A Founder Questioned Broker Fees. Now He’s Building an AI Exit Platform.
When Elias Crum went to sell his IT and marketing company in 2024, he assumed he would work with a broker. That’s how small business exits typically get going, after all.
But as he dug into the process, he began to question that assumption.
“As I went deeper into the process, I realized two things. First, I already understood my numbers, my market, and my buyer universe very well. Second, the value a broker added did not justify giving up 5 to 15 percent of the transaction value, which in many cases translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he told Hypepotamus. “I found that much of the process – preparing financials, creating an information memorandum, approaching buyers, managing NDAs, and organizing due diligence – is structured and process-driven. It is complex, yes, but not mysterious. With the right preparation and tools, it is absolutely manageable for an experienced entrepreneur.”
The big issue? For Crum, he saw that founders were paying for “coordination and documentation” and not necessarily “strategic insight” into the M&A process.
It seemed like something that could be fixed and streamlined with artificial intelligence. So that is exactly what Crum and his co-founder Sebastiaan Winter are now doing with Best Bonobos, a startup building jointly in Atlanta and the Netherlands.
Building Best Bonobos
Founders join the Best Bonobos platform when they are preparing for an exit.
The platform analyzes a company’s financials and other core data points to generate a valuation using Best Bonobos’ proprietary LLM, which factors in industry and geography. It also outlines the underlying assumptions behind that valuation and offers guidance on how founders can strengthen it. From there, the platform guides users through each stage of the exit process, including NDAs, negotiations, letters of intent, and due diligence. This offers a more structured approach than general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude.
The platform works on a freemium model, with a seven-day free trial available.
“It was not about avoiding professional advice. It was about aligning value with cost and empowering the entrepreneur to stay in control of their own exit.”
Crum said the team chose the name to reflect bonobos, primates known for “cooperation, smart social structures, and solving conflict through alignment rather than aggression — values we believe define successful entrepreneurs and great exits.”
Serving Small Businesses
The platform serves the “Underserved Owner” — small business owners generating roughly $50,000 to $10 million in annual revenue, or running companies valued at around $5 million. Often, those founders are running retail, service, food, trade, or local B2B businesses.
“We believe every founder, regardless of background or deal size, deserves access to a transparent valuation and a structured, professional exit process,” Crum added. “But fundamentally, we are building for founders who want fairness, transparency, and control over their exit – especially those who historically have had the least access to it.”
Bootstrapped and founder-funded to date, Best Bonobos is getting off the ground with Atlanta-based team members Ljia Chang and Kassidy Miller joining the two co-founders.
“Our ambition is to build BestBonobos into the leading AI-powered platform for small business exits in the U.S., and scaling that responsibly will likely require strategic capital. We are particularly interested in partners who understand SaaS, AI, and the SME ecosystem – investors who bring more than just money, but network and long-term thinking,” Crum added.
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