Balancing Price, Terms, and Legacy When Selling Your Business
Selling your business is one of the most significant decisions a founder ever makes. Most get one opportunity to do it right.
The Private Equity Advantage provides a tested readiness rubric for business owners navigating the complexity of selling, especially when private equity is involved. Rather than guiding founders to the highest possible valuations, Scott’s work helps them make decisions they can live with long after the deal closes.
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If you’re beginning to think about selling—or want to better understand what the process actually involves—start with the first chapter.
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Why This Decision Is So Hard
—and So Often Misjudged
For founders who have spent decades building their businesses, selling is never just about the money.
The stakes are enormous:
Your net worth
Your role and identity
Your employees and clients
The legacy you leave behind
Yet many owners enter the process focused on price alone, without fully understanding how deal structure, buyer alignment, and post-sale expectations shape outcomes.
The Private Equity Advantage helps founders slow down and evaluate what truly matters before momentum, pressure, or outside voices narrow their options.
What You’ll Gain from Reading This Book
Drawing on firsthand experience and expert insight, Scott Hanson guides readers through every major decision point in the sale process.
Inside the book, you’ll learn how to:
- Recognize when the timing to sell is right—or premature
- Understand how private equity partnerships actually work
- Evaluate buyers beyond headline valuation
- Structure deals to balance liquidity, risk, and long-term flexibility
- Minimize tax impact while preserving optionality
- Communicate effectively with employees during a transition
- Prepare intentionally for life after the sale
The book combines real-world case studies, expert interviews, and decision-making frameworks designed for founders who want clarity above all else.
A Clear-Eyed Look at Private Equity
Private equity is often portrayed in extremes. It’s either a savior or a threat. In reality, it’s neither.
When structured thoughtfully, private equity can provide capital, continuity, and opportunity. When misunderstood, it can introduce misalignment, regret, and unintended consequences.
Scott brings a balanced perspective informed by experience in all seats at the table—founding and selling businesses, operating within private equity-backed environments, and advising owners through similar transitions.
Rather than perpetuate extremes, Scott doesn’t advocate for or against private equity. Instead, he seeks to better equip founders to decide whether it’s right for them.
Testimonial
About the Author
Scott Hanson is a cofounder of Allworth Financial and a nationally recognized financial expert. He has founded, scaled, and sold multiple businesses to both Fortune 500 companies and private equity firms and has been directly involved in mergers and acquisitions from multiple perspectives.
Named multiple times to Barron’s list of the Top 100 Independent Advisors in America and recognized as one of the most influential leaders in the financial services industry, Scott brings peerless insight to the conversation around selling a business.
His work focuses on helping founders gain clarity before making decisions that shape their financial future and personal legacy.