With the help of a colleague, I was able to tune the estimate using three Newton-Raphson iterations:
The (n+1)th iteration is given by:
$$a_{n+1}=a_n-\frac{f(a_n)}{f'(a_n)}$$
Initial approximation $_0$ = 0.147233112 (coefficient found through Normal Equations)
$$f(a)=\sum_{i=1}^n \left(21-e^{ax_i}-y_i \right)e^{ax_i}x_i$$
$$f'(a)=\sum_{i=1}^n \left(21-2e^{ax_i}-y_i \right)e^{ax_i}x_i^2$$
We stop when further iterations don't lead to a further reduction in the ESS. In this case, only three iterations were needed.
Excel 2016:


Formulas:
C9 =21-EXP($C$33*A9)
D9 =(C9-B9)*EXP($C$33*A9)*A9
E9 =(21-2*EXP($C$33*A9)-B9)*A9*A9*EXP($C$33*A9)
F9 =21-EXP($F$33*A9)
G9 =(21-EXP($F$33*A9)-B9)*EXP($F$33*A9)*A9
H9 =(21-2*EXP($F$33*A9)-B9)*A9*A9*EXP($F$33*A9)
I9 =21-EXP($I$33*A9)
J9 =(21-EXP($I$33*A9)-B9)*EXP($I$33*A9)*A9
K9 =(21-2*EXP($I$33*A9)-B9)*A9*A9*EXP($I$33*A9)
L9 =21-EXP($L$33*A9)
M9 =IF(L9<1, 1, L9)
N9 =21-EXP($N$33*A9)
C33 {=SUM(VALUE(A9:A29*LN(21-B9:B29))) / SUM(VALUE(A9:A29^2))}
C34 {=SUM(VALUE( (B9:B29 - C9:C29)^2 ))}
F33 =C33-(D30/E30)
F34 {=SUM(VALUE( ($B$9:$B$29 - F9:F29)^2 ))}
I33 =F33-(G30/H30)
I34 {=SUM(VALUE( ($B$9:$B$29 - I9:I29)^2 ))}
L33 =I33-(J30/K30)
L34 {=SUM(VALUE( ($B$9:$B$29 - L9:L29)^2 ))}
M33 =L33
M34 {=SUM(VALUE( ($B$9:$B$29 - M9:M29)^2 ))}
N33 Static value from Excel Solver. Screenshot: https://i.stack.imgur.com/CfI3k.png
N34 {=SUM(VALUE( (B9:B29 - N9:N29)^2 ))}
Notes:
As mentioned, I can't take credit for the calculus stuff. A colleague helped me with that.
I'd be happy to hear about any mistakes or possible improvements. Layman's terms would be appreciated.