Branching Out: TreeFork Strategies
Host Elizabeth Shea sits down with seasoned founders and CEOs who have successfully sold their companies through a strategic or financial transaction. They discuss the thinking and planning that went into their decision to sell, what worked well, what they would do differently, and the valuable lessons they would pass along to founders with a sale on the horizon. This is a podcast for business owners looking for a playbook to use in order to approach their own sale with confidence and clarity.
Episodes
13 episodes
Stock Your Shaving Cream: Interview with Sean Griffey
Elizabeth Shea sits down with Sean Griffey, co-founder and former CEO of Industry Dive, to discuss his journey of building a bootstrapped media company and navigating two successful exits. Sean shares how he and his co-founders left stable care...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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27:28
Stress Test the Deal: Interview with John Burns
Elizabeth Shea sits down with John Burns, founder and managing director at Clare Advisors, a boutique M&A advisory firm specializing in marketing and advertising services agencies. John explains the advisor’s role throughout a sell-side pro...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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26:12
Know Your "Why": Interview with Karl Sigerist
In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea is joined by Karl Sigerist, author of Selling Your Canadian Business, a book written for founders contemplating the sale of their privately owned, lower middle market Canadian b...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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25:56
Set Up to Sell: Interview with Ab Emam
Ab Emam shares how WDG evolved from a single website project for a friend into a full-scale, midmarket agency he deliberately built for sale. He breaks down why founders should plan years before they initiate a transaction, why hiring the right...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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30:27
Building Deal Value: Interview with Jim Datovech
In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea sits down with Jim Datovech, former CEO of LKC Technologies, to explore the long road from acquiring a medical device company to refining the product and orchestrating a successful exit....
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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21:17
Hot Potato: Interview with Andrew Sherman
In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea sits down with Andrew Sherman, senior partner at Brown Rudnick, for a candid look at how deals really get priced, structured, and won. Andrew explains why M&A is cyclical, t...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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42:48
Take the Leap: Interview with Bess Winston
In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth sits down with Bess Winston, the founder of The Winston agency. She talks about how one modest media relations project-turned-campaign laid the foundation for her to meticulously build a nati...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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31:54
A Niche of One: Interview with Allan Klassen
In this episode of Branching Out, Allan Klassen, former CEO and managing partner of Albi Homes, shares how he helped turn a Calgary-based luxury home builder into a “niche of one” and a strategic acquisition target which was acquired b...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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32:03
Closing a Chapter - Interview with Ethan McAfee
In this episode of Branching Out, Ethan McAfee shares how he built Amify from a one-man operation in his Arlington townhouse into one of the largest Amazon agencies in the country, helping major consumer brands with their strategy cont...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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24:10
When Cultures Collide - Interview with Susan Apgood
In this episode of Branching Out, Susan Apgood, the former CEO of News Generation, shares candid insights about her journey selling her company in April 2020 in the midst of the COVID lockdown. She opens up about navigating a challengi...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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30:42
Setting Up for Success - Interview with Jake Bittner
In this episode of Branching Out, Jake Bittner, former CEO of Qlarion, recounts his path from co-founding a government data analytics firm to leading it through a successful acquisition by GCOM in 2021. He offers a transparent look at ...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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30:55
A Serendipitous Sale - Interview with Cary Hatch
In this episode of Branching Out, Cary Hatch, former CEO of MDB Communications, opens up about the deals she walked away from, the one that finally felt right, and what it takes to step away from the CEO seat after decades at the helm....
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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32:09
Shift Your Mindset - Interview with Viraj Gandhi
In the inaugural episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea interviews Viraj Gandhi– former CEO and founder of Paradyme Inc. – about his 21-year journey from building a local and state contracting business to leading a major federal cont...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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29:01