With no planning or preparation, virtually every investment banker and M&A professional will quickly look past your business and focus instead on others that are better prepared.
ExitMinded exists for those businesses and founders that are traditionally overlooked. We provide the expertise and resources to help these businesses become truly “sale ready.” This means not only a much higher likelihood of a successful future sale, but also a larger purchase price.
There are nearly 15 million privately-held businesses operating in the U.S. today.
Owners at or near retirement own an estimated 45% of these businesses.
2023 State of Owner Readiness (U.S. National Report), Exit Planning Institute.
2023 Market Pulse Report, International Business Brokers Association & M&A Source.
2023 BizBuySell Insight Report (released January 2024).
2024 Private Capital Markets Report (released mid-2024), Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project (PCMP).
Matt has over thirty years of legal and corporate finance advisory experience focused on meeting the unique needs of closely-held middle market businesses. Matt started his career as a corporate and trade regulation attorney at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in Chicago. In 2000, he left the practice of law to begin advising middle market businesses on M&A and capital markets transactions. Matt continues to provide such services at City Capital Advisors, LLC, where he is a Managing Director.
The idea for ExitMinded grew out of some of Matt’s experiences as an investment banker. Matt had found himself in numerous sell-side engagements over the years in which clients were not sale-ready, not an uncommon occurrence given the limited upfront diligence that bankers typically get to perform. In many of these situations, the eventual sale was successful but was delayed by an extended period of time to help the client address the deficiencies. Hence, ExitMinded was conceived.
Matt received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
Gian has over twenty-five years of experience advising privately held and family-owned, and growth stage companies undergoing some form of transformative event whether on the sell-side, buyside, raising capital, or evaluating the available strategic alternatives.
Gian began his career as a consultant with Transystems, a civil engineering consulting firm. He later switched into investment banking in 2005, joining Wachovia in their Industrial Growth & Services Group. In 2024, Gian joined City Capital Advisors, LLC, as a Managing Director, where he continues to advise middle-market companies on M&A and capital markets transactions today. Prior to City Capital, Gian was with Stout Risius Ross for 13 years in their Investment Banking Group. Gian has worked extensively with clients in the industrial, manufacturing, and consumer sectors.
Gian received a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
