Pre-liquidity event planning: when wealth advisors can raise data licensing

How does data licensing fit into pre-liquidity event planning?

It fits as a company-level question that comes before the sale conversation, not as a personal planning product. A one-time license payment for a company's operational records is paid to the company, not to the owner personally, so it affects the owner's picture only through the company's value, cash and sale terms. The licensing decision belongs to the company and its advisors.

Wealth advisors already ask owners about timing, structure, taxes and what happens to the business after a sale. This page adds one more question for owners of US companies with long operating histories: what records does the company hold, and has anyone checked what they are worth before systems are consolidated or shut down at a sale or wind-down?

What do license proceeds mean for an owner's plan?

Plan on the basis that proceeds belong to the company. The company keeps ownership of the data, approves price and terms, and receives one all-in price, with SourceX's fee included and no separate charges. Payment is one-time, typically within about 60 days of invoicing once the buyer selects the data.

You do not need to give tax or legal opinions. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Owners should confirm treatment with their own counsel and tax adviser.

Which clients in your book are worth raising it with?

Screen for the company, not the person. The best fits are owners of US operating businesses with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), several years of documented operations and records across many systems. Strong companies often run 10-15+ systems.

• The owner is within a few years of a sale, succession or deferral decision
• The company has documented history in email, CRM, finance, support or engineering tools
• There is an owner, CEO, CFO or authorized representative who decides
• The company created the records and can license them
• Systems are about to change: cloud migration, help desk switch or office closure

The who qualifies page lists the baseline. A related read is retiring baby boomer owners and their companies' records, which uses sourced figures on the scale of ownership transitions, and the business broker page covers the sell-side view.

When in the planning cycle should you raise it?

Coordinate with the owner's M&A advisor and counsel first. A sale process may call for a license to be completed before, after or alongside a transaction, and an exclusive license can affect buyer diligence. The EOS annual planning guide and the AI strategy workshop agenda show how other advisors raise records questions.

How does the introduction work?

You make the introduction and never handle records.

1. You ask the owner whether they would like an introduction, and obtain their consent.
2. You register as a partner and share your referral link, or submit the company with the referral form.
3. SourceX qualifies the company on size, history, data breadth and rights.
4. The company completes a data inventory and agrees price and terms; nothing is binding until it signs.
5. Buyers review once the company is deal-ready, typically responding within about two weeks.
6. On close, data is delivered under agreed redaction rules and the company is paid.

Companies that are acquired or wound down can still qualify if the data exists; see how to wind down a company, and the Jira and Confluence migration guide shows a system-level trigger.

What do you say to a client?

Use the introduction email builder to draft the introduction with the owner's approval.

What rules apply to you before taking a referral reward?

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. It is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee, no reward is guaranteed, and it is never deducted from what the company receives.

Whether you may accept it, and what you must disclose, depends on your registrations and employer. Registered representatives should tell their firm about paid outside activities such as referral partnerships; FINRA reported that the SEC approved new FINRA Rule 3290 on outside activities on September 15, 2026, replacing Rules 3270 and 3280, and that Rules 3270 and 3280 apply until the effective date is announced. FINRA also provides that members and associated persons may not pay compensation to an unregistered person who would be required to register as a broker-dealer, in FINRA Rule 2040. That rule concerns what your firm pays, not what SourceX pays, but your compliance team should be involved.

Investment adviser representatives, insurance-licensed advisors and others face their own state and federal rules and client-disclosure duties. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, compliance team or professional body before acting, and read the program terms.

When is it not worth raising?

Skip it when the owner has no decision authority, the company is below 50 full-time employees at peak, the records belong mainly to the company's clients, the data is mostly consumer personal information or health records, or your firm does not allow the arrangement. Also skip it when the owner wants a clean, simple sale and an exclusive license would complicate it.

Next step

If compliance clears it and a client fits, register as a partner and make the introduction, or point the owner to sourcex.si/apply.