Episode 13:

You validated your idea. Now here is the math behind turning it into a $10 million exit. Don LaPlume, Mike Sullivan, and Steve Moynihan break down EBITDA, SDE, MRR, and the multiples that decide what your business is actually worth, and why the founder is usually the thing holding the valuation back.

Haven't validated an idea yet? Start there: forgefireprotocol.com/challenge

WHAT A $10 MILLION EXIT ACTUALLY MEANS
A $10 million company is one whose verified recurring revenue, multiplied by the multiple the market pays for that type of business, equals $10 million or more. Change the multiple, or change the revenue, and you change the valuation. This episode breaks down both sides of that equation.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- EBITDA and SDE: what they mean, and when each one is the right base for your valuation
- Why MRR and ARR matter more than one-time revenue, and why 70 percent recurring is the number to hit
- The four valuation bands, from a 2X owner-operated service business to a 10X-plus SaaS business, and what moves you from one to the next
- Founder elimination and the CEO vacation test: can your business run for two weeks without you
- Why $83,000 a month in MRR can be worth the same $10 million as $208,000 a month, depending on your multiple
- Why the power of proximity and the right community change what you even know to build toward

FROM THE EPISODE
"A $10 million company is one whose verified earnings or recurring revenue, multiplied by a multiple the market pays, equals 10 million or more." Don
"Is that freedom?" Mike.
"That leash just gets tighter and tighter and tighter until you learn to let go." Mike
"You can be the reason the business was founded. You can't be the reason the business exists and continues." Don
"Why spend 5 years building something you could have done in 3 if you just structured it right?" Mike

Steve also shares why he has thought in defined time horizons ever since a leukemia diagnosis and bone marrow transplant 38 years ago, and how that shapes the urgency built into the Forge Fire Protocol.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and the $10 million question
00:34 Why $10 million, and why it matters
03:06 Does it have to be exactly 10 million
04:56 Steve's story: leukemia, a 10-year plan, and urgency
08:42 Don's neighbor and the house-flipping model
10:11 Why Mike joined Don: proximity over products
15:11 What a $10 million exit actually means
17:46 "Is that freedom?"
19:40 The dog-leash analogy
21:19 Steve's commercial lending company and zero freedom
23:48 Why Don built the eliminate-yourself rule into the protocol
25:05 Key terms: EBITDA, SDE, and your base number
28:50 What MRR and ARR need to look like for $10 million
31:53 Retail vs SaaS: why the multiple changes everything
36:35 The four bands: low, mid, upper, high
43:04 The exit value design: why structure beats time
49:08 The 70 percent rule and founder elimination
53:47 The CEO vacation test
54:37 Zero to $4 million in year one: Don's SaaS story
64:09 What community and mastermind actually give you
65:26 Two clients a month instead of hunting twenty
67:03 Next episode preview

VALIDATE YOUR IDEA FIRST
Everything in this episode assumes you already have a validated idea. If you do not yet, the $10 Million Challenge walks you through validating it, then shows you the blueprint to your first profit.
forgefireprotocol.com/challenge

NEXT EPISODE
Don teaches how independent contractors can build a million-dollar-a-year income, the same training he just gave to a group of 35 people, which doubled from the week before.

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