”Never listen to the price your buddy told you he sold his business for. You can easily discount that by at least 30 to 50% to get to the real number.” — Tim TempletonIn this episode of the Power Exit Podcast, John Marsh sits down with Tim Templeton, business development advisor at TriVest Partners, a Miami-based private equity firm with 45 years of experience partnering with family and founder-owned businesses in the lower middle market.Tim pulls back the curtain on how a firm that reviews nearly 5,000 deals a year decides who makes the cut, what PE partnership actually looks like for founders, and why the myths surrounding private equity cost business owners real money and real opportunity.In this episode, you'll learn:🔹 The Real Deal Funnel — How TriVest moves from 4,800 deal looks to roughly 60 closings in a single year, and what that ratio reveals about how selective serious PE buyers really are🔹 What Gets a Yes — The two things TriVest looks at first: growth trajectory and scalability, and why a business that is not moving up and to the right rarely gets a second look🔹 The Red Flags That Kill Deals — Lumpy financials, customer concentration that runs deeper than it appears, vendor dependency, and lack of differentiation are the most common reasons deals fall apart after the LOI🔹 The Owner-Dependency Problem — Why a founder who is the entire business is one of the biggest red flags a buyer sees, and why every owner's goal should be to eliminate themselves from the org chart, not anchor it🔹 Rolled Equity and the Second Bite — Why rolling equity into the deal is not just a financial move but an emotional bridge for founders who are not ready to fully walk away, and how TriVest's ”Path of 3X” target makes that second check worth waiting for🔹 The Value of an Intermediary — Why TriVest prefers working with advisors, how representation keeps founders emotionally grounded during diligence, and why time is the single biggest deal killer in any transaction🔹 Valuation Misconceptions — Why every founder thinks their business is worth more than it is, why that is understandable, and why the headline number is only part of the picture when evaluating a private equity offer🔹 What Is Hot Right Now — Recurring revenue, subscription-based services, fragmented industries ripe for consolidation, and add-on acquisitions are the themes defining PE deal flow heading into the next several years🔹 The Worst Advice Founders Get — Why listening to what your friend says he sold his business for is one of the most expensive mistakes a founder can make, and what to ask insteadConnect With JohnLinkedIn –   / marshcreek  Connect With TimLinkedIn –   / titempleton  🔸 Get a Complimentary Business Valuation:https://www.mcreek.com/what-is-my-bus…📌 Subscribe To The PowerExit™ Insights Newsletter:https://www.mcreek.com/newsletter/🌐 More resources ➝ https://www.mcreek.com/About John Marsh:John Marsh is the Founder and Managing Partner of Marsh Creek Advisors, a boutique M&A advisory firm that helps business owners navigate the sale of their companies with confidence and clarity. Since founding the firm, John has closed hundreds of millions in transactions and earned national recognition as Top Global Producer by the International Business Brokers Association and part of the Firm of the Year by M&A Source — the highest honors in the industry.Before launching Marsh Creek, John served as CFO and later General Manager of a high-growth medical device company, where he led over $300 million in M&A activity, including a $161 million sale to private equity. Earlier in his career, he worked at Ernst & Young and Frazier & Deeter, where he focused on financial reporting and audit services for both Fortune 100 companies and privately held businesses. #businessexit#privateequity#mergersandacquisitions#sellyourbusiness#businessowner#exitstrategy#entrepreneurship#founderstory#businessvaluation