Proven Podcast – Episode Summary
Podcast: Proven Podcast
Host: Charles Schwartz
Guest: Chris Van Dusen (Senior Partner, Slico Capital)
Episode Title: The $50M Exit Playbook Most Founders Don’t Know
Date: January 2, 2026
Episode Overview
This episode explores the realities of building, scaling, and ultimately exiting businesses for significant payouts, as seen through the lens of Chris Van Dusen’s extensive experience as a founder, operator, and venture capitalist at Slico Capital. Chris candidly breaks down common misconceptions founders have about valuation, the challenges of funding rounds, and the operational shifts necessary for a company to become attractive to investors or acquirers—dispelling romantic notions about entrepreneurship and revealing a playbook focused on proven fundamentals.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Chris Van Dusen’s Background and Perspective
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Background: Chris shares his “accidental” journey into entrepreneurship after his first California employer went bankrupt, leading to starting and merging marketing firms with his wife, launching and exiting a top CBD brand, and eventually joining Slico Capital.
“I ended up starting a marketing firm... Then started what ended up being the second largest CBD brand in the world... Now, senior partner at Slico Capital.” (B, 01:49)
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Slico Capital’s Focus: Early- and growth-stage investment, helping founders navigate venture capital and achieve successful exits, including rollups and public offerings.
2. The Company Lifecycle and Funding Rounds [02:50–07:00]
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Lifecycle Explanation:
- Start with personal/friends & family capital
- Angel investment follows (“professional panhandling” stage)
- Pre-seed/seed rounds introduce institutional capital (firms, family offices)
- Series A, B, C, etc.—the “alphabet soup” of funding
- Pathways: rollup (private equity), IPO, lucrative cash-flow businesses
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Key Terms:
- EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization—core metric for valuing mature businesses.
- Rollup strategy: Combining multiple similar businesses under one roof to multiply value.
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Notable Quote:
"The earlier you are, the harder it is to peg value. So what will end up happening...is what's called a capped SAFE." (B, 09:54)
3. Angel Investors vs. Venture Capital [05:36–07:00]
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Difference:
- Angel: Investing personal funds, often earlier stage
- VC: Institutional, pooled funds managed with structured vehicles, spreads risk over many investments
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Notable Quote:
“One is, I call it binary. One is saying, I have my own money... The other might be a venture firm... using a fund or some kind of structure.” (B, 05:52)
4. Proven Pathways: What Actually Attracts Investors and Acquirers [07:01–16:30]
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Core Five or Six "Investor-Attractive" Elements:
- Stage-dependent, but consistent fundamentals:
- Clear revenue and/or path to profitability
- Defined, repeatable systems and processes
- Strong, coherent company culture and vision
- Measurable and realistic growth plans
- Robust customer acquisition and retention strategies (the “flywheel”)
- Clean and organized financial reporting
- Stage-dependent, but consistent fundamentals:
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Founder Reality Check:
- “If you start your entrepreneurial journey thinking, I'm going to have work-life balance. No, no, you are thinking of it wrong." (B, 12:20)
- The journey is all-consuming, not for people who want the easy road.
5. Myths About Entrepreneurship and Company Value [08:47–14:21]
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Valuation Reality:
- Early-stage companies with no sales: “I’m valuing assumption, I’m not valuing guarantees.”
- Later-stage: Tangible revenue/EBITDA creates real value.
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Gross vs. Net:
- “You’re making $5M. That’s what matters, not the $50M in sales.” (A & B, 11:51)
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Emotional Detachment:
- “Most business owners... don’t understand that their business is not their identity.” (A, 09:08)
6. Culture, Systems, and Scaling Beyond 7 or 8 Figures [14:21–16:30]
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Culture Dilution:
- Can’t expect employees hired at scale to match founder-level passion.
- “An employee is an employee even at startup companies.” (B, 14:59)
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Keys to Scaling:
- Early brute force gets you to 7-8 figures.
- Post-$10M: Must invest in systems, culture, decentralized leadership.
7. Hot Verticals & Pitch Best Practices [16:30–19:44]
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Current Hot Sectors:
- AI, solid “boring” businesses with proven demand.
- Avoid fads like crypto: “No, no, no crypto projects. We actually aren’t invested in that.” (B, 16:30)
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Best Pitches Sell the ‘Wind’, Not the ‘Sail’:
- “Sell me the wind, don’t sell me the sail. Even crappy boats catch flight if the wind’s good enough.” (B, 18:12)
- Tell a compelling story, not just specs.
8. Flywheels, Systems, and the Power of Retention [21:28–27:45]
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The “Flywheel”: Creation of self-sustaining growth via customer referrals and retention.
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Example – Dropbox
“Once you had all your photos in there… you needed more [storage], the only way to get it is to get more people.” (B, 24:00)
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Non-tech Example – CPG/CBD Brand:
- Created movement, targeted overlooked demographics (middle America, 45+), tapped into the right influencer channels.
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Key System Questions for Founders:
- “Have you created a flywheel?”
- “Are you hiring more people, or could you optimize systems with technology, AI, or process improvement?”
9. Distribution, Competition, and Surviving Industry Giants [28:27–31:22]
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Incumbent Threats:
- Industry giants will “swat” upstarts once they become a nuisance—sometimes leading to buyouts.
- “As a nuisance is when you get bought.” (B, 30:28)
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Rollups:
- Acquiring several small players to contend with larger competitors.
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Direct Vs. Passive Entrepreneurship:
- Not everyone is suited for the grind—being a proven operator is a safer transition from corporate to entrepreneurship.
10. Lessons on Co-Founders, Vision, and Maintaining Alignment [34:30–35:29]
- Co-founder Dynamics: Many failures happen due to co-founder or vision misalignment.
- Every employee should at least know and be able to articulate the company vision (“within reason”).
“If they don’t spit out within reason, it’s kind of the same thing, you’ve got problems, 100%.” (A, 34:54)
11. The $5M vs. $50M Exit Playbook [35:29–39:14]
- “Hogs get slaughtered”: If a founder is burnt out, the first priority is to replace them with proven operators—don’t push exhausted founders.
- Real exit process takes at least 6 months, sometimes years, and involves deep optimization (not just cost-cutting—but honest scrutiny of every expense).
- “We’re going to figure out how you take a little break and we’re gonna get some proven operators in there to pressure test whether or not we can get it there over the next two years.” (B, 36:20)
12. Preserving Relationship-Based Businesses [39:14–43:41]
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The “Handshake Economy”:
- Deep, multi-decade client relationships are difficult to transfer.
- Assess for customer concentration risk by looking at contracts and asking direct questions.
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Choosing the Right Advisors:
- Pick investment bankers and service providers based on expertise and industry connections, not geography or price alone.
- “You get what you pay for.” (B, 42:48)
13. Board, Advisory, and “Smart Money” Connections [44:05–49:19]
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Board Role: Post-investment, VC partners help by introducing the right talent (investment bankers, M&A attorneys, strategic connections).
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Smart Money > Just Money:
- “There is money and there is smart money. And they are very different.” (B, 48:08)
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Research Your Investors:
- “If not, then I’m just a piece of meat with a wallet. And that’s a little different.” (B, 49:19)
14. Character, Networks, and Founders’ Deeper Purpose [50:12–54:46]
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Living a Legacy:
- Chris’s involvement with “Alder”, building generational leadership, supporting Tier One special forces veterans transitioning to business.
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Skill Bridge Example:
- Helping elite military veterans build business networks; “Your network is your net worth.” (B, 53:39)
Memorable Quotes & Moments
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On Entrepreneurship:
“Congratulations, you don’t have a 9 to 5 anymore. You just have it all the time.” (A & B, 13:13)
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On Business Identity:
“Most business owners... don’t understand that their business is not their identity.” (A, 09:08)
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On Systematization:
“If you can't fire yourself out... you haven't built a business, you've built a prison.” (A, 21:17)
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On Channels for Funding:
“If [AI] is consumer-available... sometimes it's not ‘I need more bodies’, sometimes it's ‘I have bad systems’.” (B, 20:33)
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On Board Role:
“Part of my role on your board is to introduce you to the best investment bankers...who could actually buy you downstream.” (B, 44:05)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:53 – Chris’s career arc and Slico Capital’s mission
- 02:50 – Explaining lifecycle of startup funding
- 05:36 – Angel vs. VC differences
- 08:16 – Five key things to attract investment
- 09:08 – Emotional detachment and valuation fundamentals
- 12:20 – Founders and the myth of work-life balance
- 16:30 – Sectors that attract investment
- 18:12 – Sell the wind, not the sail—narrative in pitching
- 21:28 – What real systems and flywheels look like (Dropbox example at 23:00)
- 25:30 – Non-tech flywheel example: CBD brand in CPG
- 28:27 – Distribution, incumbents, and the “swat” effect
- 30:28 – When being a ‘nuisance’ gets you bought out
- 33:43 – Hard-won lessons on the jump from executive to entrepreneur
- 35:29 – Doubling or 10X-ing exits via gradual optimization
- 39:14 – Human capital and relationship/trust-based businesses
- 42:48 – Picking the right investment banker/board/advisors
- 44:05 – VC’s advisory role post-investment
- 46:32 – “Come prepared”—the three questions every founder should answer
- 48:04 – Distinguishing ‘just money’ vs ‘smart money’
- 50:12 – Building character, network, and legacy (Alder and Vet Skill Bridge programs)
- 54:46 – Wrap-up, where to find Chris and connect
How to Connect with Chris Van Dusen
- LinkedIn: Chris M. Van Dusen
- Email: c@sycocapital.com
- Instagram: @chrismvandusen
Final Takeaways
Mastering the art of the high-value exit is not about slick decks, more bodies, or the latest trend—it’s about optimizing systems, deeply understanding your market, crafting defensible growth flywheels, and being relentlessly honest about your numbers and capabilities. Layering in trusted relationships and smart advisors accelerates value creation—and, when done right, enables founders to move from $5M to $50M exits (and beyond).