CEO for Equity

intermediary profile

June 17, 2025

by an intermediary in Miami, FL, USA

I have a business I'm looking to sell doing $600k EBITDA and $3M revenue in the tech-enabled pet space which is growing by over 40% a year. I'm the owner and CEO and have been doing this for 16 years and I want to move on to a new company I launched. I have debt of $1.3M on the business, $500k of it from an SBA loan and $400k seller financing notes from two smaller acquisitions that were done, plus two other small SBA loans. All of the loans are on my name and personally gauranteed by me, which makes it hard for me to just bring in a CEO and move on. I am able to pull out $300k from the business as a salary and only work around 2 hours a week, however since it's my responsibility and on my name, it makes it hard for me to focus on my new business which is why I just want to sell. In addition, I have investors who will get 50% of any net profits from a potential sale, making it so that a sale won't leave with much especially given how much I'm able to take out of the business in a salary. I'm therefore thinking about something along the lines of getting a CEO for equity/for low compensation in exchange for them taking on the seller financing notes at first and then later on the EIDL and other loans as his equity increases. What is everyone's thoughts about a structure like that?
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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Syracuse University in Tampa, FL, USA
Hey there - I own and operate a couple businesses in the pet space that generate high-seven figure revenues - I'd be interested to connect and see how this might fit with our portfolio. Could you shoot me an email? redacted
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Reply by an investor
from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
I think it would be tough to get a good CEO without giving up pretty significant upside - in which case, you're splitting equity 3 ways, not two. What was the price that your other equity holders bought in at? Is there a way to buy them out so that they're better off than they are today? If sale price were $2.8M, that would be $1.5M / 2 = $750K for you and for other equity holders. Could you structure a deal so they get bought out by a new CEO's share profits over time?
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