Why Every Business Owner Should Read The Entrepreneur’s Exit Playbook (Even If You’re Not Selling Yet). I read this book over a weekend.
Most M&A books live in the land of theory, legal jargon, and stale checklists, or are wowing you with tales of riches. Kristopher Jones doesn’t. I have added this book to my Advisory Client Bookshelf as another must-read, not only to prepare for an acquisition, but also on how to run their business.
In The Entrepreneur’s Exit Playbook, Kris brings hard-won wisdom from sitting on both sides of the deal table, and it shows in every chapter. This isn’t abstract advice from an MBA or investment banker, it’s a founder’s field guide grounded in lived experience.
Easy to Read and Visually Scanable
I had planned to read it on an upcoming flight, but scanning the table of contents and a few chapters sucked me in, both because of how easily I could quickly scan the information and because it touched on things I have experienced personally, such as breaking deals. It is not a bullshit bingo book with a lot of whitespace filler just providing competent and straightforward advice.
Real-World Wisdom That’s Useful
Kris doesn’t write like an academic or a consultant, but rather as someone who has built, scaled, sold, and advised real businesses. He threads personal lessons and “what I wish I knew” moments into each chapter, making the book both a strategic guide and a tactical playbook.
It covers everything you’d expect—deal structures, valuations, team building—but with a far greater emphasis on what really drives trust, value, and buyer confidence.
Why It’s More Than a Book About “The Deal”
Many exit books are obsessed with the last mile of the transaction. But The Entrepreneur’s Exit Playbook focuses on something far more impactful: preparation, maturity, and repeatability. And it does this across three powerful dimensions:
1. Preparing the Business for Acquisition (and Business Excellence)
Even if you’re not planning to sell anytime soon, Chapter 8—Clean House, Boost Value is a masterclass in operational cleanup and risk mitigation. Kris shows you how to uncover and address operational, legal, and financial blind spots before they surface during due diligence.
More importantly, he teaches you how to build a proper data room—whether virtual or physical—so that you’re not just pretending to be prepared. You are prepared!
But here’s the real value: these steps aren’t just for exit—they’re for ongoing business excellence. I’ve personally advised founders who were shocked by the inefficiencies and risks hidden in plain sight that Kris outlines and helps you prevent with his checklists. Going through this kind of pre-diligence improves your business right now, not just for a future buyer.
2. Preparing the Workflow for Scalability
Chapter 9, Turning Chaos into Clarity, is one of the most pragmatic chapters I’ve seen in any business book. It forces you to confront whether your company operates on systems that scale or heroic efforts that burn out.
Here’s the test: Could your business run without you?
If the answer is “not really,” then what you have is a demanding job, not a sellable company.
Kris lays out a simple but powerful framework for documenting processes, delegating intelligently, and demonstrating operational maturity. This not only increases valuation—it reduces risk for the buyer, and stress for the seller.
And even if no buyer ever knocks, you’ll gain tighter processes, faster onboarding, fewer errors, and more time back.
3. Preparing Yourself for the Exit
This is the part that most M&A guides skip entirely.
Kris delves into what it truly means to mentally and strategically prepare for an exit, not just building a business for sale, but also preparing the founder for life after the deal.
He shares hard-won lessons about misaligned incentives, poorly structured earnouts, and the emotional fallout of being unprepared for life after exit. I’ve seen this firsthand: founders eager to close the deal, only to feel lost, undervalued, or frustrated a few months later.
The clarity and personal insight here are invaluable. Deals don’t fall apart because the numbers are wrong—they fall apart because expectations weren’t aligned. This book helps you avoid that.
Final Take: A Playbook for the Business You’re Building—Not Just the One You’re Selling
What sets The Entrepreneur’s Exit Playbook apart is not just what it covers, but how it does it.
- Clear, step-by-step instructions
- Real-world lessons (not theory)
- Readable, practical, no jargon
- Smart preparation for both the business and the founder
- Value-added, even if you never sell
It’s not just a book for those looking to exit. It’s a blueprint for running a smarter, more mature, and more scalable business starting today.
Put it on your desk, not your shelf.
