You Built It. Now Exit on Your Terms.
Smarter business exit planning for founders, operators, and the advisors who serve them.
MBO Ventures helps business owners design exits that protect what they’ve built. Whether that means an ESOP, an independent buyout, a succession plan, or a tax-efficient sale, we map the right structure to your goals, your company, and your timeline.
No single-solution thinking. No pressure. Just a clear path forward.
How We Help You Exit Smarter
Independent Buyout
Keep ownership inside the company. Exit on your terms.
ESOP Advisory
The most tax-efficient exit structure available to business owners.
Business Valuation
Know what your company is worth before anyone else tells you.
Succession Planning
What happens to your company when you step back?
Capital Gains Tax Strategy
Most business owners don’t realize how much of their exit they’re about to give to the IRS.
We Don’t Have One Answer. We Have the Right One for You.
MBO Ventures is a modern business transition and exit advisory firm. We help founders and operators of privately held companies design exits that protect what they’ve built, using the right structure for each situation, whether that’s an ESOP, an independent buyout, a succession plan, or a combination of all three.
Our approach combines ESOP expertise with an investment banking mindset and firsthand operator experience. Darren Gleeman founded MBO Ventures after careers in quantitative finance and mid-market advisory. He led the first fully ESOP-owned cannabis company in the country. We’ve worked across construction, manufacturing, staffing, government contracting, cannabis, and professional services. We know what a deal looks like from every angle.
Industries We Serve
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ESOP plan?
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) lets a business owner sell some or all of their company to a trust that holds the shares on behalf of employees. It’s often the most tax-efficient way to exit while keeping the company independent and rewarding the people who helped build it — and it’s one of several exit structures we help owners weigh.
How does an ESOP program work?
A trust is created to buy the company on behalf of employees, funded by a loan — from a bank, an institutional lender, MBO Ventures, and/or seller financing. As the loan is repaid with the company’s pre-tax cash flow, shares are allocated to employees’ accounts based on their compensation and vest over several years. When an employee leaves or retires, their vested shares are bought back at the company’s current valuation.
What’s the smartest way to exit a business?
There isn’t one “smartest” exit — there’s the right one for your goals, your company, and your timeline. Depending on your situation that could be an ESOP, an independent buyout, a succession plan, a tax-efficient sale, or a combination. Our job is to map the structure to what you actually want out of the transition, without forcing a single-solution answer.
ESOP vs Private Equity: which exit strategy is better?
It depends on what you’re optimizing for. Private equity can deliver a fast, full cash exit — but usually means new ownership, new priorities, and change for your team. An ESOP can be more tax-efficient, keeps the company independent, and rewards the employees who built it, though it’s structured over time rather than as a single lump sum. We walk you through the trade-offs against your goals so the choice is clear.
When is capital gains tax due — and do you have to pay it immediately?
When you sell a business you generally owe capital gains tax on the sale — but not always right away. If you sell to an ESOP, that tax can often be deferred (potentially indefinitely) by reinvesting the proceeds into Qualified Replacement Property. The structure you choose can meaningfully change both how much you owe and when you owe it, which is exactly the kind of planning we do up front.