Speaking

Keynotes and Workshops for Business Owners Preparing for Their Exit

Help your audience build a business that's worth more, leans on them less, and is easier to sell when the time comes.

I'm an operator. I've started multiple companies, sold 3 of them to third-party buyers, and looked at over 100 businesses from the buyer's side of the table. I'm launching the Exit Insider podcast.

I speak to owners and to the professionals who advise them about the decisions that shape an exit long before a buyer ever appears.

The talks are practical and honest, and everything in them comes from having sat in both chairs.

Enquire about booking Joe

For owner groups, conferences, associations, advisory firms and private events.

Most owners learn how to build a business. Almost none learn how to sell one.

A business can be profitable and still be hard to sell.

If the owner is the main salesperson, the decision maker, the relationship holder, and the place all the knowledge lives, a buyer may see risk instead of value.

I help audiences understand what buyers actually care about, and what an owner can do about it while there's still time to do anything.

The goal isn't to frighten anybody. Most of these rooms are full of people who have built something real. The goal is to give them more time, more clarity, and more options at the end.

Rooms where audiences care about the future of their business

The talks are built for:

Owners thinking about selling in the next 6 to 36 months
Owners of established, profitable businesses
Owners whose business still runs through them
Owner and CEO peer groups
Business owner associations
Entrepreneurial communities
Accountants, attorneys, wealth advisors and other professionals who serve owners
Conferences on ownership, leadership and succession

The content can be adapted for owners who are just starting to think about an exit, or for people already preparing for one. Tell me which room I'm walking into and I'll build for that.

Why bring me in

I've sat in both chairs.

I've built and sold businesses.

Multiple companies started, 3 sold to third-party buyers. So I know the operating reality behind the financial statements.

I know how buyers think.

Over 100 businesses looked at from the buy side. I know what makes a buyer confident, what makes them hesitate, and what makes them quietly decide to offer less without telling you why.

I keep it practical.

I'm not going to stand up and give your audience motivation. I would rather they leave understanding what moves the number, why depending on the owner is expensive, what a buyer digs into, how the terms decide what you really get, and which few things are worth fixing first.

The talks

Three sessions, each built around one thing an owner needs to understand before a buyer shows up.

1

How to 2-4x your valuation without spending a dollar on marketing

Most owners have a number in their head. Almost none of them have ever had that number checked against what a buyer would actually write down.

This talk walks the room through how serious outside buyers look at a $1M to $5M business that still depends on its owner, and how they land on a price range.

What the audience takes away

The 3 levers a buyer actually cares about
A simple way to ballpark what the business is worth today
Why the same business gets two very different prices, depending on whether a buyer treats it as a job or as an asset
The mistakes that make owners overestimate what they would get, and the ones that make them sell themselves short

Best for: owner conferences, CEO groups, entrepreneurial communities.

2

From a job in disguise to something you can sell: De-Ownerfying the business before you go to market

For rooms full of owners who keep hearing that the business is them.

What the audience takes away

The 7 owner-dependence red flags that make a buyer nervous
What each of those red flags turns into: a discount, an earn-out, or handcuffs that keep you there
Practical changes they can make in 6 to 18 months without turning the place upside down
The minimum amount of you-independence a buyer and a lender want to see before they get comfortable

Best for: owner conferences, CEO groups, entrepreneurial communities.

3

How serious buyers think about $1M to $5M businesses, and what makes them pay more

Good for a mixed room of owners and the people who advise them.

What the audience takes away

How professional buyers decide what to pay at this size
The difference between nice to have and the things that actually move the number
How to put the numbers, the operations and the team in front of a buyer so they lean in
How to tell a tourist from a real buyer, and stop giving your time to the wrong ones

Best for: M&A events, owner forums, professional advisor groups, leadership conferences.

The sessions are direct, conversational and specific, and they're built for owners rather than for advisors. Nobody leaves with a longer list of things to worry about. They leave knowing which questions to ask, and which one thing to deal with first.

What people say

From organisers and audiences who have had me in the room.

He blew me away. Not only was the information informative, he was really, really funny, too.

Dori FriendFounder, SEO Rockstars

I got some great takeaways on what I can do to start reducing my company's dependence on me.

Chris WalkerFounder, Legiit

After Joe's presentation, it changed my entire mind frame of thinking as a business owner.

Gregory OrtizFounder, Digital Rooftop

Formats

I speak at conferences, private owner events, CEO peer groups, association meetings, leadership retreats, virtual events, fireside chats and panels. Session length is flexible.

Keynote

A practical session for a larger room, built to educate and to challenge a few assumptions.

Fireside chat

A conversation about building and selling businesses.

Moderated interview

I'm happy to sit with your host, an advisor, an investor, or another owner.

Private owner session

A small group of owners, and a more honest conversation because of it.

To get the best result, tell me who is in the room, what the event is for, what format you want, and how long you have. I'll build around that rather than bringing the same talk everywhere.

About the speaker

For your programme or run of show.

Joe Lau has started multiple companies, sold 3 businesses to third-party buyers, and evaluated over 100 businesses from the buyer's side of the table. He now works with profitable, owner-dependent business owners preparing to sell to a third party.

He is launching Exit Insider, a podcast built to help owners understand valuation, buyer expectations, deal structure, due diligence and life after the sale.

Copy this bio as written for your programme. Headshots are available on request.

Read Joe's story

Bring me to your audience.

Tell me about the event and the room. I'll read it and come back to you if it's a fit.

The more detail you give me, the better I can tell you whether I'm the right person for this room.

Click the button and an email to me opens with the questions I need answered already in it. Fill in what you can.

Who is in the room and how many
What the event is for
The format and how long you have
What you'd like people to understand or do differently afterwards

Send a speaking enquiry

Help your audience get ready before they're forced to sell.

The earlier an owner understands what affects their exit, the more options they have. That's the whole talk, really.

Enquire about booking Joe