The Private Equity Advantage: Balancing Price, Terms, and Legacy When Selling Your Business

5 Star Review

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Editorial Book Review:

By MJ Hansen

Selling a business is the kind of decision that most founders only make once, which means they make it without the experience that would have made them better at it. Scott Hanson made it multiple times, on both sides of the table, as both a seller and as co-founder of Allworth Financial, one of the most recognized names in the wealth management industry. That accumulated experience is what makes The Private Equity Advantage feel genuinely different from other exit planning guides, and considerably more trustworthy.

The emotional reality of selling something you built is not something most business books handle honestly. Hanson does. The financial stakes are significant, he acknowledges plainly, and then he adds what the spreadsheets never capture: the emotional dimensions run deeper. A founder's sense of identity, responsibility to employees, concern about cultural continuity, the legacy question that sits underneath every valuation conversation, these are real factors that affect real decisions, and they deserve real guidance. Hanson provides it without sentimentalizing it.

What the book gets exactly right is the landscape orientation it gives readers before anything else. Most founders approaching a sale understand their own business intimately and understand the buyer universe barely at all. Hanson maps that landscape clearly, from strategic acquirers to private equity firms of every variety, explaining not just who they are but how they think, what they optimize for, and what working with them actually feels like after the wire transfer clears.

The expert interviews woven throughout with investment bankers, attorneys, tax specialists, and private equity professionals give the book a depth that solo-authored guides rarely achieve. The case studies make the abstract concrete in ways that matter when you are trying to apply the lessons to your own specific situation.

John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell, said it simply: if you understand the model and learn to play the game, the outcome can be life changing. Hanson shows founders how. That is exactly right, and exactly what this book delivers.

About the Author

Scott Hanson

Scott Hanson is a cofounder of Allworth Financial. A nationally recognized financial expert, he’s been named one of Barron’s Top 100 Independent Advisors in America numerous times and has been listed as one of Investment Advisor’s twenty-five most influential people in the financial services industry by Investment Advisor magazine. In 2021, he was recognized by Investment News as one of the ten Icons and Innovators of the financial services industry nationwide. 

Scott has helped others navigate the sales of their businesses and has been personally active in mergers and acquisitions. He has founded and sold businesses to publicly traded and private equity companies alike. Plus, under his leadership as co-CEO of the wealth management firm he created, he was involved in the purchase of dozens of companies sold to him by founders.

A frequent guest columnist for several national financial publications, Scott is the author of Personal Decision Points: 7 Steps to Your Ideal Retirement Transition (2016), Personal Decision Points: 7 Steps to Your Ideal Retirement Transition 2nd Edition (2021), and Money Matters: Essential Tips & Tools for Building Financial Peace of Mind (2006) and the coauthor of Investment Advisor Marketing: A Pathway to Growing Your Firm and Building Your Brand (2013).

In 2019, Scott was the inspiration behind the founding of Allworth Kids, which has provided laptops, overnight kits, and 

financial assistance to over two hundred thousand foster kids to date.

Scott and his wife, Valerie, reside in El Dorado Hills, California, and have four children.