Smart Business Dealmakers: The Middle-Market M&A Podcast

Every deal lives or dies by the people at the top. While financial diligence sets the price, leadership diligence is crucial to unlocking deal value. Craig McCall, president of MCG Human Capital Solutions and a corporate psychologist joins the pod to talk about how aligning talent and culture better ensures sustainable enterprise value. From spotting the leadership red flags that erode value post-...

Well before she co-authored the book, The Sixth Level, Rachel Wallis Andreasson helped her family's business, Wallis Companies, with two major acquisitions that doubled its headcount. She created and implemented processes that dramatically reduced turnover and increased post-deal success. The principal of the Sixth Level Collaborative and Wallis Companies Shareholder has taken those lessons and tu...

Dr. Brian Dooreck is a board-certified physician specializing in gastroenterology and hepatology who leads Executive Health Navigation. The firm helps high-net-worth individuals and those in the c-suite ensure they and their family have unmatched accessibility, support and navigation to the best doctors — in the U.S. and around the world. In this conversation, Dr. Doorick talks about what it is th...

Negotiating mistakes in M&A, on either side of a deal, can strip value and hamstring the opportunity for long-term post-deal success. So, avoiding the most common mistakes at critical junctures is immensely important.   Bill McComas, co-founder of the law firm Jensen & McComas, drops by to talk about the top M&A negotiating mistakes from both the buy and sell side, what they can do to a deal, and...

For most business owners, the first time they sell their company is often the last. With only one chance to maximize the value that will be leveraged during life after business, it's important to get it right. Mark Jensen, a member at Jensen & McComas, offers an overview of the arc of an M&A deal — from assembling the deal team to the day of close. He offers tips on what to do and what not to do,...

For business owners thinking about their exit, the choice often seems limited to selling to a competitor or to a private equity firm. But there's a third option, ESOPs, that secures their legacy and rewards the very people who helped build the company. Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld's Andy Rudolph, Marc Hirschfield and David Dalesandro take a deep dive into Employee Stock Ownership Plans to break do...

Regardless of what uncertainty exists in the market or from where it originates, deals continue to get done. However, doing deals during more turbulent times takes some strategic maneuvering. Riveron's Alex Shahidi, Transaction Services Leader, Jeff Bernstein, Equity Capital Markets Leader, and Ryan Gamble, Tax Advisory Leader, explore the current deal environment, and the factors affecting public...

It was supposed to be a great year for M&A in the government contracting sector. New SBA rules were expected to drive GovCon sellers to market as they raced to beat the rules' implementation. But then the Department of Government Efficiency happened, which sought to cut government budgets, something that threatened to negatively affected many GovCon businesses since, as the name implies, governmen...

At this year's Baltimore Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, an expert panel provided actionable insights to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities for both growth and divestiture in an increasingly complex time of tax policies and tariffs. Paragon Biosciences' Peter Buzy, Evergreen Advisors Capital's Stephen Prichett and First National Bank's David Valentiner and Mac Tisdale headlined the pa...

Perhaps the worst thing a business owner can do ahead of the sale of their company is not be prepared. Not only could that crater the returns the owner was hoping to get for what is often their life's work, it could nuke a sale entirely. Fortunately, attorney James Hipolit has advice for those who've never sold before. In this podcast, the M&A partner with Troutman Pepper Locke covers the basics,...

One area of complexity in a buy-side M&A transaction is commercial insurance. Given all the potential liabilities, hidden risks, industry-specific needs and coverage gaps, knowing what to look for during due diligence is critical to maximizing post-deal value. On this episode, Brian Stovsky, senior vice president and practice leader for the Oswald Companies and Unison Risk Advisors Mergers & Acqui...

At the 2025 Dallas Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, Zenwork Founder & CEO Sanjeev Singh shared the entrepreneurial journey that led to a nine-figure private equity minority investment. From launching Zenwork with his wife to scaling the business and bringing on a PE partner, Sanjeev discusses the challenges, pivotal moments and strategies that fueled Zenwork's growth.  

There are many myths about ESOPs — that they're complicated or that once within its structure a company owner loses control, or that banks won't lend to them. David Solomon, a member at Levenfeld Pearlstein and head of the firm's Employee Stock Ownership Plan practice, is here to bust those myths. In this episode, David sets the record straight on what an ESOP is — and what it isn't.

What happens when a publicly traded company transitions to become privately owned? During the midday Fireside Chat at the Boston Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, two CFOs share firsthand insights on the realities of life as a public company, the strategic considerations behind their respective sales to private equity firms, and what the transition process entailed. Cassandra Hudson, CFO of St...

A letter of intent, often referred to as an LOI, is essentially the first formal document in a sale process between a buyer and a seller. It not only establishes the intent of two companies to move forward into a sale process, but it sets some terms for the process that sellers should carefully consider. Tony Montanaro, transaction advisory partner with Louis Plung & Company, talks about LOIs and...

Kicking off this year's Boston Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, we explore innovative strategies, regional growth and the transformative power of public-private collaboration in shaping the future of Massachusetts and the Boston region. In this panel, moderated by Smart Business Chief Content Officer Dustin Klein, Timberline Construction CEO Steven Kelly and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Chie...

Things seem to be looking up for the St. Louis economy. And with positive national economic trends expected to continue, the city seems poised to build on its momentum. At the 2025 St. Louis Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, Dustin Allison of Greater St. Louis Inc., Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge of St. Louis Lambert International Airport and John Manetta of Bank of America joined Bank of America St....

What really makes a company tick? And more importantly, what makes it worth more? At the 2025 Pittsburgh Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, a group of regional executives and investors dissected the art — and science — of creating serious company value. From scaling strategies that turn small wins into big exits to the nuanced dance of acquisitions and sales, panelists John Lewis and Christophe...

Self-funding health insurance through a group medical captive can be a way for businesses of any size to better manage what is often their second greatest expense. And, according to Roundstone Founder and President Mike Schroeder, it may also be a way for business owners to increase the company's value ahead of a sale. On this episode of the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast, Schroeder talks about...

Warde Manuel, University of Michigan's Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics, oversees an athletic department that sponsors 29 varsity teams with more than 950 student-athletes and around 400 staff members. To run it, the former collegiate athlete relies on more than just his 30 years of experience in athletic departments. Warde also leans on his MBA. In this episode of the Smart Business Dealm...

Dive into serial entrepreneur Matt Liotta's experience navigating mergers, acquisitions and public offerings with multiple companies. Liotta, the co-founder of Volato, a fractional jet company he took public through a SPAC, chats with Tom Singh of Merrill Lynch about the strategic decisions behind scaling Volato, as well as the lesson's he's learned about structuring deals, adapting business model...

What will be driving M&A as we head into to 2025? In this roundtable discussion at the Charlotte Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, Murphy Clark of Inspira Financial, Patty Comer of AccruePartners and Greg Fornelli of SRI and Stock Car Steel & Aluminum talk with First National Bank's David Sedor about the drivers behind valuations, assessing and retaining talent during an acquisition, how inter...

Social media, believe it or not, can have an effective role in the world of venture capital. At the Houston Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, Carrie Colbert of Curate Capital, Aquila Mendez-Valdez of Haute in Texas and Darek Woodward of ROI Ventures talked with Smart Business's Dustin Klein about how to craft a captivating online brand that attracts investors, builds a thriving community of fu...

Name Image and Likeness rules have changed the game in college athletics. With more money needed to attract and retain the country's top talent, private equity and other firms are looking to bridge the financial gap and capitalize on the evolving landscape.  At the 2024 Minneapolis Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, panelists Blake Baratz of IFA, Katie Harms of Space Options, Cale Johnston of R...

Colorado is emerging as a national hub for biotech, life sciences, and healthtech. At the 2024 Denver Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, panelists Elyse Blazevich of Colorado BioScience Association and Colorado BioScience Institute, Kimberly Muller of CU Innovations and CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, Afshin Safavi of Colorado Health & Tech Centers, and Blake Unterreiner of Agilent Technologies...