Jun 16, 2025
“You’ve got to get yourself in a position to exit, and then give yourself the time to exit properly. The biggest advice I give sellers is to not be in a rush to sell.”
This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.
This Mini Chief episode features Dean Salakas, Former CEO of The Party People.
His full episode is titled Being sale-ready, Forecasting like a CFO, and Selling confidently on your terms.
You can find the full audio and show notes here:
🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/366 👂
EQUIP YOUR MIDDLE MANAGERS AND SENIOR LEADERS WITH THE TOOLS TO DRIVE CHANGE AND RESULTS. JOIN THE WAITLIST: chiefmaker.com/minimba
Dean is a retail advisor, keynote speaker, and former CEO of The Party People, Australia’s largest party store, which sold in late 2024.
With three successful business exits and a track record of retail innovation, Dean now helps businesses grow through strategic advice and execution support and also as a fractional Head of Growth at Party Hire Group.
This is the second time we have had Dean on the show; during episode 234 we covered how he saw change as an opportunity, coping with growth, and evolving as a leader.
In the full Evolved CEO Masterclass, we talk about:
✅ The art of the sale - how to create buyer FOMO, go public with your sale, and drive up valuation.
✅ Why staying ‘match-fit’ with reporting and forecasting is key to a successful exit.
✅ The power of understanding your customer beyond product, and why this matters when selling, and
✅ What BATNA is and why deal structure matters more than just the multiple on offer.
Stay epic,
Greg
Connecting with Dean Salakas
You can connect with Dean via LinkedIn.
Books and resources
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The One Minute Manager - by Kenneth Blanchard Ph.D. &, Spencer Johnson M.D.
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Julie Mathers, Founder of Flora & Fauna and now CEO of Snuggle Hunny, on Bootstrapping a business from start to $30M exit
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Ben Lipschitz, Co-Founder and CEO of Foodbyus, on Being data-driven, starting and exiting a business, and successfully securing funding
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