Daniel Stetser

After the Close

Business EN ↓ 3 episodes

The best lessons in dealmaking never leave the room. After the Close changes that. Each episode unpacks a real lower middle market transaction — the mechanics, the mistakes, and the moments that made or killed the deal. Founders who've exited. Acquirers who've closed. Searchers who took the leap. And the deal professionals who got it across the finish line. One deal. One lesson. No fluff. Hosted by Dan, an entrepreneur and student of the deal who's obsessed with how small businesses are built, bought, and sold. New episodes weekly.

Author

Daniel Stetser

Episodes

How a Self-Funded Searcher 4X'd an Accounting Firm: Patrick Dichter of Appletree Business Services 22.06.2026 28:56

Patrick Dichter wasn't an accountant. He had an MBA, a finance minor, and seven years selling for a digital marketing agency. Then he heard you could just buy a business, so he did. In late 2021 he closed on Appletree Business Services at $1.2M in revenue, and over the next few years grew it roughly 4X through a mix of bolt-on acquisitions and organic growth. In this episode, Patrick and Dan get i...

"I Regret Selling My Startup" — Boris Berenberg on the Atlas Authority Exit 31.05.2026 33:04

What happens when a founder runs his own sale process, gets the deal done, and then writes a viral blog post titled "I Regret Selling My Startup"? Boris Berenberg spent six and a half years building Atlas Authority into one of the top Atlassian partner businesses in the world. Tens of millions in lifetime revenue, high single-digit millions in ARR, 10,000+ customers, fully bootstrapped. In 2022, h...

From 3x to 5x Earnout - Jeff Archibald on the Paper Leaf Exit 08.05.2026 48:43

Jeff Archibald built Paper Leaf from a two-person design shop into a 30-person custom software firm doing $4M in revenue. Then he sold it, but not before a failed deal nearly cost him everything. In this episode, Jeff walks through both deals: the PE buyer who dragged him through five months of due diligence, ran up $50K in professional fees, and then rewrote the terms on closing day. He also brea...