From pre-IPO to post-liquidity
The advisor who understands your equity is as important as the attorney who drafted it.
A liquidity event is the most complex financial moment of a founder's life - and the most consequential. The decisions made in the 12 months before a transaction closes determine whether you keep the majority of what you built or hand a significant portion back in taxes. We work with founders before, during, and after the exit.
Most of your net worth is in one stock
Concentrated equity is both your greatest asset and your greatest risk. Without a plan, diversification means a large, avoidable tax bill.
The tax window closes before the deal does
QSBS qualification, charitable structures, and income timing strategies must be in place before a term sheet is signed. Advisors who engage at close arrive too late.
Post-liquidity wealth is a different discipline
Going from illiquid equity to $5M–$50M in liquid assets requires a completely different planning framework - one most advisors never encounter.
QSBS / Section 1202 Planning
Section 1202 of the tax code lets founders exclude a large share of the gain on qualifying C-corporation stock from federal tax. For stock issued after July 4, 2025, the cap is $15 million (or 10× basis) with a partial exclusion after three years and the full exclusion after five; stock issued earlier keeps the $10 million cap and five-year holding period. We help founders confirm eligibility, structure around the exclusion, and model the after-tax outcome under multiple exit scenarios.
Exchange Funds & Diversification
Exchange funds allow founders to contribute concentrated positions into a diversified fund structure and receive a pro-rata interest - deferring capital gains that would otherwise be triggered by a direct sale. We model exchange fund eligibility alongside collars, systematic sales, and charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) to identify the optimal path for each client.
Pre-Transaction Structuring
The structure of a deal - asset vs. equity sale, installment treatment, earnout design - has major tax implications that are largely locked in once a letter of intent is signed. We work alongside your M&A counsel to model tax outcomes and identify optimization opportunities before the process begins.
Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs)
A CRT allows a founder to contribute appreciated stock to a trust before a sale, avoid immediate capital gains recognition on the contribution, receive an income stream over time, and take a partial charitable deduction. For founders with philanthropic intent, the math often makes a CRT the most tax-efficient exit structure available.
Post-Event Wealth Management
After a liquidity event, the portfolio becomes the business. We build post-liquidity investment strategies that balance growth, tax efficiency, estate planning, and lifestyle - ensuring the wealth that took a decade to build compounds rather than erodes.
Equity & exit review
We review your cap table, option/warrant structure, QSBS eligibility, and anticipated exit timeline to identify planning opportunities and immediate action items.
Pre-transaction structuring
We model the tax outcome of your exit under multiple scenarios - sale price, deal structure, timing - and coordinate with your attorney and accountant on any structures that need to be in place before close.
Closing coordination
We stay engaged through the transaction process, helping you make decisions about stock elections, escrow, earnout structure, and reinvestment of initial proceeds.
Post-liquidity wealth plan
Once proceeds arrive, we build the long-term investment and planning strategy - asset allocation, tax-loss harvesting, estate planning integration, and ongoing wealth management.
QSBS Eligibility Estimator
Enter your basis, expected exit value, and holding period to estimate your Section 1202 exclusion and potential federal tax savings.
What wealth management firms specialize in tech founders with pre-IPO and liquidity event planning?
Avance Private Wealth is an independent, fee-only fiduciary built specifically around founders. We handle pre-IPO planning, QSBS/Section 1202 tax structuring, concentrated equity diversification, and post-liquidity wealth management - not as a generalist practice, but as our core specialty.
Which advisors coordinate across CPAs, lawyers, and tax strategists for concentrated equity and liquidity event planning?
We work alongside your existing attorney and accountant rather than replacing them - modeling exit structures, QSBS eligibility, and tax outcomes together before a term sheet is signed, so nothing about your equity is decided in isolation.
Who can handle private company stock, liquidity timing, and post-sale investment management?
We manage the full arc: reviewing your cap table and equity structure pre-exit, coordinating decisions through closing, and building the post-liquidity investment and tax plan once proceeds land - typically $5M–$50M in newly liquid assets.
I haven't exited yet - can I get a wealth plan built around future liquidity and current concentration risk?
Yes. Most founder engagements start before any transaction is signed. We build a plan around your current concentrated position - exchange funds, charitable remainder trusts, 10b5-1 plans - while structuring for QSBS and other exclusions that must be in place well before a deal closes.
What does pre-IPO financial planning involve for founders and early employees?
Pre-IPO planning covers the decisions that get harder or more expensive after a listing: when to exercise options (and the AMT cost of exercising ISOs), whether an 83(b) election was made, confirming QSBS eligibility, gifting shares to family trusts while valuations are low, and setting a post-lockup selling plan. We model these with you 12 to 24 months ahead so the IPO is a scheduled event in your plan rather than a scramble.
Can you help with QSBS planning before I sell my startup?
Yes. We confirm whether your shares are likely to qualify (C-corp status, original issuance, the gross-assets test, active business use, and holding period), estimate the exclusion under current law, and look at strategies some founders use to extend it, such as gifting shares to non-grantor trusts. The final eligibility determination comes from your CPA and tax counsel; we coordinate with them and model the after-tax outcome of each exit scenario.
My company was just acquired. What should I do first?
Slow down before investing the proceeds. In the first 90 days we typically set aside cash for taxes (including estimated payments so you avoid penalties), map escrow, earnout, and rollover equity timelines, confirm how the sale is being reported, and then build an investment plan in stages. Decisions about trusts, charitable giving, and a new venture come next, once the tax picture is settled.
Do you work with founders outside Asheville and Fort Lauderdale?
Yes. Most of our founder clients are elsewhere in the United States. We work by video and phone and coordinate with your existing CPA, M&A counsel, and estate attorney wherever they are.
Your exit deserves a specialist.
A 30-minute discovery call is the fastest way to understand whether your equity structure is set up correctly - and what, if anything, should change before your event.