Exit Algorithms

Peter Vera
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Business
  • Updated Monthly

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. 3h ago

    What Private Equity Looks For Before They Buy with Wayne Marhelski (#79)

    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 sellers leave value on the table because they wait until the last minute. In this episode, we break down how to turn around struggling operations, what private equity really looks for, and how to start preparing two to three years before you sell, with Wayne Marhelski, private equity operating executive, US Air Force veteran, and three-decade operations leader with four portfolio company turnarounds. Wayne specializes in turning operational complexity into real EBITDA using principles from the Toyota Production System. We cover: – Why principles beat playbooks when conditions change. – What a 20-minute factory floor walk reveals that no slide deck can. – What to look at first in a turnaround, starting with the financial statement. – Why material costs, not labor, are often the biggest lever in manufacturing. – Why tribal knowledge is not a process, and what to build instead. – How to prepare for a sale two to three years out to protect your multiple. – What great talent looks like in a high-pressure turnaround. – How Wayne uses AI and Notebook LM, plus why markdown beats PDFs. – Wayne's tip: take a walk and view your business like a third party. Connect with Wayne on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/waynemarhelski) and on Substack at The Operational Edge (https://theoperationaledge.substack.com/). Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 78: Why Most Tech Projects Fail (And How to Fix It) with Jeffrey Lambert – Ep. 77: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Business with Brooke Dukes 00:00 Intro: Meet Wayne Marhelski, PE operating executive 00:59 From the Air Force to Toyota and operations leadership 03:27 The principles he still applies on every factory floor 05:20 What he looks at in the first 30 days of a turnaround 08:04 What makes an acquisition integration succeed or fail 10:37 How to prepare your business for a PE sale 15:29 What great talent looks like in a turnaround 18:54 The turnaround that cut headcount and grew revenue 36% 22:15 How Wayne uses AI, Notebook LM, and markdown documents 29:06 Wayne's tip: take a walk and see your business fresh #BusinessTurnaround #PrivateEquity #EBITDA #Operations #SupplyChain #Manufacturing #LeanManufacturing #ToyotaProductionSystem #ExitPlanning #BusinessValuation #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #AIforBusiness

    32 min

  2. 1d ago

    How to Get AI-Ready Before You Implement It with Jeffrey Lambert (#78)

    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 tech projects fail in the first two or three weeks, before anyone even notices. In this episode, we break down why software and AI rollouts go sideways, what project governance a growing company actually needs, and how to get AI-ready, with Jeffrey K. Lambert, principal IT consultant and founder of Blue Fusion Partners with 25-plus years leading digital transformations. Jeffrey has delivered 18 global SaaS implementations since 2012 and now coaches leaders on practical PMO frameworks and AI readiness. We cover: – What a PMO is and why companies need one between 50 and 200 employees. – Why poor governance kills projects in the first two to three weeks. – The project charter and core artifacts every initiative should start with. – What AI readiness really requires: cybersecurity, data governance, and unstructured data. – Why change management has to start early, not two months before go-live. – How to drive user adoption with town halls, surveys, and a go-live command center. – How AI is reshaping risk management and proactive forecasting. – Jeffrey's tip: do not chase a single tool, start with your business model and value streams. Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/jklambert/) or visit bluefusionpartners.com.  Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 77: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Business with Brooke Dukes – Ep. 76: How to Implement AI in Your Business and See Results Now with Andrew Brooks 00:00 Intro: Meet Jeffrey K. Lambert of Blue Fusion Partners 01:02 25 years across defense, IT, and SaaS implementations 03:00 What a PMO is and why a growing company needs one 04:28 What goes wrong without project governance 05:47 What a typical client engagement looks like 08:06 What AI readiness actually requires 10:08 Managing organizational change and user adoption 15:11 How AI is reshaping project and risk management 18:20 Jeffrey's tip: start with your business model, not a single tool #ProjectManagement #PMO #DigitalTransformation #ChangeManagement #AIReadiness #SaaSImplementation #DataGovernance #TechProjects #ITConsulting #UserAdoption #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #OperationalExcellence

    20 min

  3. 4d ago

    How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Business with Brooke Dukes (#77)

    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. Once you hit a million in revenue, the founder becomes the growth ceiling. In this episode, we break down how to remove yourself as the bottleneck, build a decision system that pushes choices down to your team, and use AI and psychology to scale without burning out, with Brooke Dukes, former Fortune 500 director, four-time founder, and CEO of BMD Consulting. Brooke spent years as a director at three Fortune 500 companies before leaving corporate to build and exit her own companies. She now helps small and mid-sized founders stop being the bottleneck. We cover: – Brooke's journey from Fortune 500 director to four-time founder and one exit. – Why she would have waited longer and used an exit strategist when she sold. – Why the founder becomes the growth ceiling at $1M and beyond. – How reopening one decision can cost a $5M company $2,000 to $5,000 in team time. – The four-part Success by Design system to stop reactive leadership. – How she uses the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize CEO time. – Why she hires on culture fit over competence, especially for a COO. – How she built Oz, her AI coaching system, on her own intellectual property. – Brooke's tip: three questions to ask before any decision lands on your desk. Connect with Brooke at brookemdukes.com. Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com. Related episodes: – Ep. 76: How to Implement AI in Your Business and See Results Now with Andrew Brooks – Ep. 75: Why Most Paid Ad Spend Fails (And How to Fix It) with Ari Pirutinsky 00:00 Intro: Meet Brooke Dukes of BMD Consulting 00:37 From Fortune 500 director to leaving corporate 04:27 Her exit and what she would do differently 07:38 What a Success by Design engagement looks like 08:56 Why the founder becomes the growth ceiling 10:48 The real cost of reopening finalized decisions 13:59 How the Eisenhower Matrix prioritizes CEO time 18:43 Why she hires culture fit over competence 20:06 How she built Oz, her AI coaching system 23:57 The biggest AI mistake: garbage in, garbage out 26:19 Her book and the three-question decision filter #FounderBottleneck #BusinessSystems #DelegationSkills #ScalingABusiness #EisenhowerMatrix #LeadershipDevelopment #FounderToCEO #BusinessConsulting #AIforBusiness #KeyManRisk #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship

    30 min

  4. Jun 17

    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

  5. Jun 16

    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

  6. Jun 15

    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

  7. Jun 12

    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

  8. Jun 10

    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
See All (79)

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
    79
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Peter Vera
  • Show Website
    Exit Algorithms

You Might Also Like