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April 18, 2024

Recognizing Detroit's Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2024 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

By SBN Staff

We celebrated the accomplishments of the 2024 class of winners April 18 at the Detroit Smart Business Dealmakers Conference. Together, they provide a strong picture of the Detroit business community.

March 21, 2024

CCA Global Partners Howard Brodsky On The Outsized Impact Of Delivering The Unexpected

CCA Global Partners Howard Brodsky on the common traits of the some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and the outsized impact delivering the unexpected can yield for a business.

March 14, 2024

Announcing Dallas' Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2024 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

Here are the Dallas Dealmaker of the Year Award honorees and Hall of Famers we're recognizing this year!

March 7, 2024

Announcing St. Louis' Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2024 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

We're celebrating the accomplishments of the 2024 class of winners March 14 at the St. Louis Smart Business Dealmakers Conference. Together, they provide a strong picture of the St. Louis business community.

February 29, 2024

Announcing Boston's Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2024 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

Here are the Boston Dealmaker of the Year Award honorees and Hall of Famers we're recognizing this year!

February 21, 2024

Announcing Pittsburgh's Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2024 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

Here are the Pittsburgh Dealmaker of the Year Award honorees and Hall of Famers we're recognizing this year!

February 15, 2024

Announcing Nashville's Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2024 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards and Hall of Fame recognize exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Nashville.

February 9, 2024

Raising Capital And Competing With Unicorns

Hungry Planet CEO Todd Boyman talks about launching Hungry Planet and why it raised modest capital compared to its unicorn competitors.

January 26, 2024

Failure Is OK — And Other Lessons From Rob Hale

Rob Hale became a billionaire and lost it all by the age of 35. But he rebounded from that failure to co-found Granite Telecommunications, which made him a billionaire again and made it possible for him to become a co-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics. He shares 3 lessons he learned along the way.

January 19, 2024

Cavs CEO Nic Barlage On Creating A Winning Culture

Nic Barlage, CEO of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rock Entertainment Group, discusses talent acquisition and development, building a winning culture, and the importance of leadership on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast.

January 18, 2024

Hafeezah Muhammad On People and Analytics In Deals

Hafeezah Muhammad's company Backpack Healthcare recently acquired two companies. At the 2023 Chicago Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, she talked about how the business has supercharged its

January 18, 2024

How Acquisitions Help Babson Farms Diversify Revenue

Taylor Kirkpatrick is generation four of Babson Farms, a family enterprise that started originally with dairy equipment manufacturing — the largest in the world, he says — until they sold the business

January 18, 2024

Capital Considerations To Maximize Flexibility

When capital was really plentiful, CFO Ron Oertell says for his company, Purchasing Power, the focus was on making sure they had many options. "We established separate SPVs, we established staggered

January 18, 2024

Sally Hughes On Letting Go

Sally Hughes founded Caster Connection in 1987 when she started selling chair casters out of the trunk of her car. Over 36 years, she built the business up to include some 3,000 different products,

January 12, 2024

Why Health Care Startups Fail

Jumpstart Capital founder and managing partner Vic Gatto has been investing in early-stage health care businesses for nearly a decade. His organization — Jumpstart Foundry, Jumpstart Health Investors

January 12, 2024

Financial Issues To Consider When Doing International Acquisitions

Gentherm closed two deals in July of 2022. One was a German multinational that added to the company's automotive space. The other was a domestic acquisition in China for its medical business. The deal

January 5, 2024

Exploring Capital Options In A Challenging Market

Working within the commercial real estate space, Spencer Pisczak, president and founding Member of Premier Development Partners, says the current climate is in many ways a challenge. "The big problem

January 5, 2024

Even With Experience, Selling A Family Business Can Be A Challenge

Recently, Jeff Gershman, Chairman of the Board, of Gershman Mortgage & Gershman Investment Corp., sold Gershman Commercial Real Estate, a brokerage and property management company. Through his law

January 5, 2024

AgroFresh Solutions' Clinton Lewis, Jr. On Taking The Public Company Private

AgroFresh Solutions Inc. was spunoff into a stand-alone public company, listed on NASDAQ, after Dow Chemical acquired Rohm and Haas, of which it had originally been a part. Clinton A. Lewis, Jr.

December 7, 2023

Building a Bridge of Opportunity from Corner to Corner

Compelled by Jesus’ invitation to ‘love our neighbors as we love ourselves,’ Corner to Corner was founded by Will and Tiffany Acuff in 2011. The young couple wanted to create a relationship-centered

November 17, 2023

For SCLogic, Time Is Ticking For An Exit

Mike Saldi, founder and CEO of SCLogic, feels he's running out of time. And that in part why his company began running a process. "At 60 years old, I've got to figure out what's next," Saldi said at

November 3, 2023

Ven Raju On Investor Opportunities In Pittsburgh

After years of investing in early-stage companies in the SaaS, robotics, Internet of Things, health and fin tech spaces, Ven Raju has taken his talents from New York to Pittsburgh where he now heads

November 3, 2023

Putting Your Superpower To Work Post Exit

It's always a good time to start thinking about life after the sale of a business, says North Coast Ventures Managing Director Todd Federman. That, he says, can help business owners avoid being one of

November 3, 2023

Greater Diligence Means Greater Deal Prep

In the market today, there's been a change in availability of debt and the cost of that debt, says Mereo Capital Partners Managing Partner John O'Hare. There's also an issue of meeting seller

October 27, 2023

Deeper Diligence Puts More Onus On Sellers

Macroeconomic factors are driving due diligence that is much deeper, taking longer and is more important to deal making, says Mark Kessler, a partner at Palmares Capital Partners. Looking across the

October 27, 2023

Announcing Minneapolis' Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2023 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!

The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards recognize exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Minneapolis. In addition, The Minneapolis

October 27, 2023

The Search For Clean Deals

No deal is perfect, but Dan Weingartz, CEO of W&P Management, says that it's just gotten to where there needs to be cleanliness across everything — the financials, the strategy, the leadership and

October 20, 2023

Cleveland Deal Activity: Rise In Bankruptcies Drive Distressed M&A Activity

Throughout 2023, the U.S. M&A landscape has been significantly shaped by a notable rise in distressed M&A transactions. According to bankruptcy filings from the U.S. Courts, the number of Chapter 11

October 20, 2023

Charlotte M&A Honorees Announced!

The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards recognize exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Charlotte. The 2023 class of winners — who will

October 20, 2023

Buying What's Not In The Numbers

Randy Overton says in health care M&A in recent years, he's seen all kinds of books. "All of the sudden, everybody is the most valuable company in the world," says Overton, CFO of FastPace Health.