What Legal Teams Really Want in a Sale-Ready Business

Dave DiGiacomo has a passion for helping businesses grow, scale, and successfully transition through sale. After building and selling his own company, Dave discovered a true love for guiding other founders through the same journey.

Author

Aaron Alpeter
August 20, 2025

Dave pulls back the curtain on what really happens behind the scenes in M&A, especially when it comes to legal and operational readiness. As someone who’s lived the founder journey and now guides entrepreneurs through deals from $10M to over $1B+, his perspective is pure gold.

Three actionable takeaways for business owners and operators:

🔹 Engage your legal & tax advisors YEARS before you plan to exit. Waiting until the last minute could cost you tens of millions in avoidable taxes and clean-up costs. Early planning = more money in your pocket.

🔹 A clean, organized data room pays dividends. Buyers use diligence to “chip away” at the offer—being buttoned up on contracts, financials, and IP not only speeds up the process but keeps your valuation intact.

🔹 Professionalizing your business won’t kill your culture. In fact, getting the right systems, people, and processes in place protects your authenticity and unlocks more scalable, profitable growth.

Head over to your favorite podcast platform, subscribe to Build a Business Worth Buying, and start listening today!

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Partner Spotlight: Slotted’s New Newsletter — Fulfillment Focus

At Izba, we know the real work doesn’t end when a product leaves the factory. Fulfillment is where promises meet reality—and where small gaps can become big headaches.

That’s why we’re glad to share that our partner, Slotted, has launched Fulfillment Focus: a weekly newsletter designed for operators who want clarity, not chaos.

Each issue brings:

  • Fulfillment signals that matter — the trends and shifts shaping your week.

  • Opportunities and connections — roles and openings across the fulfillment space.

  • Practical tools in action — how Slotted helps operators bring order to complexity.

If you want to stay ahead of what’s moving in fulfillment—not just respond after the fact—Fulfillment Focus is worth your inbox.

You Closed the Deal—Now What?

Whether you’re staying on through an earnout or walking away with the wire hit, one thing is certain: your company’s future will be defined by the next 100 days—not the last 100.

At Izba, we’ve seen too many integrations falter because no one prepared for the morning after.

That’s why we built:

📘 The Integration Playbook

A field guide for founders, acquirers, and operators navigating the messy, emotional, and political realities of post-acquisition life.

Inside, you’ll find:

  1. How to define your role (or your exit)

  2. How to manage the founder-as-symbol dilemma

  3. What integration success actually looks like