Board and Acquisition Tips that Grow Value

The Third Growth Option with Benno Duenkelsbuehler and Guests

As CEO, are you ready to start or improve your board? Prepared to sell your company and maximize value? Mark Greenberg, Co-owner of Silverstone Capital Advisors in Cincinnati since 2009, a senior executive with over 30 years of operating and transaction expertise, offers valuable advice.

7:17 – “if a company has a strong board – advisory or fiduciary – and they’re paying attention it’s usually a good sign, that there is a desire to have some checks and balance, to listen to outside advice.”

7:39 – “when a CEO gets in over his or her head… that can happen, companies grow quickly, requirements change, different levels of challenge… in boards like that my role (as a board member) is to help that entrepreneurial CEO hopefully to learn to succeed.”

10:07 – “it’s rare if the board is a good strong board that the CEO is not listening, because the CEO typically asked to bring a board on.”

10:20 – on timing to build a board: “it’s always high time, now is always the right time to do that… having the right group (of board members) is always going to help somebody who is running the business.”

15:04 – “as an advisor it pays to be very frank… because if you’re just looking for a retainer fee, it’s going to blow up on you.”

19:19 – on company valuations “the market has been steady but high… what drives valuations is credit, and right now credit is inexpensive… debt drives equity, demand drives it… there is a lot of private equity and corporate cash available to drive deals.”

26:11 – “big area where a lot of value is lost and growth opportunity is lost is in customer concentration, vendor concentration is a big problem too, particularly for certain kinds of manufacturers and certainly for distribution companies… it’s about being in control of your economic destiny.”

28:12 – to chat with Mark about specific advice, reach him “at [e-mail]... it’s important to get really good advisors... who are objective and who are advocates not just for you but what can be done and is realistic.”