Thirty years inside technology businesses. As an operator, a turnaround specialist, and an investor. I know what buyers pay for. And I know how to close the gap between where you are and what you deserve.
Sweet Spots
These are the tech-enabled service businesses where three decades of enterprise technology experience translates most directly into a better exit outcome. I work with owners outside these verticals too. Reach out if your business doesn't fit these four but the framework still resonates.
Selling an MSP? Recurring revenue is your multiplier. And the exact reason generic brokers undervalue you. Here is what actually moves the multiple.
Read more →Cyber firms sell to buyers who need to understand SOC 2, compliance velocity, and margin structure. I speak that language from three decades in DoD and A&D.
Read more →NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Dynamics. Utilization rates, project mix, and consultant retention drive your valuation. I evaluate ERP practices from the buyer's chair.
Read more →A 12+ month engagement with an active buyer working inside your business to close the gap to sale-ready. Skin in the game both ways.
Read more →The honest truth
Not because their business isn't valuable. Because they never prepared it to be sold. The operational gaps, the owner dependency, the undocumented processes. These don't kill the deal. They just quietly shrink the number.
You've spent decades building something real. Something that employed people, served clients, and carried you through the hard years. The exit should reflect that.
"The exit decision at 55 was made at 48. The question is. Were you building for it?"
· Wolfspire SolutionsThe model
Not a fund. Not a broker with a listing fee. An operator who has built and turned around businesses. And knows what a good transition looks like from both sides of the table.
No auction. No intermediary driving up tension to justify a fee. A direct conversation with a principal who knows your industry, understands your numbers, and is prepared to move. On a timeline that works for you.
Most owners don't realize how much flexibility exists in how a deal is structured. Seller financing. Installment arrangements that spread your tax exposure over time. Retained equity with a path to a second exit. Staying involved in a role that fits the next chapter. The structure is a conversation. Not a take-it-or-leave-it term sheet.
The employees who have been with you for a decade deserve better than a "restructuring announcement" ninety days after close. I acquire to operate. Not to strip and flip. Your team, your customers, and your legacy stay intact.
Your next chapter
That's the question most owners never let themselves answer honestly. Because answering it means admitting the season is changing.
It doesn't have to be an ending. For most of the owners I work with, it's the beginning of the chapter they earned. More time. More freedom. A legacy that doesn't depend on them showing up Monday morning.
I've been in enough businesses to know that the ones who exit well didn't wait until they were exhausted. They planned when they still had options.
Two ways to work together
Whether you're ready to sell or still a few years out, there's a way to work together that serves you.
For owners ready to sell
No intermediaries required. No fund committee. A direct conversation with a principal who knows your industry and is prepared to move thoughtfully.
For owners preparing to exit in 1–3 years
If you're not ready to sell yet. But you know the window is coming. I work with a small number of founders on an equity basis to close the gaps that quietly kill valuations.
Owner dependency. Undocumented processes. Concentrated revenue. These are fixable. I've spent thirty years fixing them.
This isn't coaching. It's a working engagement. For equity. With a defined outcome: a business that sells for what it's actually worth.
For owners who want to move on their own timeline
Not ready for a conversation yet? The Sale-Ready Toolkit gives you everything you need to begin preparing your business for a premium exit, without hiring anyone.
Now Available · $797
17 chapters. Roughly 50,000 words. Written from an active buyer's chair for founders preparing for exit in the next 12-24 months. Includes the Notion companion workspace that turns the book into an operating system.
Now Available · $497
14 practical templates M&A advisors would build for you at $30K in retainer. EBITDA add-back tracker, customer concentration analyzer, buyer-relevant KPI dashboard, CIM narrative template, and more. Fill in your numbers, close the gap to sale-ready.
The Complete Exit Preparation Package · Save $297
The framework that explains what buyers actually pay for. Plus the templates you fill in with your own numbers. For founders serious about exit prep in the next 12-24 months, this is the complete package.
The CIO's Exit Playbook
17 chapters. Roughly 50,000 words. Written from an active buyer's chair. Notion companion workspace included.
Separately: $797
The Sale-Ready Toolkit
14 practical templates M&A advisors would build for you at $30K in retainer. Fill in your numbers, close the gap to sale-ready.
Separately: $497
Separately: $1,294. Bundle: $997. You save $297.
Get the Bundle →Financing
Most IT founders never think about how their buyer will fund the acquisition. But the financing structures a buyer can access dictate the multiple they can afford. ROBS, SBA, and working capital options each unlock different buyer profiles. Understanding the landscape helps you attract the right ones.
Know your number
Most owners think they know. The scorecard tells you what buyers actually see. Fourteen questions. Five minutes. A personalized report that shows you exactly where you stand. And what's standing between you and a premium exit.
Free. Takes 5 minutes. Personalized report delivered immediately.
About the Founder
Dave Lieske has spent over three decades inside technology businesses. Not advising on them from a boardroom.running them. Turnarounds at 2 AM. Payroll conversations that kept him up at night. Teams he inherited who had never been led well, and had to learn they could be.
His career spans CIO and senior executive roles at Fortune 50 companies, alongside deep experience in Department of Defense and Aerospace & Defense environments. Sectors where operational precision isn't a preference, it's a requirement. That discipline carries into every acquisition and every turnaround.
Dave served in the United States Navy. That foundation (accountability, clarity under pressure, mission before ego) shaped how he leads organizations and how he works with founders.
Wolfspire Solutions is intentionally small. Fewer deals. Higher conviction. Every owner Dave works with gets his full attention. Not a team of associates who've never run anything.
Where we focus
Tech-enabled service businesses with proven operating history
No pitch deck required. No obligation. Just a direct conversation.
David.Lieske@wolfspiresolutions.com (321) 848-4881
What readers are saying
Early feedback from Playbook readers.
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