My Guests Properly managing the relationship with the outgoing seller is likely to be among your most important tasks within your first 6 months as the new CEO. I say this because a non-functional (or worse, a toxic) relationship between the incoming and outgoing owners has the potential to damage a company more than customersContinue reading “In Conversation with 3 Founders Who Sold Their Companies to Search Funds”
Tag Archives: valuation
Evaluating The Most Common Forms of Debt Used to Finance Small Business Acquisitions
Listen to this Blog Post Though it is correct to suggest that all acquisitions are funded through some combination of cash-on-hand, debt, or equity, it’s also a bit of an oversimplification. Indeed, the financing options available to prospective acquirors are numerous, and in today’s blog post, I focus specifically on debt, and evaluate the fourContinue reading “Evaluating The Most Common Forms of Debt Used to Finance Small Business Acquisitions”
From $7M to $50M via 14 Acquisitions: A Consolidation Success Story With Jay Davis & Jason Pananos
My Guests After graduating from business school in 2008, Jay Davis & Jason Pananos acquired Vector Disease Control, a company that they grew from ~$7M to ~$50M in revenue in 7 years through successfully executing on 14 bolt-on acquisitions. They were able to grow the business by a 43% compounded annual growth rate before sellingContinue reading “From $7M to $50M via 14 Acquisitions: A Consolidation Success Story With Jay Davis & Jason Pananos”
Why You May Be Ignoring Brokered Deals at Your Peril
My Guest My guest today is Ryan Farkas, a Partner, Managing Director and the Practice Leader in M&A and Capital Markets in BDO’s Central Canada region. Ryan has successfully closed countless sell-side advisory transactions in various industries spanning manufacturing, consumer discretionary, construction, engineering, automotive and information technology. Ryan has also worked on several large performanceContinue reading “Why You May Be Ignoring Brokered Deals at Your Peril”
The Constellation Software Playbook for Acquiring and Growing Software Companies
My Guest Constellation Software is one of the world’s most admired, well-followed, and well-respected software acquirors. Since their founding in 1995, they have acquired over 500 individual software companies, and have grown to achieve $8.4B in revenue and a $77B market capitalization. They have achieved these staggering metrics through their exclusive focus on the lowerContinue reading “The Constellation Software Playbook for Acquiring and Growing Software Companies”
Evaluating Stock Options as Attraction, Retention, and Incentive Alignment Tools
Listen to this Blog Post In my second year as a CEO, it became clear to me that our business could benefit from formalizing and codifying our company’s core values. Though I was originally fearful that they might quickly devolve into tired, clichéd, and mostly hollow platitudes, I eventually came to appreciate that if theyContinue reading “Evaluating Stock Options as Attraction, Retention, and Incentive Alignment Tools”
Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback: Educators, Mentors, and Leaders Within the SMB Community
My Guests Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback are both professors at the Harvard Business School, and co-teach two wildly popular courses called The Financial Management of Smaller Firms and Entrepreneurship through Acquisition, both of which focus on how to acquire, finance and operate your own smaller firm. In 2017 they also co-published the widely readContinue reading “Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback: Educators, Mentors, and Leaders Within the SMB Community”
Jeff Stevens & A.J. Wasserstein on The Future of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
My Guests A.J. Wasserstein is the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Lecturer in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management. His research, writing, and teaching concentrates on search funds, entrepreneurship, programmatic acquisitions, and small businesses. In addition to his role as an educator, A.J. is also a private investor in lower middle-market businesses.Continue reading “Jeff Stevens & A.J. Wasserstein on The Future of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition”
Michael Girdley on The Rise of Holding Companies
My Guest Michael Girdley is an entrepreneur and investor who has spent the past 30 years building a personal holding company boasting over $100M in annual revenue, comprised of 12 businesses across software, technology, consumer retail, and education, among others. Outside of managing his holding company, Michael is deeply involved in the North American SMBContinue reading “Michael Girdley on The Rise of Holding Companies”
Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer Before Buying (or Selling) a Small Business
Listen to this Blog Post It likely goes without saying that every transaction is different: Every company, industry, searcher, and investment opportunity presents unique considerations that in turn give rise to unique questions and areas for further due diligence. With that said, over many years of evaluating countless acquisition targets alongside searchers, I’ve found thatContinue reading “Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer Before Buying (or Selling) a Small Business”