The Deal Strategy Co. was built by people who have run transactions from the other side and saw how often buyers were the least represented party in the room.
In most small and lower middle market transactions, the seller has an intermediary, an attorney, and a CPA. The buyer has a listing packet and a lot of optimism. Even when the buyer hires help, nearly everyone advising them is compensated, directly or indirectly, on the deal closing.
That structure produces a predictable result. Buyers overpay for businesses that turn out to be the owner's job rather than a company, they accept terms that leave all the risk on their side of the table, and they discover in year two that they bought a business they did not want to run.
We built a practice where the finding can be no, because it has to be able to be no to mean anything.
The Deal Strategy Co. helps you find the right target, structure it so it can actually work, and examine it independently before you commit. Our sister practice, The Exit Strategy Co., works with owners on the sell side. The two practices are deliberately separate, so that on any given transaction you know exactly whose interests we are carrying.
The same people who run transactions for owners on the sell side. That is where the read on a deal comes from.
Founder and Broker
Jamie is a creative strategist, entrepreneur and broker. Twenty years as a serial entrepreneur, including starting and selling her own ventures, mean she has sat in the owner’s chair herself. She owns The Deal Strategy Co., The Exit Strategy Co. and The Klingman Group, along with companies spanning residential and commercial real estate, publishing, multimedia and insurance.
She is a licensed broker in several states and completed her Doctor of Business Administration in 2023. Jamie has served in leadership roles with nonprofits including the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the Temple Terrace Chamber, and has been named a Small Business Leader of the Year finalist and a Lightning Foundation Community Hero.
She lives in Tampa with her attorney and veterinarian husband, three daughters, 160 pounds of standard poodle and a hairless cat.
Broker
Sam built and ran an employee benefits practice for more than fifteen years before selling it in 2021, so he has been through the transaction from the inside.
He holds the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) and Retirement Plans Associate (RPA) designations through the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, and is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) through the Center for Fiduciary Studies. He holds a BS in Marketing from the University of South Florida and works with clients in both English and Spanish.
He is also a rock star bass player, husband and father who loves to gig, camp and help people.
You are told at the outset which relationship you are in and whose interests we are carrying. If we cannot be independent on a given engagement, we decline it and say why.
You get our actual position, in writing, including the parts that are inconvenient for the deal timeline.
Targets, financials, and buyer strategy stay with us. We work under NDA and expect the same discipline from everyone at the table.
The Deal Strategy Co. is a d/b/a of The Exit Strategy Group, LLC, a Florida limited liability company and a licensed Florida real estate brokerage. Our sell-side brand, The Exit Strategy Co., operates under the same entity.
Brokerage relationships, conflicts, compensation, and confidentiality practices are set out in our Brokerage Policy.
Our sister practice, The Exit Strategy Co., works with owners preparing to sell, from exit readiness through closing.
A first conversation is free and confidential.