Connectively interviewed me about the work I do with boards and business owners on valuation, succession and risk, and about how I approach a closely held or family business in the first 90 days.
I described my role as bringing structure to the moments when the stakes are real: preparing for a liquidity event, evaluating a partner transition, planning for an unexpected disruption, or pressure-testing a strategy that looks good on paper but carries hidden risk. I lead with the questions that matter. What is this business worth, why, and under what assumptions? What could derail that value? And what decisions today increase the odds of a clean, confident transition later?
The turning points that shaped that focus were the unplanned transitions. A health issue, a partner conflict, a key leader leaving, or a sudden offer can turn "we will deal with it later" into a time-sensitive decision. When succession becomes reactive, options narrow and negotiating leverage disappears. I also saw that valuation is not a formula. Two companies with similar revenue can have very different value depending on customer concentration, leadership depth, margins, processes and risk controls, and many strong businesses take avoidable discounts because nobody mapped those risks early.
On the first 90 days, the goal is clarity fast: document review and owner interviews in the first two weeks, one-on-ones with owners, leadership and key non-family managers to surface misalignment by day 45, then a decision cadence that holds. Business owners do not live in separate buckets of investments, taxes, legal and insurance. Their real question is how to turn years of work into usable, lasting value for their family. Coordination is what makes the plan actionable.
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