Autism therapy organizations often evolve from discrete passion projects into business enterprises almost by accident, driven by motivated founders seeking to fulfill some personal mission.

Without adequate succession planning, the handoff could be chaotic when the founder is ready to end that chapter of their life. Clear-eyed and specific planning in the early stages of a company around what a founder wants to do after they step away can have a huge impact on what happens to a company. That often requires founders to imagine their life without the company that became their life’s work.

“The first question I ask a seller or an owner is, ‘What is your long-term plan?’” Rachel Boynton, CEO and founder of Athena M&A, said during a panel discussion at the Autism Investor Summit 2025.

Boynton, a clinical business owner for 20 years herself, added that making big-time strategic moves can be deeply personal and emotionally difficult for founders. That requires them to begin the personal and business work of unwinding themselves from the organization.

On top of the internal considerations, having a clear-eyed approach to the role of a founder or other top executive at an organization facing the prospect of a sale is very attractive to prospective investors or acquiring companies. This can include the prospect of departing from the organization’s management altogether.

“There are those people [for whom] this has been their blood, sweat and tears — their life’s work — and that’s harder to stay on, honestly,” Boynton said. “If you’ve been your own boss for 35 years, and now you bring someone on who’s in charge of making decisions, that’s hard.”

On the flip side, not having a specific plan for how founders or other top leaders can set up buyers and sellers alike for challenges down the road.

“If you really have no desire to have anyone ever give you any kind of advice or suggestions, don’t do the deal, or sell and go your way,” Preston Brice, managing partner at Barclay Hill Partners, said during the panel discussion. “Because it is a recipe for being frustrated, and no one’s going to win in that scenario.”

Brice added that sellers who stay at the company often fall into two tracks: they are still highly engaged and are eager to bring on a partner with other business expertise, or they are ready to take day-to-day management of the enterprise off their plate.

Derek Bullard, CEO of Already Autism Health, described the different paths that the top leaders at two autism therapy organizations Already acquired took post-close. Very nearly concurrently, Already announced in January that it had taken on a private equity backer and acquired Commonwealth ABA as well as C.A.B.S Autism & Behaviour Specialists. The CEO of Commonwealth ABA took on a chief development officer role at the combined company, while C.A.B.S Autism’s CEO decided to step back from management.

“Really early on, [you ask], ‘what are your goals with this transaction?’ and try to figure out a path towards that for us,” Bullard said.

Founders also need to set modest and realistic goals when it comes time to cash out their company’s equity.

Boynton said that founders will get incorrect assumptions about what their “blood, sweat and tears” are worth to investors or acquisitive autism therapy firms. When it comes time for a sale, buyers will likely take for granted the time and capital investments a founder put into their autism therapy organization. Rather, they will start with and prioritize an organization’s P&L statements and balance sheet.

“And that’s just the beginning,” Boynton said. “There are so many nuances to your valuation that a lot of people don’t understand. So they get a little bit excited before they know how it goes.”

That said, once a buyer is confident in the viability of an enterprise as a financial prospect, other more intangible considerations come into play.

“It’s not just about EBITDA or just one number,” Brice said. “It’s a lot about the team; it’s about growth; it’s about what you have done.

“What I always talk about is the shared vision of how we can create something that is truly meaningful and impactful in the communities that we serve.”

Especially for a first deal, selling organizations are just as much buyers as they are sellers when making a first deal, Brice said. Looking for the right “fit” with a potential partner on a deal is a top consideration that needs to be addressed before moving to other aspects of dealmaking.