About Simon Bedard
He is the Founder and CEO of Exit Advisory Group, National Chair of the Australian Institute of Business Brokers, a Registered Business Valuer, and the author of Exit Like an Expert, endorsed by a Bain & Company advisory partner and one of Australia’s best-known economists.
If your audience includes founders, investors, business owners, or the advisers around them, you and Simon have something in common.
Simon works on the part of the business owner’s journey that decides whether all that building and growing pays off. Turning a business you own into one someone will actually buy.
On his own podcast, Buy Grow Sell, he has interviewed more than 100 founders who have sold their companies, including the one who led Swisse to a $1.7 billion exit, and people like Finder.com co-founder Fred Schebesta, and a games maker whose studios were bought by Disney, Sony and Atari. He does lots of deals himself, so he brings stories and specifics, and he is an easy, engaged guest.
Unfortunately, most owners leave their ultimate ‘pay day’ to the end. Simon can tell your listeners what all their work is really worth, how they can drive up the value of their company, who actually ends up buying, and what it takes to turn a business they own into money in the bank.
It is a conversation he finds owners rarely have until it is late to act on it, which is exactly why it lands with an audience.
Simon has built an engaged audience of more than 20,500 LinkedIn followers, alongside a founder-focused email community. He regularly shares insights from real transactions, founder interviews and the business sale process, helping valuable podcast conversations reach a wider audience of business owners and advisers.
Key topics
Using Valuation Insights To Guide Strategic Growth Decisions
Valuation is more than a number at sale time - it is a diagnostic tool for prioritising growth. Simon shows how valuation analysis can identify which initiatives deliver the biggest uplift and guide investment decisions during the lead-up to a sale. The discussion frames valuation as a management tool that helps owners convert limited resources into demonstrable value improvements for prospective buyers.
Who actually buys your business
Many owners assume their eventual buyer will be a competitor, customer or familiar industry name, yet in more than 90% of Simon’s deals, the successful buyer was someone the seller had never heard of. Buyers may emerge from adjacent industries, investment groups, international markets or individuals looking to become entrepreneurs through acquisition. Simon explains why relying on the obvious shortlist can restrict competition and leave value on the table, and how a properly run sale process uncovers buyers the owner would never have found alone. The discussion changes how founders think about the market for their business and what it takes to create genuine buyer tension.
The wrong exit path can trap good owners
Many owners assume a third-party sale is the obvious end point, but the best exit route depends on the business, the family, the management team, the owner’s timeline and the type of value already built. Choosing the wrong path can create conflict, delay and avoidable value leakage. This conversation gives owner and leadership audiences a practical way to compare sale, succession and management transition options before emotion takes over. Simon can explain how owners should think through control, legacy, valuation, timing and risk before committing to a path they may not be able to unwind easily.
View all topics →
Key topics
Using Valuation Insights To Guide Strategic Growth Decisions
Valuation is more than a number at sale time - it is a diagnostic tool for prioritising growth. Simon shows how valuation analysis can identify which initiatives deliver the biggest uplift and guide investment decisions during the lead-up to a sale. The discussion frames valuation as a management tool that helps owners convert limited resources into demonstrable value improvements for prospective buyers.
Who actually buys your business
Many owners assume their eventual buyer will be a competitor, customer or familiar industry name, yet in more than 90% of Simon’s deals, the successful buyer was someone the seller had never heard of. Buyers may emerge from adjacent industries, investment groups, international markets or individuals looking to become entrepreneurs through acquisition. Simon explains why relying on the obvious shortlist can restrict competition and leave value on the table, and how a properly run sale process uncovers buyers the owner would never have found alone. The discussion changes how founders think about the market for their business and what it takes to create genuine buyer tension.
The wrong exit path can trap good owners
Many owners assume a third-party sale is the obvious end point, but the best exit route depends on the business, the family, the management team, the owner’s timeline and the type of value already built. Choosing the wrong path can create conflict, delay and avoidable value leakage. This conversation gives owner and leadership audiences a practical way to compare sale, succession and management transition options before emotion takes over. Simon can explain how owners should think through control, legacy, valuation, timing and risk before committing to a path they may not be able to unwind easily.
View all topics →