Selling Your Company for Maximum Value: What the Presentation Covers

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · Updated September 2026 · 735 words

Selling a company for maximum value comes down to four things: preparing the business before buyers see it, knowing what it is really worth, keeping the process confidential, and making several qualified buyers compete. MDR & Associates offers a presentation on exactly this, with a title that echoes the book by founder Michael D. Rubin, Sell Your Company for Maximum Value.

It is offered to groups of business owners and to the professionals who advise them: CPA and accounting firms, financial advisory firms, law firms and business organizations such as chambers of commerce. This page outlines what it covers and how to request it.

It is not a pitch for any single decision. It is a plain explanation of how companies in the $3 million to $100 million revenue range are actually bought and sold, and what owners can do to influence the outcome.

Who the presentation is for

Most owners sell a company once. Their CPA, attorney or financial advisor may see several client exits a year and is often the first person an owner confides in. The presentation serves both groups. Owners learn what to expect and which decisions matter most. Advisors learn where a sell-side M&A advisor fits alongside them, when to bring one in, and which early mistakes cost their clients the most. Advisors often hear about an exit years before the owner speaks to anyone else, which puts them in the best position to help a client start preparing in time.

Our article on the advisors to have on your sale team describes how those roles divide in practice, so that the attorney, the CPA and the M&A advisor each do the work they are best at.

The main ideas it covers

• Preparation. Clean, reconciling financial statements for three years, reduced dependence on the owner and documented operations, ideally in the 12 to 24 months before a sale.
• Value. How buyers recast earnings and apply a multiple of adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), and what moves that multiple up or down.
• Confidentiality. Blind profiles, NDAs and staged disclosure, so employees, customers and competitors do not hear early.
• Competition. Why negotiating multiple letters of intent at the same time sets a better price than negotiating with a single buyer.
• Terms. Why the headline price is only part of an offer: cash at closing, seller notes, earnouts and working capital all change what the owner keeps.
• Due diligence. The issues that most often derail deals late, and how to surface them before a buyer does.
• Life after the sale. Transition periods, employment or consulting agreements, and what the owner wants the company to look like after closing.

Why the order matters

Owners tend to start with price. The presentation starts with preparation because it is the only stage the owner fully controls. Value follows from the quality of the earnings and the records behind them. Competition then determines how much of that value the owner actually captures, and terms decide how much of the agreed price becomes cash. Skipping a step usually shows up later as a lower offer or a failed deal. The stages also feed each other: a well-prepared company attracts more buyers, more buyers compete harder, and harder competition improves the terms as well as the price.

The same sequence runs through the firm's ten-step process, from the discovery meeting to funds wired. It reflects experience from more than 250 closed transactions since 2008.

How to request it

Groups can ask for the presentation through our contact page. Helpful details include the name and type of the group, the approximate number of attendees, the kind of audience, and your preferred timing and venue. We will confirm whether we can accommodate the request. Telling us about the audience helps, because a room of CPAs, a group of attorneys and a chamber full of owners tend to ask very different questions.

Owners who would rather have a private version can ask for a confidential discovery meeting instead, where the same ideas are applied to their own company and its numbers. You can read more about the firm and about Michael Rubin before getting in touch.

Next step

To book the presentation for your group, or to discuss your own company privately, contact MDR & Associates. Owners who first want a rough figure can start with the free valuation snapshot, which gives a quick range before any meeting.

Where this fitsBusiness valuation in Texas →

Questions owners ask next

Is the book the same as the presentation?

They have nearly the same title and share the same core ideas. The book, Sell Your Company for Maximum Value, by founder Michael D. Rubin, goes deeper and can be read at your own pace. The presentation condenses the main points for a group setting and is shaped around the audience in the room.

What if my client is not ready to sell yet?

That is often the best time to hear it. Most of what raises value, such as cleaner records, a stronger management team and less reliance on a few customers, takes a year or more. An owner who learns the principles early has time to act on them before any buyer looks.