News
Articles and podcast episodes from Taking It Apart.
The newsletter by KeptDo founder Manny Del Val. New posts appear here automatically as they are published.
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You Bought a $2 Million Business. Now What Happens When the Cash Runs Out?
Taking apart a $2 Million Deal: SDE, Replacement Salary, SBA debt service, and Actual Cash Flow.
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Your Business Is One Vulnerability Away From a Very Bad Week
SAML, PHP, Node.js, and .NET made headlines. But the biggest cybersecurity risk for small businesses may be the one nobody owns.
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95% of AI Initiatives Aren't Delivering Results. Here's What Business Owners Are Missing.
Before you invest in another AI tool, understand your business, identify the bottlenecks, and decide what success actually looks like.
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Buying a Business in 2026: The Search Process, The Challenges, and New SBA Rules
What I’m learning from the acquisition search, what changed with SBA financing, and why I’m bringing Central Florida Searchers to Melbourne
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The SBA Rules Changed October 1. Here Is What Business Buyers Actually Need to Know
Dear Friends,
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If You Build It, They Will Come
I built a SaaS solution I don’t know how to sell.
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Buying a Business Without Quitting My Job
After three layoffs, a stalled promotion, and years of building things on the side, I’m exploring a different path to ownership—without giving up my W-2 too early.
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Everything I Did Before I Wired $225,000
The 7 things I looked at before making the biggest passive investment of my life, what I got right, what I missed, and what I would do differently today
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40 Hours to 4: Why and How I Built the KeptDo Multifamily Deal Analyzer Pro
Dear Friends,
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From Dream Investment to Cost Center
The Condo Lesson that Cost Me 200K+ and Years of My Life.
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How We Took Citrix Managed Services Onboarding From 14 Weeks to 10 - And What Business Owners Can Learn From IT
The answer wasn’t more people, more software, or working harder. It was understanding the workflow, finding bottlenecks, and asking better questions.
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The Business Is Profitable. The Buyer Still Goes Broke.
Why advertised SDE, lender approval, and an attractive multiple can still produce a cash-starved acquisition.
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The Deal I was Glad to Lose
I had a signed LOI for a $1.5 million company.
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92% to 54% Occupancy: The Deal I Underwrote and Invested in Myself and Still Got Blindsided
This deal went from 92% occupancy at closing to 54% occupancy.
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The 10-Minute Deal-Killer Test for Sub-$5M Acquisitions
Dear Friends,
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Why I Left Level 7 Investors and What I’m Building Next
Dear Friends,
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A Seller Note Is Not “Skin in the Game”
Deferred payment and shared risk are not the same thing.
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The Owner Is the Business. That Is the Problem.
Before paying a multiple of earnings, determine how much of those earnings can survive the ownership transition.
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The Bank Approved the Deal. I Would Still Walk Away.
SBA approval can validate the loan without validating the acquisition.
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Did the U.S. Just Kneecap Cyber Defenders in the Name of Security?
Anthropic Fable 5, & Mythos 5 What Is Really Happening?
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The U.S. Government Just Forced Anthropic to Pull Claude Fable 5. This Is Bigger Than One AI Model.
Dear Friends,
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BIG CHANGES - NEW CHAPTER and the FUTURE of MULTIFAMILY DEAL ANALYSIS
Dear Friends,
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Behind the Scenes at Level 7: AI, Deal Flow, Growth, and a Bigger Vision
Dear Friends,
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