21 Hats Podcast

Dashboard: Where Do You Go for Unbiased Exit Advice?

9 snips
Feb 20, 2026
Sonali Kothari, co-founder of Zolidar and former Kiva.org tech and social impact leader, builds tools to help small and medium business owners explore exit and succession options. She discusses unbiased comparisons of sale types, employee ownership and ESOPs, Zolidar’s Day Zero Guide, AI co-pilot transparency, and scaling affordable exit planning for many businesses.
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ANECDOTE

From Kiva To Building Zolidar

  • Sonali described her path from Kiva to Jobs for the Future and discovering employee ownership through client work.
  • Meeting co-founder Ashish, an old intern colleague, led them to build Zolidar focused on scaling EO with technology.
INSIGHT

Succession Planning Is A Major Blindspot

  • Millions of small and medium business owners lack clear succession or exit plans and many businesses will close as owners retire.
  • Zolidar targets that gap by guiding owners early with low-friction, actionable next steps.
INSIGHT

Advice Often Reflects Advisor Incentives

  • Owners get conflicting advice because advisors usually favor the exit they sell or know best.
  • An unbiased comparison across strategic sale, financial sale, and employee ownership clarifies which path fits a company.
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