Dr. Victoria Medvec on the Art and Science of High Stakes Negotiations

My Guest Dr. Victoria Medvec is the Adeline Barry Davee Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In addition to her professorship, Dr. Medvec is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the Center for Executive Women at the Kellogg School and the CEO of Medvec and Associates,Continue reading “Dr. Victoria Medvec on the Art and Science of High Stakes Negotiations”

Peter Lehrman, Founder & CEO of Axial, The Largest Online Marketplace to Buy & Sell SMBs

My Guest Peter Lehrman is the Founder and CEO of Axial, North America’s #1 online platform connecting buyers and sellers of small and medium sized businesses. Axial is used by over 20,000 investors, M&A advisors and CEOs, allowing them to connect on a confidential basis to explore potential M&A, debt, buyout, and growth equity transactions,Continue reading “Peter Lehrman, Founder & CEO of Axial, The Largest Online Marketplace to Buy & Sell SMBs”

Building a $5.5B Mid-Market Private Equity Firm: Brent Belzberg, Founder of Torquest Partners

My Guest My guest today is Brent Belzberg, Founder and Senior Managing Partner of TorQuest, a middle market private equity firm that he founded in 2002 that has since grown to ~$5.5B in assets under management. Outside of TorQuest, Brent serves as a Director of The Sinai Health System, having previously acted as Chair. HeContinue reading “Building a $5.5B Mid-Market Private Equity Firm: Brent Belzberg, Founder of Torquest Partners”

Lessons Learned From 400+ Post-Exit Entrepreneurs: John Warrillow, Host of Built to Sell Radio

My Guest My guest today is John Warrillow, author of the bestselling book Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You, and Founder & CEO of The Value Builder System, a sales and marketing software tool for business advisors to find, win and keep their best clients. Built to Sell was recognizedContinue reading “Lessons Learned From 400+ Post-Exit Entrepreneurs: John Warrillow, Host of Built to Sell Radio”

When Search Funds Don’t Go As Planned (Part 1): 3 Searcher Case Studies

My Guests If one were to attend a randomly selected group of Search Fund conferences, they’d be forgiven for thinking that every search fund is a smashing success. When I was both a searcher and a CEO, I often left these types of events with a certain sense of insecurity and self-doubt, as everybody seemedContinue reading “When Search Funds Don’t Go As Planned (Part 1): 3 Searcher Case Studies”

The Merits, Risks, and Possible Unintended Consequences of Earn-Outs

Listen to this Blog Post When acquiring small to medium sized businesses, buyers often utilize a tool called an “earn-out”, which is a form of contingent consideration that sellers may receive at some point in the future in addition to the cash that they stand to receive at closing. Though earn-outs can be useful andContinue reading “The Merits, Risks, and Possible Unintended Consequences of Earn-Outs”

Brent Beshore: The “Forrest Gump of Private Equity”

My Guest My guest today is Brent Beshore, Founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a private investment firm that invests in Founder-owned private companies. Permanent Equity is a long-term investor that typically intends to hold portfolio companies indefinitely, often without the use of any leverage. In addition to his role as an investor, Brent isContinue reading “Brent Beshore: The “Forrest Gump of Private Equity””

Sell-Side M&A Advisors: How to Choose One, How Much They Cost, and The Importance of the “Fine Print”

My Guest John Carvalho is the President of Stone Oak Capital, an M&A advisory firm that focuses exclusively on middle market businesses, with a specific focus on transactions between $10 and $100 million. Among other things, Stone Oak offers acquisition, divestitures, corporate finance and valuations services for its clients. John is also the Founder ofContinue reading “Sell-Side M&A Advisors: How to Choose One, How Much They Cost, and The Importance of the “Fine Print””

Strategic Considerations When Evaluating a Letter of Intent to Sell Your Business

Listen to This Blog Post For many business owners (particularly those actively looking to sell their companies), few things are as exciting as receiving a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) from a prospective purchaser. Beyond the sense of personal validation stemming from the fact that a sophisticated counterparty sees an asset worth paying for, many businessContinue reading “Strategic Considerations When Evaluating a Letter of Intent to Sell Your Business”

Having Hard Conversations (Live Panel Discussion from 2022 MIT Sloan Search Fund Summit)

In this week’s episode, we discuss the importance of having difficult conversations, something that CEOs find themselves doing on a near-daily basis. We discuss three primary types of difficult conversations, including: Hard conversations around internal company dynamics (eg: terminations); Hard conversations about dynamics external to the company (eg: politics and global affairs); Difficult conversations thatContinue reading “Having Hard Conversations (Live Panel Discussion from 2022 MIT Sloan Search Fund Summit)”