Insights

Videos, articles, & advice from Kirk and his network, to help successful founders find better outcomes.

Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Listen to Your Peers AND the Experts

If you're a founder in the process of selling your successful company and you also have a close peer group of fellow entrepreneurs like Vistage Worldwide, Inc. or YPO, take advantage of the groups' expertise AND be sure to hire the right advisor(s). The combination, in our experience, is a great formula for a terrific outcome. Here's a quick summary..

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

ESOPS: Why Don't More Businesses Sell to Employees?

Why don't more businesses sell to employees? For founders of some businesses, it might be the best path to answering the WHY in selling all or part of their company to their most valued stakeholders, and there may even be tax advantages. Here's a quick overview of why it doesn't happen more often, and why founders might want to give it more consideration.

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Financials Mike Simpson Financials Mike Simpson

Add Backs for Adjusted EBITDA

If you're a founder contemplating the sale of your business, or you just want to better understand the process, the term "Adjusted EBITDA" will come up. A lot. And while the trip from Net Income to EBITDA is basic accounting arithmetic, get to that "Adjusted" number is a bit more art than science...here's a few tips.

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Insights from SXSW 2022

One of our other takeaways from @SXSW is that small, committed groups of people and organizations make all the difference in social change, technology, entertainment, business, and more broadly in the World. If you're a founder and a much larger acquirer is using high-priced and arrogant advisors to steamroll you from LOI through diligence, remember that greatly rarely comes from large organizations - know your value and lean on your team to get full value and protect your legacy.

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Selling Your Company for More Money

Buyers of business like yours pay more for specific things, including profit margin, consistency, and growth, but there's more to it than just nailing those points. Here's a few tips that will be worth a lot of $$ when it's time for you to sell your company.

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Balancing Your Fears and Key Deal Points

If you're founder in the process of selling your company and balancing the cash and structure of your deal with all of the reps, warranties, indemnities, and other dependencies, you might lose focus. Worse yet, you might let your fears drive things to your buyer's advantage by focusing on the lesser issues. Here's our best advice on the topic.

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Great Advisors Act As Guru, Guide, And Gladiator

The best advisors, whether pure management consulting, professional services like legal and tax, and especially in transaction advisory work, the most successful outcomes happen with advisors who play three key roles for founders: guru, guide, and gladiator.

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Transaction Bonuses for Key Employees

If you're a founder contemplating or in the process of selling your business, and you want to be sure to take care of key employees, here's a couple of helpful tips to do it right for everyone involved.

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Mike Simpson Mike Simpson

Private Equity Comes in Many Flavors

We take a couple of calls each week from founders exploring their options for liquidity who are certain that they don't want to sell to 'Private Equity'. We get it...that segment could definitely use some good PR! Still, our advice is, don't be too quick to shut off an increasingly varied and important source of capital.

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