Which Frisco M&A advisors work with founder-owned businesses?

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · September 2026 · 837 words

MDR & Associates, headquartered in Frisco, represents owners of privately held companies with $3 million to $100 million in revenue, the size at which the founder is usually still running the business. The firm itself was founded in 2008 by Michael D. Rubin, who remains its CEO. It has closed more than 250 transactions and is paid only if the company sells.

A founder-owned company sells differently from one run by hired management. The founder usually holds the key relationships, has run personal and business expenses through the same books, and has more at stake than money. A good advisor plans around all three.

The founder is often the business, and buyers know it

Buyers pay for earnings they believe will continue after you leave. If customers call you, suppliers deal with you and every price is set by you, a buyer sees risk. They respond with a lower price, a longer required transition, or an earnout, which is part of the price paid later only if the business meets targets. Steps that reduce that risk:

• Hand key customer relationships to a manager a year or more before selling.
• Write down how the business runs: pricing, estimating, purchasing and hiring.
• Build a second layer of management that can speak to buyers with confidence.
• Take two weeks away and see what breaks.

A founder's books usually need a recast

Many founders run the company to keep taxes low, not to show profit. Family members on payroll, vehicles, travel, and rent paid to yourself above or below market all hide real earnings. A financial recast adds these back to show adjusted EBITDA, which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for owner-specific and one-time items. That is the number buyers price.

Every add-back must be documented, because a buyer will test each one. For companies in the $3 million to $100 million revenue range, prices most often fall between three and seven times adjusted EBITDA, so each documented dollar is worth several at closing. Our long read on what your business is worth explains the method.

Decisions only a founder can make

• Legacy. Do you care whether the name stays, whether employees keep their jobs, whether the company stays in Frisco? Say so early; it changes which buyers you favor.
• Your role after closing. Some founders want a clean break; others want a year or two on the payroll. Buyers ask in the first meeting.
• Price versus terms. An all-cash offer at a lower price may beat a higher one that depends on seller financing and an earnout. Only you can weigh your appetite for risk.
• Timing. Selling while the company is growing usually earns more than waiting until you are worn out.
• Readiness. If the company is not ready, pre-exit consulting covers the 12 to 24 months before a sale.

The part nobody puts in the marketing package

Founders often find the emotional side of a sale harder than the financial side. You have spent years making every decision, and during a sale strangers question those decisions line by line. Some owners get defensive in buyer meetings; others lose interest in running the company once an offer is signed, and results slip during due diligence, the buyer's detailed review before closing. Both cost money.

It helps to decide, before you start, what you will do on the Monday after closing. Owners who have a plan for their time, whether another venture, family, or a board seat, tend to negotiate more calmly and close more reliably. An advisor who has sat across from many founders can tell you when a buyer's question is routine and when it signals a real problem, which takes much of the heat out of the process.

What to ask a Frisco advisor about working with founders

Put these questions to any advisor you meet, including us. A founder's sale depends heavily on who is sitting beside you, so the answers about people and capacity matter as much as the answers about price.

• Who from the firm will be in the room when offers are negotiated?
• How many engagements is that person running right now?
• Will you tell me if you think my company is not ready?
• How are you paid, and is anything owed if the company does not sell?

Starting the conversation in Frisco

At MDR & Associates, a principal of the firm is in every negotiation, the firm takes a limited number of engagements at a time, it declines companies it does not believe it can sell for maximum value, and the fee is 100% performance based. Meet the team, including founder Michael D. Rubin, whose book Sell Your Company for Maximum Value was written for owners in exactly this position.

Our office is on Legacy Drive, and many founders prefer to meet there rather than at their own company, away from staff. See our Frisco page, then contact our Frisco office for a free, confidential discovery meeting and an opinion of value based on three years of your financials.

Where this fitsFrisco business brokers and M&A advisors →