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Efficient Growth, Real AI & Exit Readiness

Updated 1 October 2025

Only assets with clear AI stories, moats, and KPI proof are getting premium exit outcomes. The near-term playbook: prune portfolios, fund vertical AI where the P&L case is provable, and keep boards aligned on exit readiness.
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Scott EnglerAveran · 2025-10-01

The exit market is open, but it is highly selective. Only assets with clear AI stories, defensible moats, and KPI proof are clearing at premium multiples. Everything else is competing on price.

The main themes

SaaS Recalibrates (ICONIQ)

Efficient growth first; AI as upside optionality; NDR ~110–120%; Rule of 40 ~50%; AI adoption near-universal (~80%) internally among top performers. The floor has risen significantly.

NRR Is the Pressure Point (SBI Growth)

Net revenue retention slid from 110.5% to 107.1%; usage signals explain ~80% of renewal and expansion decisions; six dynamic customer group require active management.

Modern PE CFO Mandate (Averan)

Adaptability, builder/fixer mentality, data as weapon, own operating cadence, align CEO and deal team, inside-out value creation. The CFO mandate has expanded.

Exit Counts Up, Check Sizes Down (S&P Global)

Q3 exits at 817 (second highest since Q4'21) but disclosed value fell 24% QoQ to $78.7B; only narrative-ready companies clearing at target multiples.

Don't Hire for Safety, Hire for Advantage (Spencer Stuart)

Safe CEO choices backfire; first-time CEOs serve longer and adapt better; reframe selection around executive intelligence.

Scott's TakeThe gap between AI narrative and AI proof is where most companies are losing value. Buyers are asking for operational evidence, specific workflows rebuilt, measurable productivity gains, governance in place. The CFO who can tell that story quantitatively in a management presentation is worth their weight in gold.
Exit ReadinessAISaaSCFO Strategy

If you want this done for you

What happens next

Reading about it and having it done are different things. Here is exactly what happens if you want the second one.

  1. The call, twenty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and what we would start with. No pitch deck.
  2. We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
  3. A written scope and a priceWhat we do each month, what you get, the date it lands, and the fee. Agreed before anything starts, and it does not move without you agreeing it.
  4. Transition, then the first closeAccess, systems, and the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.
Start with the call →How an engagement runs

Averan is not a CPA firm and does not file taxes. Your CPA keeps that, and we keep the books they file from.

Related pages

Path-to-Sale: Exit-Ready Financials GovCon Fractional CFO GovCon Exit Readiness Diagnostic Interim CFO for Exit Prep

Questions we get asked

What financial preparation is most important before a PE exit?

The highest-value preparation before a PE exit is building a defensible EBITDA bridge, establishing a clean baseline for cash left in the business. Ensuring the data room can respond to QoE requests within 72 hours. Every dollar of EBITDA that cannot be defended in the bridge is worth the transaction multiple in enterprise value, at 9x, a $1M unsupported add-backs costs $9M in proceeds.

What causes purchase price re-trades between LOI and closing?

The most common sources of re-trades in PE transactions are working capital peg disputes. EBITDA adjustments from unsupported add-backs, compliance findings that expand indemnification scope. quality of earnings findings that reduce normalized EBITDA. Sellers who prepare their financials 12 to 18 months before process typically retain 5 to 15 percent more purchase price than those who enter process with unresolved gaps.