Business valuation is more than a price tag at exit. It’s a running assessment of your company’s health, credibility, and resilience.

Maartje van Krieken shows how valuation can serve as a practical management tool for everyday decision-making. Drawing on lessons from mergers and acquisitions, she explains why external perceptions matter just as much as internal metrics and how they shape financing terms, customer trust, and even employee morale.

Using ten lenses, Maartje unpacks the questions outsiders bring to the table: Are people loyal to the business or just its leaders? Is culture sustainable beyond a founder’s presence? Do the numbers hold up under scrutiny? Would evidence convince a skeptic? This is operational due diligence turned inward, helping leaders stress-test their assumptions and identify the gaps that weaken long-term value.

Framed as risk-based prioritization, the process reveals not just what’s broken but where the biggest opportunities lie. A quarterly review through these lenses creates a roadmap for practical improvements that strengthen operations, safeguard against risk, and build value worth defending, whether or not a sale is ever on the horizon.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Business Valuation as a Daily Tool

02:18 Why External Evaluations Matter

06:03 Risk, Evidence, and Defensibility

09:55 The 10 Lenses of Operational Due Diligence

28:06 Risk-Based Prioritization for Strategy Reviews

Connect with Maartje van Krieken:

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Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Leadership isn’t always loud, and sometimes the quietest voice in the room is the one that steadies the ship.

Maartje van Krieken sits down with Greg Weinger, SVP of Product Management at SheerID and host of The Powerful Introvert Podcast, to rethink what leadership looks like when a company faces real pressure. Greg shares the story of an introverted CFO who stepped in during a crisis and rebuilt trust through calm, steady presence rather than charisma. Why do so many organizations still assume that the loudest voice is the most effective one? And how much strength gets overlooked when we discount quieter styles of leadership?

Greg points to the qualities that actually help businesses scale: adaptability, honesty paired with kindness, and the discipline to face reality as it is. He explains how great leaders design meetings and team structures that bring out every perspective, especially from introverts who contribute most when given the space to prepare. Could your team be missing its sharpest ideas simply because the setup doesn’t make room for them?

This conversation shows that resilience often comes from unexpected places, and that leadership worth following grows out of trust, clarity, and intention.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Extrovert vs. Introvert Leadership Styles

02:55 Case Study: Introverted CFO Leading Through Crisis

06:54 Key Ingredients for Scaling a Business

08:07 Listening, Adaptability, and Avoiding Hubris

12:11 Balancing Brutal Honesty with Kindness

14:46 Creating Space for Every Team Member to Contribute

17:01 Structuring Meetings for Inclusivity

18:12 Why Mindfulness Matters for Leaders

Connect with Greg Weinger:

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Powerful Introvert Podcast

Greg Weinger has spent over 20 years proving that introverts and unconventional thinkers can thrive in leadership. A seasoned product and technology executive, he has helped scale startups 10X to $70M+ in revenue, leading teams that build market-leading digital products and drive business growth. A Stanford graduate, he studied English literature, creative writing, and software engineering—giving him a unique ability to blend technical expertise, storytelling, and strategic thinking to make complex ideas accessible and actionable.

Connect with Maartje van Krieken:

Connect with Maartje on LinkedIn

The Chaos Games Consulting

The Business Emergency Room

Subscribe to The Business Emergency Room on YouTube

Subscribe to Maartje’s Substack

Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje...

Most business emergencies don’t appear out of nowhere. They build slowly through overlooked financial red flags that leaders often miss until it’s too late. How do you know if your books are truly in order, or if the numbers you’re seeing are hiding deeper issues? In this episode, Maartje van Krieken talks with Ryan McGarghan, founder of Synergy Solutions, fractional CFO and certified exit planning advisor, about the habits and warning signs that reveal the real health of a company. Ryan explains why consistent bookkeeping and payment practices are non-negotiable, how to recognize when your finance team isn’t giving you straight answers, and why a clear money trail is essential for strong decision-making. He also shows how finance can play the “bad cop” role that protects vendor and customer relationships, and why exit planning belongs in everyday business continuity rather than at the last minute. With his perspective on the “five Ds” that trigger unexpected exits, Ryan points out how thoughtful planning protects value and gives leaders more choices when it matters most. What conversations about finance are you not having yet and what might they reveal?

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

02:13 Financial Emergency Example

06:10 Key Financial Red Flags Leaders Miss

09:35 Finance as the Bad Cop in Business

15:41 Exit Planning Essentials for Business Owners

20:37 Business Continuity and the 5 Ds of Exit Planning

22:20 Why Hire a Fractional CFO

Connect with Ryan McGarghan:

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn

Synergy Solutions

Ryan McGarghan is the founder of Synergy Solutions, serving as a Fractional CFO and Certified Exit Planning Advisor with more than 25 years of experience helping small and mid-sized businesses strengthen their finances, grow profitably, and plan for long-term success. A Profit First Professional, speaker, and mentor, he specializes in guiding companies between $1M and $25M in revenue to build lasting value while giving entrepreneurs greater freedom, stability, and purpose.

Connect with Maartje van Krieken:

Connect with Maartje on LinkedIn

The Chaos Games Consulting

The Business Emergency Room

Subscribe to The Business Emergency Room on YouTube

Subscribe to Maartje’s Substack

Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm