Stone Canyon Brings Acquirable™ Podcast to Business Transitions Forum SoCal, Elevating the Conversation Around Exit Readiness

San Diego, CA, December 04, 2025 –(PR.com)– Stone Canyon, a premier M&A advisory firm serving founder-led companies across the United States, brought its Acquirable™ Podcast live to the Business Transitions Forum (BTF) conference in Costa Mesa, California, delivering real-world insight into what it truly takes to become exit-ready.

Throughout the event, Stone Canyon interviewed multiple seasoned founders, including David Dressler, co-founder and former President and Chairman of Tender Greens, along with leaders who have personally experienced the pressure, vulnerability, and complexity of the exit journey. These conversations, recorded live at BTF SoCal, focused on one unifying theme: most companies are not nearly as acquirable as they appear.

The podcast’s presence amplified Stone Canyon’s mission to help founders transform from interesting to irresistible through its Acquirable™ Framework. The framework is built on four pillars of exit value: efficiency, financials, culture, and scale.

A Premier Firm Helping Founders Exit at Irresistible Valuations

Stone Canyon’s team combines experience as founders, operators, and investment bankers, positioning the firm to elevate companies into highly acquirable assets before buyer conversations ever begin.

“As founders, we have lived the fear, pressure, and surprises of exits. As operators, we have built the systems. And as bankers, we have seen what buyers reward and what they penalize,” said Josh Hotsenpiller, Operating Partner at Stone Canyon and serial entrepreneur with multiple venture-backed exits. “Profitability does not equal acquirability. Interest does not equal readiness. Due diligence always tells the truth.”

Managing Partner Josh Donnelly echoed this message during his interview at the event.

“We know there are four pillars of value in a company: efficiencies, financials, culture, and scale. When those are dialed in, a business becomes irresistible. But most founder-led companies believe they are ready when they are not. Interest is not readiness. Due diligence tells the truth.” -Josh Donnelly, Managing Partner, Stone Canyon Advisors

This philosophy shapes Stone Canyon’s advisory strategy, process, and content engine, empowering founders to reverse engineer acquirability long before a sale is ever considered.

Why the Acquirable™ Podcast Came to BTF SoCal

Bringing the Acquirable™ Podcast onsite gave BTF attendees access to:
• Transparent conversations with founders who have built and exited businesses
• A breakdown of how deals fall apart and how to prevent erosion of value
• Stories from leaders like David Dressler on managing culture, scale, and people risk
• Practical tools founders can implement immediately to improve exit readiness
• Educational content that remains relevant long after the conference ends
These sessions aligned directly with Stone Canyon’s mission to prepare founders early, clearly, and honestly for the realities of the exit process.

The Four Fundamentals of an Acquirable Company

A central takeaway from Stone Canyon’s presence at BTF SoCal was clear: true exit readiness begins years before a sale, not months.
The Acquirable™ Framework is anchored by four key fundamentals:
• Efficiency- Operational hygiene, reduced waste, and scalable workflows
• Financials- Clean books, strong margins, and defensible reporting
• Culture- Leadership depth and team retention that buyers now require
• Scale- Predictable, repeatable, and defensible revenue engines

These pillars determine whether a company merely attracts interest or commands an irresistible outcome.

From the Stage: Hard Truths and Honest Lessons

At BTF SoCal, Josh Hotsenpiller joined industry leaders Mike Milani, Jim Amundson, Eric Hall, and Rod Trujillo for the panel titled 20/20 Vision: Hard Truths and Honest Lessons From the Exit Journey.

The discussion underscored a consistent reality: founders often underestimate the discipline required to become truly acquirable. Culture fractures under pressure. Systems fail. Turnover erodes valuation. Founder identity becomes entangled with the business. Buyers uncover and exploit every weakness.

Stone Canyon’s advisory model was built to address these vulnerabilities long before a founder ever reaches the due diligence phase.

About Stone Canyon

Stone Canyon is a premier M&A advisory firm helping founder-led businesses prepare for and execute exits at compelling and often irresistible valuations. Combining operator experience, founder empathy, and investment banking precision, Stone Canyon guides entrepreneurs from profitable to acquirable through its signature Acquirable™ Framework and the industry-leading Acquirable™ Podcast.

For more information, visit stonecanyonadvisors.com or listen to the Acquirable™ Podcast on all major podcast platforms.