James Kennedy sits down with Joe Stafford, founder of Trinity Business Advisors and serial entrepreneur, to unpack hard-won lessons from scaling to $60M revenue, surviving a bank workout, exiting two companies, and now guiding owners through exit planning the right way. Joe shares how a simple gross-margin math fix generated $26M in profit, what really happens when private equity is on the other side of the table, and a practical playbook for making your business sellable, scalable, and less owner-dependent.
About Joe Stafford
Joe is a CPA-turned-operator who helped grow Viking Components from $26M to $300M, co-founded IC Solutions (hitting $60M in three years), built and sold a supply-chain risk firm, and later exited a data/SaaS company serving brands like Qualcomm. Today, at Trinity Business Advisors, he specializes in value acceleration and exit readiness for lower-middle-market owners.
What You’ll Learn
- The $26M Pricing Fix: The difference between mark-up and margin – and why your team must quote on gross margin, not mark-up.
- Spot-Market Reality Check: Lessons from electronics distribution, gray-market dynamics, and protecting brand/IP in the channel.
- Exit Readiness 101: The three legs of a sellable company – business readiness, owner readiness, financial readiness – and how to close your value gap in 12–36 months.
- Ditch the Earn-Out (If You Can): Why tying value to post-sale employment invites gamesmanship – and better structures to consider.
- From Founder-Led to Process-Led: Building a company that runs without you (and why buyers pay up for that).
Episode Highlights
- “Deliver news often – and bad news faster. In a crisis market, communication is the product.”
- “If your quotes use 1.2× mark-up for a 20% margin, you’re underpricing. Divide by 0.8 instead.”
- “Eight out of ten businesses that go to market don’t sell. Start exit planning years before you need it.”
- “A buyer pays for systems, not heroics. If you can’t leave for a month, you don’t have a sellable business.”
More About Joe’s Work
At Trinity Business Advisors, Joe quarterbacks cross-functional exit prep – value assessment, KPI and pricing tune-ups, management handoff, and coordination with legal, tax, wealth, and ESOP/PE advisors – using a value-acceleration framework to boost multiples while reducing owner dependency.
