OperationalExcellence #BusinessGrowth #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitPlanning #ExitAlgorithms #ASRS #AutoStore #SmallBusiness

    34 min

  8. Jun 3

    How Investors Evaluate Your Business Before Writing a Check with Kim Lundberg (#69)

    Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value. If a lender or investor digs into your business today, what would they find? In this episode, we break down what lenders and investors actually look for before deploying capital, how to build a financial model that earns trust, and what separates the companies that scale from the ones that stall, with Kim Lundberg, director of tech and venture lending at IFO, Denmark's export and investment fund. Kim deploys high-risk, long-term loans of up to 25 million euros into Danish startups and scale-ups, and actively manages a portfolio of 30 of Denmark's most promising high-growth companies. He has seen what works, what breaks, and what makes a company worth backing. We cover: – What lenders and investors actually look for: customer retention dynamics, the ability to raise equity, and the quality of the management team. – Why the first 10 to 20 minutes of meeting a founder usually reveals the truth about whether they can lead a company. – How to build a financial model that earns trust from investors, lenders, and board members, and why deeper and more complete beats bigger. – Why the most successful scale-ups raise early, raise more than they need, and never let cash pressure drive bad decisions. – The common founder mistake: optimizing valuation and cap table instead of securing a comfortable cash runway for the team. – Why the first 20 hires set the culture, and when a founder CEO needs to step aside for a scaling CEO. – How AI is splitting B2B SaaS into two paths: horizontal commodity products getting compressed and vertical, data-rich companies continuing to grow. – How one portfolio company replaced 7 to 8 QA roles with AI agents, cutting headcount from 32 to 25. Connect with Kim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-lundberg-8a218228/ Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 68: Communications Strategy and Brand Building with Joshua Altman – Ep. 67: Remove Key Person Risk and Sell to Private Equity with Michelle Stuntz 00:00 Intro: Meet Kim Lundberg, venture lender at Denmark's IFO 01:03 From corporate banking to financing high-growth scale-ups 02:23 What lenders look for before deploying capital 03:55 How investors vet culture and management beyond the financials 07:02 How to prepare your business to be investor-ready 09:15 Why clean financials and the data behind revenue matter most 10:36 How to prove healthy customer relationships to a lender 12:46 What the most successful portfolio companies do differently 16:05 Why optimizing valuation too aggressively creates organizational stress 17:46 Common financing mistakes that hurt your ability to raise again 21:22 When a founder CEO should step aside for a scaling CEO 22:47 How AI is splitting B2B SaaS into two paths 27:26 Why smaller companies adopt AI faster than large corporates 30:02 Kim's advice for business owners preparing for investment #VentureLending #BusinessValuation #CashFlowManagement #IncreaseBusinessValue #ExitPlanning #CustomerRetention #RaisingCapital #StartupFunding #ScaleUp #AIinBusiness #B2BSaaS #ExitAlgorithms #SmallBusiness #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger

    31 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Unlock growth, streamline operations, and prepare your business for a high-value exit. Exit Algorithms features founders, 3PL leaders, and forward-thinking execs who share proven strategies for leveraging technology, automation, and AI to maximize value so you can scale smarter and sell stronger. Tailored for business owners who want to grow, scale, and plan a successful exit.

Information

  • Creator
    Peter Vera
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    76
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Peter Vera
  • Show Website
    Exit Algorithms