Value Factory Podcast

You lowered the owner dependency. You fixed the customer concentration. You grew. So the offer comes in where you expected — right? John Martinka has spent 25+ years on the other side of that moment. He's Co-Founder of Nokomis Advisory Services in Kirkland, Washington, a sell-side M&A firm working the lower end of the lower middle market — deals he puts at "five to fifteen, twenty million is o...

Most owners reach for AI to trim costs. Michael Ellison is using it to change what his company is fundamentally worth. Mike is President and CEO of Corporate Insight, a competitive intelligence firm his father founded in 1992 and that Mike joined in 1997, now a roughly 100-person operation in New York City serving financial and healthcare institutions. On this episode of the Value Factory Podcast,...

Payroll is the biggest line item on the P&L. So what is it returning? That is the question Sel Watts builds her entire practice around. On this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard talks with Sel Watts, founder of wattsnext PX, a culture architecture firm for founder-led professional services businesses across the US and Australia, about "return on person," and why the num...

Nick Anderson gave Jesse Kreun one job: make OneAccord, a 26-year-old professional services firm, AI native by January 1, 2027. This episode is the unglamorous conversation nobody films: not prompts and demos, but file architecture, metadata, SharePoint lists, CRM columns, and the change management required to get 25 people to actually put the data in. "I have asked you to get OneAccord to this pl...

Nick Anderson runs OneAccord, a 25-year-old consulting firm that leads lower-middle-market companies (manufacturers, trades, professional services doing $25M+) through transition and growth. In January 2026 he stopped being an AI cynic and started building agents. Today three of them work in his company: Donna, his digital chief of staff, who has a OneAccord email, a Microsoft 365 license and a se...

Every business has an operating system. The question is whether it's helping your company grow or holding it back. In this episode of the Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with business operating system expert Sergiu Simmel to discuss how the right systems create stronger leadership, better execution, and greater enterprise value. They also explore why AI can't fix broken proces...

What if the biggest obstacle to growing your business is you? In this episode of the Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with executive coach, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, and bestselling author Ben Morley to explore the connection between personal transformation and enterprise value. They discuss owner dependency, leadership, process documentation, and why the strongest...

Why do so many strategic plans fail to deliver results? In this episode of the Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Joseph Thompson, CEO of Target Tech and former Army officer, to explore why execution is often the missing link between strategy and success. They discuss the difference between urgent and important work, how CEOs can create lasting enterprise value, and why acco...

What makes one company impossible to compete against while another gets stuck competing on price? In this episode of the Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Lorraine McGregor, founder of Spirit West Management, to explore how discovering your company's unique X factor can drive growth, increase profitability, and create lasting enterprise value. Together, they discuss custome...

Why do so many business strategies fail? In this episode of the Value Factory Podcast, OneAccord Principal Huba Rostonics joins host Andrew Ballard to explain why execution, not strategy, is the biggest challenge facing growing businesses. Together, they explore the relationship between vision, strategy, and execution, why most strategic initiatives fall short, and how a business operating system...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Jeromie Jackson, founder and CEO of Cinder Labs, to expose a problem most leaders don’t even realize they have: AI is already inside your business—and it’s creating risk faster than you can see it. Jeromie brings 30+ years of cybersecurity experience and breaks down the hidden dangers of AI adoption, from shadow AI an...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Scott Kelly to cut through the noise and get real about what actually drives—and limits—growth in owner-operated businesses. This isn’t theory or guru talk. It’s a grounded, experience-driven look at execution, leadership, and the trade-offs founders face when trying to scale without breaking the business. Andrew and...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Nick Anderson sits down with John Martinka for a candid, experience-driven conversation about what truly limits growth—and value—in owner-operated businesses. Moving beyond buzzwords and quick-fix advice, they explore the realities founders face when reducing owner dependence and preparing their companies for long-term success and a potential exit...

What happens when AI collides with small business, M&A, and the future of professional services? In this episode of The Value Factory, host Nick sits down with Eric Pasifici, founder of SMB Law Group, one of the most innovative boutique M&A law firms in the lower middle market. Eric shares a candid, experience‑driven perspective on how AI is already reshaping legal work, dealmaking, and co...

Growth isn’t linear. What gets you started won’t get you scaled—and it definitely won’t get you paid. In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Nick Anderson sits down with Greg Alexander, founder of Collective 54 and author of The Boutique, to break down the real playbook behind building, scaling, and exiting a professional services firm. Greg shares the unfiltered story of scaling Sales...

Burnout is often treated like an unavoidable cost of ambition. In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with serial entrepreneur, author, and burnout recovery expert Scott Anderson to challenge that belief head-on. Scott has founded ten companies and successfully exited eight of them. Through those experiences—and the hard lessons that came with them—he developed...

Family businesses are some of the most resilient companies in the world—but scaling them introduces challenges that go far beyond revenue growth. Leadership transitions, succession planning, and family dynamics often determine whether a company grows across generations or struggles during key inflection points. In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Stephe...

In this episode, host Nick Anderson speaks with Sel Watts, founder and CEO of WattsNextPX, about the growing importance of People Experience (PX) and why many scaling companies struggle to get it right. Sel shares her perspective on the gap that often exists between leadership, operations, and the people side of the business—especially in mid-market companies navigating rapid growth. The conversat...

On this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Nick Anderson sits down with Patrick Lowndes, founder of Frontier Operators and Operator Flow, to explore why scaling a business requires more than entrepreneurial vision—it demands operator discipline. Patrick shares lessons from building and exiting VendorHawk to ServiceNow and explains why companies achieve stronger Strategic Planning & Exe...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Mark Kurtz to break down one of the most misunderstood topics in business today: the difference between generative AI and agentic AI—and why it matters for small and mid-sized companies. Mark shares his journey from working alongside Steven Spielberg in Hollywood’s cutting-edge visual effects world to operating at the...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Seth Rudin for a direct conversation about what really happens inside organizations as they scale. They unpack executive misalignment, board dynamics, strategic drift, and the operational cracks that show up when growth outpaces discipline. Seth shares hard-earned lessons from the field—why strategy without execution...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Andrew Ballard sits down with Sergiu Simmel to unpack what it really takes to move from founder-led hustle to scalable enterprise. This is not theory. It’s execution. Strategic planning, operational rigor, leadership structure, and the financial clarity required to build real enterprise value. Sergiu explains why many owner-operated businesses pla...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, host Nick Anderson sits down with Lauren Rogers, co-founder of Veritas Equity Partners, to talk about workforce housing, syndications, and building a disciplined real estate investment strategy in Washington State. Lauren shares how Veritas carved out a niche in the overlooked middle market—20 to 60 unit properties priced between $2–10 million—focusing...

In this episode, host Andrew Ballard welcomes Dr. Sam Zolfagharian, AI strategist, bestselling author, and co‑founder of JegaTech, for a deep dive into what it truly means for organizations to prepare for the age of AI. Dr. Sam introduces her powerful airplane analogy—asking leaders whether they would “get on board” the business they’re currently flying—illustrating how many companies chase shiny...

In this episode of The Value Factory Podcast, Andrew Ballard speaks with Garrett Silver about the realities of capital, ownership, and decision-making inside growth-stage businesses. Garrett breaks down how incentives, shareholders, and capital structure shape behavior—and why many leaders misunderstand what they’re actually optimizing for. The conversation cuts into the economics that keep busine...