What is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA)?

A Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) is a credentialed professional trained to help business owners plan the transition or sale of their business. CEPAs coordinate legal, financial, and tax strategies to maximize the value an owner receives from their exit. Adam Gould is one of the few financial advisors in San Francisco who holds this designation.

Do you work with startup founders and tech executives?

Yes. Dogpatch Wealth focuses specifically on founders, executives, and early employees at Bay Area tech companies who are navigating liquidity events, IPOs, or significant equity compensation. Adam Gould has deep experience with equity planning across a variety of vesting structures and exit scenarios.

What is the minimum investment or AUM to work with Dogpatch Wealth?

Dogpatch Wealth works with clients who typically have $1 million or more in investable assets or are expecting a near-term liquidity event. The firm is selective to ensure each client receives highly personalized, ongoing advisory support.

What does exit planning mean for a business owner?

Exit planning is the process of preparing a business owner for the eventual transition or sale of their company — whether to a third party, private equity, or family members. It encompasses valuation, tax minimization, estate planning, and personal financial readiness. Dogpatch Wealth helps owners build a plan years before an exit so they can maximize proceeds and avoid costly mistakes.

Is Dogpatch Wealth a fee-only financial advisor?

Yes. Dogpatch Wealth is an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor. Adam Gould does not earn commissions or referral fees from product sales. This fiduciary model aligns his incentives entirely with client outcomes.

How can I diversify a concentrated stock position without triggering a large tax bill?

There is no single answer — the right approach depends on your cost basis, time horizon, income, and goals. Common tax-aware strategies include: gradual systematic selling spread across multiple tax years to manage annual capital gains exposure; exchange funds, which allow qualified investors to contribute a concentrated position to a diversified fund without immediately realizing capital gains (subject to a minimum seven-year lock-up); charitable giving vehicles such as donor-advised funds or charitable remainder trusts, which can eliminate the capital gains tax on donated shares; and hedging overlays or structured products that provide downside protection while keeping the position intact. Dogpatch Wealth evaluates the full trade-off — tax cost, concentration risk, liquidity needs, and fee drag — to recommend the strategy that fits your situation.

What are the risks of holding a concentrated position in a single stock?

The core risk is that a single company's fate can swing your entire net worth. Historically, most individual stocks underperform a broad market index over their lifetimes — and a significant portion lose money outright. Even stocks that were once exceptional performers often give back their gains: past winners do not reliably continue to outperform. Keeping a concentrated position also tends to increase portfolio volatility, which over time compounds into slower wealth growth even in favorable scenarios. The reluctance to sell is understandable — tax bills are real and emotional attachment to a stock that built your wealth is natural. But it helps to separate the question of whether the company will do well from the question of whether your concentrated exposure to it is the right risk for your financial plan.

Selling or Exiting a Business

Selling your company, by acquisition, IPO, or a hand-off built over decades, is a once-in-a-lifetime tax event. As a CEPA, Adam Gould helps Bay Area owners maximize proceeds and plan what happens next.

Book A Consult

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The Exit Moment: Two Roads, One Decision

Selling your company is usually a once-in-a-lifetime event, and it tends to arrive faster than owners expect. There are really two roads: sell to an outside buyer or the public market, or transition the business to family or employees. Each has its own tax consequences, timeline, and emotional weight. The job is to choose deliberately, with the numbers in front of you, rather than react when an offer lands.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge seen through trees along a walkway.

Before You Sell: Understand & Enhance Your Business Value

Knowing your value early is the heart of exit planning. As a CEPA, Adam helps you understand what your business is worth today, identify the value drivers that make a buyer pay more, and close the gaps that scare buyers off, all before you go to market. Owners who do this work negotiate from strength instead of guessing.

Tax-Smart Exit Strategies (QSBS, Concentrated Stock, Charitable)

Most of the tax savings on a sale are won before the deal closes, not after. Depending on your structure we may use QSBS (Section 1202) exclusions and trust stacking, staged diversification of any stock you receive, installment timing, and charitable strategies. The biggest savings come from structures put in place well before a signed letter of intent, which is why we like to start 18 to 24 months out.

QSBS Trust Stacking

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After The Sale: Turning A Windfall Into A Plan

When the wire hits, the first move is to do nothing rash. We help you set aside taxes, build a diversification plan for any concentrated stock, create a dependable income stream, and align the proceeds with your retirement, family, and giving goals. A one-time event becomes a durable, tax-aware plan rather than lifestyle creep.

WHAT WE DO

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Exit Planning (CEPA)

One of the few independent RIAs in San Francisco with the Certified Exit Planning Advisor credential. We build the plan that starts three to ten years before the sale — not the week of.

Start exit planning

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Investment Management

The day after the wire clears, the money needs a job. We build the post-sale portfolio to actually support the life you sold the business to have.

Post-sale investing

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Tax Planning

Structuring the sale — QSBS, installment notes, charitable remainder trusts — before the LOI is signed. The tax bill is set at the term sheet, not at closing.

Tax planning

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Insurance

Life, disability, and key-person coverage reviewed against your existing policies — with independent illustrations, not commissioned quotes.

Review coverage

Not Every Exit Is A Sale.

Succession To Family Or Employees

If your intent is to pass the business to the next generation or to a key team, we coordinate the valuation, the funding, and the tax treatment so the handoff is fair to you and survivable for the business. We work alongside your attorney and CPA to put the structure in place.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A liquidity event turns one concentrated asset into investable wealth. We build a plan first: an investment strategy matched to your goals, a tax plan for the sale year and beyond, reserves for what's next, and a legacy or giving plan, so the proceeds fund the life you want rather than sit idle or get over-concentrated again.
Knowing your value early is the heart of exit planning. As a CEPA, Adam helps you understand your current value, identify the drivers that make a buyer pay more, and close the gaps before you go to market, so you are negotiating from strength rather than guessing.
A Certified Exit Planning Advisor is trained to align your business value, personal financial goals, and tax planning into one coordinated exit. It matters because most owners get one shot at a sale; a CEPA helps you enhance value, time the exit, and keep more of the proceeds.
Often, yes, if we plan early. Depending on your structure we may use QSBS (Section 1202) exclusions, trust stacking, charitable strategies, and staged diversification of any stock you receive. The biggest savings come from structures put in place well before a signed letter of intent.
For tax structures, 18 to 24 months ahead is the sweet spot; QSBS trust planning in particular loses its power inside roughly 12 months of a deal. For value-building and succession, several years is even better. The earlier we start, the more options stay open.

Selling or Exiting a Business

Selling your company, by acquisition, IPO, or a hand-off built over decades, is a once-in-a-lifetime tax event. As a CEPA, Adam Gould helps Bay Area owners maximize proceeds and plan what happens next.

The Exit Moment: Two Roads, One Decision

Before You Sell: Understand & Enhance Your Business Value