A Strategic Framework for Taking Your Business to the Next Level with Lily Tapia

Lily Tapia is the founder and CEO of Exelvest Partners, a team of seasoned executives, finance professionals, and successful entrepreneurs who are passionate about growing companies and creating value. A creative corporate finance executive, Lily has over 30 years of experience in early-stage investing, private equity, commercial and private debt, and mergers and acquisitions. She has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs throughout her career, helping them achieve successful growth and exits. Before founding Exelvest, she served as the Senior Vice President of Merrill Lynch, where she worked for over 17 years. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Florida International University College of Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration & Finance from the University of Florida at Warrington College of Business.

Lily joins me today to outline Exelvest's strategic framework for taking founder-owned businesses to the next level. She shares her background and how she learned about the successes and challenges of founder-owned businesses while working at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She addresses founder-owners' concerns about maintaining control over their businesses. Lily also highlights the value of setting a clear vision for your company and underscores the importance of cash flow.

"Your vision is where you hope your company will go, but 'hope' is not a strategy, so we need to build a strategy to achieve that vision." - Lily Tapia

This week on Priorities Lifestyle:

• Lily's background and work with founder-owned businesses

• Exelvest's mission to help founder-owned businesses with capital strategy, growth, and primetime

• How Exelvest offers value beyond capital and cash

• Finding investors and partners that align with a company's risk profile and culture

• Enterprise values and why business founder-owners need to be clear about their objectives and expectations

• Vision, beginning with the end in mind, and strategizing to achieve your company mission

• "Finding Nemo" syndrome and aligning with your company vision

• Building momentum in your company and executing a strategy quickly and efficiently

• Why people are the hardest and most important aspect to manage in a business

• Getting clear on what success looks like

• How employee retention can be bad for a company

• Visibility and being rigorous about your business analytics and trends

Our Favorite Quotes:

• "Enterprise values are where the values of the owner meet the values of the business." - Rob Schulz

• "You need fuel for your business to grow, and your fuel is cash." - Rob Schulz

• "Have the discipline to find the right match where your company or fund hits the bullseye, and you'll have a better go at it. Set, articulate, and document clear expectations." - Lily Tapia

Connect with Lily Tapia:

• Exelvest Partners

• Exelvest Partners on LinkedIn

• Exelvest Partners on Instagram

• Exelvest Partners on YouTube

• Lily Tapia on LinkedIn

• Email: L.Tapia@Exelvest.com

About Rob Schulz and P&L Priorities & Lifestyle Podcast

The P&L: Priorities & Lifestyle Podcast is a show for business owners. In each episode, host and financial planner Rob Schulz sits down with business owners and the professionals that serve them to talk about business building, life, money — and the all-important transition out of the business, which inevitably happens to everyone who has ever founded a company.

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*You're listening to P&L: Priorities & Lifestyle with your host Rob Schulz. Rob is the Founder and President of Schulz Wealth. All opinions expressed by Rob and his guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Schulz Wealth. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for investment decisions. Please refer to our website for more information: schulzwealth.com.