Listen to This Blog Post When building a model and underwriting an acquisition more broadly, many prospective acquirors understandably struggle with how to balance calculated optimism about the future on one hand, with a sense of what is realistically achievable on the other. While investing is an inherently optimistic act (after all, you wouldn’t makeContinue reading “Ten Ways to Underwrite a Conservative and Realistic Base Case”
Author Archives: sdivitkos
Hiring Your Second in Command: With Cameron Herold, Founder of the COO Alliance and Former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK
My Guest Cameron Herold is the former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, a franchised junk removal business that he helped grow from $2M to $106M in revenue during his 6-year tenure as COO. Based on that experience, in 2016 Cameron founded the COO Alliance, a peer group for Chief Operating Officers (or those whose roles are bestContinue reading “Hiring Your Second in Command: With Cameron Herold, Founder of the COO Alliance and Former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK”
Identifying the Irrational Beliefs Hindering Your Decision Making
My Guest Dr. Michael Bernard is an international consultant to businesses, universities, educational authorities and governments. He has been a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education and is an Emeritus Professor, California State University, Long Beach. He is the Founder of You Can Do It! Education, a program forContinue reading “Identifying the Irrational Beliefs Hindering Your Decision Making”
“Great CEOs Are Lazy”: Why the Best SMB Leaders Do Less—But Achieve More
My Guest Our guest today, Dr. Jim Schleckser, helps leaders grow their companies. He specializes in the issues that fast growth firms experience in their business models, talent, processes and systems as they reach higher levels of performance. Jim and his team at the Inc. CEO Project work with over 100 CEOs of high growthContinue reading ““Great CEOs Are Lazy”: Why the Best SMB Leaders Do Less—But Achieve More”
Are Search Funds Moving Up Market?
Listen to This Blog Post Over the past few months, I’ve been presented with five separate opportunities that contemplated the acquisition of a company with $7M or more of EBITDA (this compares to the Search Fund average of $2.2M for the 2022-2023 cohort of Searchers). While I acknowledge that five data points don’t constitute aContinue reading “Are Search Funds Moving Up Market?”
The Four Stages of Leadership Maturity: Why the CEO Must Change Before the Company Can
My Guest Jenner Garvey Berger is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership, a firm that utilizes tools from history, psychology, business and neuroscience to help leaders grow and evolve over time. The firm offers custom programs, one-on-one coaching, and organizational development initiatives to companies across various industries and size ranges. Jennifer is also theContinue reading “The Four Stages of Leadership Maturity: Why the CEO Must Change Before the Company Can”
“Don’t F*ck It Up”: Les Trachtman on Avoiding Post-Close Founder Succession Mistakes
My Guest Les Trachtman is a seasoned entrepreneur, educator, and author with over four decades of experience in strategy, consulting, and start-ups. Les is also an adjunct instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, where he shares his years of experience and insights with the next generation of business leaders. He is aContinue reading ““Don’t F*ck It Up”: Les Trachtman on Avoiding Post-Close Founder Succession Mistakes”
Why Most Incentive Plans Fail—and How Thoughtful CEOs Get Them Right
My Guest I’m joined this week by Stacey Carroll, who has spent substantially her entire career leading HR organizations across a wide array of companies, with a specific focus on compensation & benefits. She has also spent the past 14 years leading HR Experts on Call, a company she founded where she acts as anContinue reading “Why Most Incentive Plans Fail—and How Thoughtful CEOs Get Them Right”
Installing an Operating System in Your Business: Lessons from Real EOS Implementations
My Guest Over the past handful of years, there has been substantial growth in the number of companies who have decided to implement formal “operating systems” to govern certain strategic and operational decisions within their businesses. I implemented EOS (or “the Entrepreneurial Operating System”) in my own company beginning in 2015, and we continued toContinue reading “Installing an Operating System in Your Business: Lessons from Real EOS Implementations”
Hard to Kill: A Four-Part Framework for Evaluating Small Business Acquisitions
Listen to This Blog Post I would make the world’s worst Venture Capitalist. If you don’t believe me, keep reading. As I’ve transitioned from operator to investor over the past 5 years or so, I’ve attempted to develop (and have attempted to articulate below) a general philosophy to guide my decision making, given that almostContinue reading “Hard to Kill: A Four-Part Framework for Evaluating Small Business Acquisitions”