The Long View
Exploring how ownership transitions shape people, communities, and what comes next.
The Case for Community Ownership: What Happens When Main Street Businesses Change Hands
Baby Boomers own millions of small businesses across America. Over the next decade, an enormous wave of these businesses will change ownership as their founders retire. Who buys them will determine whether wealth stays local or leaves, whether jobs are protected or eliminated, and whether communities thrive or hollow out. The question isn't whether Main Street businesses will change hands, but who will own them next, and what that will mean for the communities they serve.
So You Want to Sell Your Business?
Not every buyer is a steward. Some are flippers in disguise. Learn how IRR reveals a buyer’s true intent—and the questions every founder should ask before signing the dotted line.
tHE NEWCOMER’S GUIDE TO M&A, PART 6
In mission-driven M&A, integration is where your vision either becomes reality or unravels. This post dives into the human side of integration: the systems, rituals, and communication that turn shared values into real momentum. Learn how to lead with intention, build trust from the start, and make your acquisition stick in all the right ways.
This final post marks the finish line of our Newcomer’s Guide to M&A. Celebrating the full arc from first steps to a mission-aligned close and integration.
The Newcomer’s Guide to M&A, Part 5
The deal’s not done until it’s really done. In Post 5 of The Newcomer’s Guide to M&A, we walk through the final legal gauntlet: what’s in a closing package, why it matters, and how to avoid costly missteps. Whether you're buying your first business or your fifth, this is where small oversights can have outsized consequences. Let’s make sure you don’t sign something you’ll regret.