My Guest
You are likely aware of how much AI has already changed how we live and how we work. You’re probably also aware – at least vaguely – of how much it will continue to change the way that we live and work over the coming months and years.
The process of searching for, acquiring, and operating a small business is no exception to this. Those who don’t know how to leverage the power of AI may find themselves quickly falling behind those who do.
To help me better understand how AI is likely to change acquiring and operating small businesses, I was joined today by Geoff Woods, author of The AI-Driven Leader, currently one of the fastest growing and best-selling AI books in the world.
Prior to writing the book, Geoff was the Chief Growth Officer of Jindal Steel & Power, where he drove market cap growth from $750M to $12B in four years through AI-driven leadership. He also co-founded the training and consulting company behind The ONE Thing, where he coached and advised companies with annual revenues ranging from $10 million to $60 billion.
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How AI is Transforming the Acquisition and Operations of Small Businesses – In The Trenches
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Episode Summary with Timestamps
- 00:00 The Journey to AI Leadership
- 09:19 Evaluating AI’s Impact on Business Models
- 15:02 Identifying Opportunities and Threats in AI
- 19:48 Navigating the Innovator’s Dilemma
- 24:41 Best Practices for AI Implementation
- 27:05 Transforming Leadership Through AI
- 29:41 The Purpose of AI in Business
- 32:51 The “CRIT” Framework for AI Interaction
- 37:08 AI as a Strategic Thought Partner
- 39:45 The Risks of Overreliance on AI
- 42:38 Enhancing Human Skills with AI
- 45:38 The Future of Work in an AI-Driven World
- 47:58 The Underestimated Impact of AI
- 50:48 Guiding the Next Generation in AI
- 53:22 Harnessing Unique Human Strengths
- 56:27 Overcoming Self-Imposed Limitations
- 59:14 Resources for AI Leadership
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Thanks to our Sponsors
This episode is brought to you by Oberle Risk Strategies, the leading insurance brokerage and insurance diligence provider for the search fund community. The company is led by August Felker (himself a 2-time successful searcher), and has been trusted by search investors, lenders, searchers and CEOs for over a decade now. Their due diligence offering (which is 100% free of charge) will assess the pros and cons of your target company’s insurance program, including any potential coverage gaps, the pro-forma insurance pricing, and the program structure changes needed for closing. At or shortly after closing, they then execute on all of those findings on your behalf. Oberle has serviced over 900 customers across a decade of operation, including countless searchers and CEOs within the ETA community.
This episode is brought to you by Boulay, the industry standard for Quality of Earnings reports, tax, and small business audit services. Over the past 20 years, Boulay has worked directly with hundreds of search funds from capital raise to exit, currently assisting over 150 funds in the search phase, another 125 in the operating phase. They work with Searchers across the entirety of the ETA journey: They perform financial due diligence and create QofE reports that your investors can rely on, they provide a full suite of tax services both for your search fund and for the acquired company, they perform the annual audits required by most debt and equity investors, and also perform outsourced accounting services, acting as a fractional bookkeeper and controller for those companies whose needs might not necessitate full-time in-house resources.
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