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Building a Business Without Owning It | Strategic M&A, Turnaround Risks & Exit Planning
What you missed on How2Exit This week
Ronald Skelton
July 29, 2025
First a word about sponors:
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E287: Building a Business Without Owning It | Strategic M&A, Turnaround Risks & Exit Planning - Watch Here
About the Guest:
Fadi Malouf is a strategic buyer, advisor, and capital partner focused on buying, growing, and exiting companies with scale potential. His career began in the fitness and wellness space before shifting into software, tech, and eventually structured M&A. Now the founder of FM Capital and FM Advisory, Fadi partners with operators and investors to fund deals, implement systems, and position companies for high-value exits. He is currently raising a $100M fund and works with over 60 independent advisors across his network.
Summary:
In this episode of the How to Exit Podcast, Ron sits down with Fadi Malouf, a seasoned M&A strategist and founder of FM Capital and FM Advisory. Fadi shares a refreshingly candid look into his evolution from personal trainer to software company exit, to advising and funding acquisition deals in the lower-middle market. The conversation covers not only how Fadi thinks about deal structure, ownership vs. control, and turnaround risk—but also how his personal values and lived experiences shape the way he buys and builds businesses.
Listeners will find this episode especially compelling if they’re trying to bridge the gap between being an operator and becoming an investor. Fadi doesn’t hold back on his disdain for turnaround deals, his belief in control over ownership, and his obsession with systems, delegation, and operational execution. But what makes this interview resonate is the philosophical undercurrent: businesses are problems to be solved, but you better love solving them.
Key Takeaways:
Buy with an exit in mind – Fadi learned the hard way that starting a company without thinking about its eventual exit is a recipe for pain and lost value.
Turnarounds are not for amateurs – He strongly advises new buyers to avoid turnaround deals unless they have the capital, team, and turnaround-specific experience.
Control beats ownership – Fadi prioritizes control over equity, emphasizing results and alignment rather than maximizing ownership at the expense of execution.
The real bottleneck is often the founder – Companies under $3M in revenue are frequently hampered by owners who haven’t fired themselves from key roles.
Invest in systems and delegation early – Fadi emphasizes the importance of building a company that runs without you; hire people smarter than you and get out of the way.
Culture kills or scales – If you buy a company with entrenched staff resistant to change, expect a battle. Culture change is slow and hard.
Capital without credibility is a deal killer – Bringing money to the table means nothing if the operator can’t prove capability or relinquish control.
Fall in love with the problem – You’ll face chaos, adversity, and setbacks. If you don’t love what you’re doing, it’ll break you.
Article:
Attention Business Brokers, Advisors, Acquisition Entrepreneurs, and SMB Owners!
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