I was inspired to write a short article by a recent event I attended at Katahdin’s CEO club, where we discussed the issues surrounding exiting to a PE firm compared with selling out to a strategic. These thoughts are based on my own experience and I make some...
As the owner of a private company, are you in charge of your own destiny or are you sitting in the passenger seat? Perhaps you’re tired? Or perhaps you have lost interest in the cause that got you so excited, all those years ago? Whatever the reason it is never too...
Approximately 90% of companies are not ready for primetime. These companies will attract little interest and are highly likely to see buyers walk away long before due diligence. The main reason lies in the owner’s flawed approach to building value. Bigger is not...
Most public company executives and private company owners arrive at the annual budget season with the wrong mindset. They believe a budget is some type of forecast and that sinking feeling comes over them. Why bother? The good news here is that it is not a forecast....
As you build your business each year with higher revenue and hopefully profitably, it may seem a reasonable assumption that the value is constantly increasing and that you could sell it one day. You would be mistaken. Approximately 90% of private companies coming to...
As we rush towards fall and Q4, every business enters budget season. Large and small businesses alike, we dive deep into the annual ritual of agreeing an operating budget. You’ll see a million blog posts on how to create them. So instead I thought I’d...
Most PE backed portfolio company CEOs need to execute successful acquisition programs. Every VP of Corporate Development is trying to design a process that delivers value. Family offices are investing in a wide range of diversified assets including scaling by...
This week I’d like to share an interview I did with Todd Westra from the Growth and Scaling Podcast. It was a great discussion on the some of the myths of entrepreneurship. We discussed a few huge challenges in the market – firstly over 90% of companies...
In this post TPP founder Ian Smith walks us through the TPP M&A playbook and invites Kalle Kilpi to predict how AI will transform it. Kalle’s remarkable bio gives him a distinct edge to help us understand the impact. He brings a uniquely relevant background to...
This week we are launching a new service dedicated to private company owners who would like to sell their business in 2025 or later. Our Pre-Sale Operational Excellence Service is designed to address the following problem in the market. Hint it is not lipstick on a...