Worth Owning
Claim This Podcastby Horizon Advisors
Podcast Overview
<p>Somewhere between "I built this" and "I sold this" is a decade of decisions most founders get wrong. This is the show about those decisions.</p><p></p><p>Worth Owning is the podcast that takes you inside the build and the deal. Scale stories from founders who turned owner-operated companies into assets. Exit stories from the ones who sold, and what they'd do differently. Deal room insights from the bankers, private equity buyers, and M&A advisors on the other side of the table.</p><p>You'll hear from both sides. The founder who built it. The buyer who acquired it. And the uncomfortable truth about what actually makes a business valuable, transferable, and ready.</p><p></p><p>Hosted by Krystyn and Matt Harrison, cofounders of Horizon Advisors, an advisory platform for owner-operators that pairs you with advisors who've built, scaled, and exited themselves. Horizon's advisors have had front row seats to over $1B in enterprise value. Now we're bringing the playbook to owner-operators building between $3M and $100M+ in revenue.</p><p></p><p>If you want to know what makes the difference between a company that sells and one that stalls on the market, this is your show.</p><p>Worth Owning covers M&A, founder exits, growth strategy, deal structure, valuation, operator psychology, and what it really takes to go from running the business to owning an asset.</p><p></p><p>Because the work you do to make your business worth buying is the same work that makes it worth running.</p><p></p><p>New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.</p>
Language
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Publishing Since
8/1/2025
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Recent Episodes
April 30, 2026
Why Most CFOs Can't Survive Diligence (And Why 75% Of M&A Deals Die) | Susan Richards, Numbercrunch
<p>In this conversation, we get into the specific moves every founder needs to start making 36 months before a sale. We break down normalized EBITDA, and the add-back game buyers play in diligence. We get into fully-loaded CAC, unit economics by channel, and the Grow–Ramp–Scale framework for knowing when to level up your finance function. And we get into why 75% of M&A deals fall apart - and why the ones that close almost always share the same 36-month prep story.</p><p></p><p>What you'll learn:</p><p>00:00 - The million-dollar decisions founders make on gut feel and bank balance</p><p>00:54 - Hot take: most CFOs are controllers with a bigger title</p><p>02:15 - Three questions to tell if you have a real CFO or just a controller</p><p>03:33 - "I can't predict the future" — why that answer is a red flag</p><p>04:46 - When month-end financials should actually hit your desk (and why the three-day close is a lie)</p><p>05:50 - The "so what?" test for every financial report you receive</p><p>08:45 - Capital allocation: funding your growth divisions vs. propping up the laggards</p><p>09:13 - Why cash in the bank is the worst decision-making tool a founder can use</p><p>11:06 - How revenue complexity dictates the CFO skill level you actually need</p><p>12:46 - EBITDA in plain language (and why every lender treats it as profit)</p><p>13:40 - Normalized EBITDA explained: the add-backs every private business owner should document now</p><p>16:10 - The buyer arbitrage play on unnormalized EBITDA — and how to neutralize it</p><p>18:07 - Why time kills all deals and what a 36-month prep window actually looks like</p><p>18:38 - The founder, CMO, and CFO sitting at the same table — and why most conversations break down</p><p>21:31 - How a strategic CFO partners with growth instead of blocking it</p><p>23:26 - Fully-loaded CAC vs. vanity CAC, and why the number alone means nothing</p><p>25:43 - When to start segmenting CAC by channel, ICP, and trailing twelve months</p><p>27:30 - Grow, Ramp, Scale — the finance shift each phase demands</p><p>30:24 - The real cost of launching outbound as a brand-new channel</p><p>33:10 - Starting exit prep 36 months out: the first moves every founder should make</p><p>33:39 - What separates a clean diligence from a deal that falls apart mid-process</p><p>37:20 - The exit prep checklist to start on tomorrow morning</p><p>38:47 - Enterprise value in plain language — and why your current financials don't show it</p><p>40:40 - Strategic vs. financial buyers, and why every founder should court both</p><p>41:35 - Why 75% of M&A deals fall apart (and what the other 25% have in common)</p><p>42:38 - Where to find Susan</p><p>---</p><p>Susan Richards is a CFO and cofounder of Numbercrunch, a fractional finance function that supports growing companies from startup through exit. </p><p></p><p>Follow Susan: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-richards-fcpa-fcma-53b2176/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-richards-fcpa-fcma-53b2176/</a></p><p>Check out Numbercrunch: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://numbercrunch.ca" target="_blank">https://numbercrunch.ca</a></p><p>---</p><p>Connect with Krystyn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystynharrison/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystynharrison/</a></p><p>Or book an intro call at Horizon Advisors: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://withhorizon.co" target="_blank">https://withhorizon.co</a></p><p>Subscribe for new episodes every week.</p>
April 21, 2026
Horizon LIVE: How to Sell Your Profitable Business | Jackie Dinsmore & Brent Holliday
<p>Most founders build profitable businesses. Very few build sellable ones. There's a massive difference, and it could cost you millions.<br /><br />In this first live recording of Inside M&A: Opening the Playbook, Krystyn Harrison (Co-Founder & CEO, Horizon Advisors) sits down with Jackie Dinsmore (Managing Partner, Caravel Law, 3x exited founder) and Brent Holliday (Founder & CEO, Garibaldi Capital Advisors) to break down what actually makes a business sellable, how valuations really work, what kills deals, and the exit timeline math every founder should know.<br /><br />Whether you're exploring your options or actively working toward an exit, this session gives you the insider playbook, straight from people who've been on every side of the table.<br /><br />Want to be in the room live at the next Inside M&A? Subscribe to the series → <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://luma.com/horizonadvisors" target="_blank">https://luma.com/horizonadvisors</a><br /><br />WHAT YOU'LL LEARN<br />- 0:00 – Why this conversation matters right now, and who's in the room<br />- 2:45 – How to tell if your business is actually sellable (not just profitable)<br />- 6:30 – How to "stage" your business for a buyer the way you'd stage a home for sale<br />- 9:15 – The deal-killing blind spots most owners don't see until it's too late<br />- 14:00 – The exact things to say (and never say) when a buyer calls out of the blue<br />- 18:30 – How EBITDA normalizations work in plain English, and why they can add millions<br />- 22:00 – How adjusting your owner salary can add millions to your valuation<br />- 25:00 – Who to tell about a potential sale, when to tell them, and how much to share<br />- 28:30 – The real exit timeline: how long a sale actually takes from first call to close<br />- 31:00 – How to know when NOT to sell your business<br />- 34:30 – Why hitting $5M in revenue unlocks 65% more of the buyer market<br />- 37:00 – Rapid-fire: the biggest green flags, red flags, and the one question founders never ask a buyer<br />- 40:00 – The single sentence that separates owners who get great exits from those who don't<br /><br />—</p><p><br />Jackie Dinsmore— Managing Partner of Caravel Law. 3x exited founder. Successfully sold a consumer products company and two professional services firms. Now leads 120+ lawyers across Canada and is disrupting how legal services are delivered to entrepreneurs.<br /><br />Follow Jackie: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-dinsmore-3a11a55/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-dinsmore-3a11a55/</a> <br />Check out Caravel Law: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.caravellaw.com" target="_blank">https://www.caravellaw.com</a><br /><br />—<br /><br />Brent Holliday - Founder & CEO of Garibaldi Capital Advisors, Canada's first tech-focused M&A advisory firm, founded in 2013. 30+ years in tech and finance. Former venture capitalist. Now advises entrepreneur-owned tech companies on exits, with a team of 8 across Vancouver, Toronto, and the San Francisco Bay Area.<br /><br />Follow Brent - <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentholliday/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentholliday/</a><br />Check out Garibaldi Capital: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://garibaldicapital.carrd.co/" target="_blank">https://garibaldicapital.carrd.co/</a><br /><br />—<br />Connect with Krystyn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystynharrison/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystynharrison/</a><br />Or book an initial call at Horizon Advisors: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://withhorizon.co" target="_blank">https://withhorizon.co</a></p>
April 16, 2026
Why AI is Killing Your SaaS Moat (And Why a $20M Exit Beats $200M) | Josh Axler
<p>AI is rewriting the rules of what makes a software company fundable. Switching costs are dissolving. Code is getting cheaper to write. And the SaaS metrics that used to guarantee a term sheet? They're not enough anymore.</p><p></p><p>Josh Axler has deployed over $200 million into growth-stage companies as Managing Director at Flow Capital, a publicly traded alternative lender. He sits between venture capital and traditional banking, funding founders who want to scale without giving up ownership. He's reviewed thousands of data rooms, and the patterns he sees are changing fast.</p><p></p><p>In this conversation, we get into why AI is eroding the moats that protected SaaS companies for the last decade, what actually makes a business defensible now, and how founders should think about capital, ownership, and exits in a world where vibe coding can replace an engineering team and one model release can make your product a feature. We also break down why a $20 million exit can put more money in a founder's pocket than a $200 million one, and why most founders never do the math on the real cost of equity.</p><p></p><p><b>What you'll learn:</b></p><p>00:00 - What is venture debt and how is it different from VC or bank lending?</p><p>00:37 - AI is dissolving software moats. Is brand the only one left?</p><p>02:17 - Vibe coding and what's actually defensible in SaaS right now</p><p>03:38 - Where AI costs land on the P&L (and why nobody knows yet)</p><p>04:55 - "SaaS is dead." What's really happening from the lending desk</p><p>06:14 - Is your product a feature or a real product?</p><p>06:49 - The metrics that matter before you talk to a lender</p><p>08:05 - Seed strapping explained: raise a seed, then grow on your own terms</p><p>09:49 - What separates a sustainable company from the VC treadmill</p><p>11:12 - Why 40 to 100% annual growth isn't exciting enough for venture anymore</p><p>11:52 - Equity is the most expensive capital. Here's the math founders miss</p><p>13:05 - Revenue multiple expansion explained in plain language</p><p>14:31 - Venture debt as a tool: what it actually unlocks for founders</p><p>15:31 - Who Flow Capital works with and typical deal terms</p><p>17:04 - Leverage works both ways. Common blind spots in funded companies</p><p>18:14 - The number one data room breakdown (the gap between story and forecast)</p><p>20:31 - Hockey stick projections with no sales team behind them</p><p>22:57 - LTV to CAC: why most founders aren't fully loading their costs</p><p>24:04 - CAC payback and how to pick the right capital partner for your stage</p><p>26:15 - Services plus software: why the old VC bias against services is flipping</p><p>28:14 - Deal structure, liquidation preferences, and the $20M vs $200M math</p><p>30:15 - Is capital still abundant? And does every business need outside funding?</p><p>-</p><p>Josh Axler is the Managing Director at Flow Capital. He has deployed over $200 million in capital across hundreds of deals. Josh focuses on companies in the $2M to $10M revenue range that are growing 40 to 100%+ year over year and working toward cash flow positive. He posts daily on LinkedIn about venture debt, AI, and founder finance.</p><p></p><p>Follow Josh: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshaxler/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshaxler/</a></p><p>Check out Flow Capital: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.flowcap.com" target="_blank">https://www.flowcap.com</a></p><p>-</p><p>Connect with Krystyn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystynharrison/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystynharrison/</a></p><p>Or book an initial call at Horizon Advisors: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://withhorizon.co" target="_blank">https://withhorizon.co</a></p><p></p><p>Subscribe for new episodes every week</p>
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Worth Owning?
<p>Somewhere between "I built this" and "I sold this" is a decade of decisions most founders get wrong. This is the show about those decisions.</p><p></p><p>Worth Owning is the podcast that takes you inside the build and the deal. Scale stories from founders who turned owner-operated companies into assets. Exit stories from the ones who sold, and what they'd do differently. Deal room insights from the bankers, private equity buyers, and M&A advisors on the other side of the table.</p><p>You'll hear from both sides. The founder who built it. The buyer who acquired it. And the uncomfortable truth about what actually makes a business valuable, transferable, and ready.</p><p></p><p>Hosted by Krystyn and Matt Harrison, cofounders of Horizon Advisors, an advisory platform for owner-operators that pairs you with advisors who've built, scaled, and exited themselves. Horizon's advisors have had front row seats to over $1B in enterprise value. Now we're bringing the playbook to owner-operators building between $3M and $100M+ in revenue.</p><p></p><p>If you want to know what makes the difference between a company that sells and one that stalls on the market, this is your show.</p><p>Worth Owning covers M&A, founder exits, growth strategy, deal structure, valuation, operator psychology, and what it really takes to go from running the business to owning an asset.</p><p></p><p>Because the work you do to make your business worth buying is the same work that makes it worth running.</p><p></p><p>New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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