capital to create new value.
Finally, to Keith Hald. Keith was 75 years old when I hired him as a real estate appraiser and then secondarily as a personal property appraiser. He was well into his late 80s when he “retired”. Keith passed in August 2015. He was a WWII veteran survived by a loving wife, Betty, and two adult children. From the bread basket of the United States, Keith was as reliable as a watch and inspired me by example that honest hard work, a good heart, and the love of a good woman are often all the abundance you need.
Thank you all!
About the Author
By no means a natural athlete (or a Mensa member), Carl's journey has been as much the path of a weightlifter as it has been marathoner literally and figuratively. He has taken his successes and failures (both personal and business) in stride and fashioned a lump of coal into diamond-like brilliance. He brings character, color, and clarity to a profession in need of doers and thinkers, not tinkerers.
Combine a doctoral focus in entrepreneurial finance with a veteran USMC combat officer/strategist and corporate operational audit professional and you produce a dynamic valuation advisor who is as much a litigation support (warrior) expert in governance, business, partnership, class, tax, and fiduciary duty disputes/damages as he is a statesman and spokesman for advanced valuation, strategy, and advisory services addressing both private and public company equity and operational risk issues. In short, he is a strategic value architect.
For 25+ years, Carl has performed and reviewed thousands of valuation reports, operating agreements, financial documents, business plans, corporate records, and industry and market data reports as part of the intellectual rigor he applies to each of his engagements. While a formidable IRS and court qualified expert witness with 170+ matters under his anodized brass belt, his passion lies in the elevation of the valuation industry and company values themselves. His contribution is felt with 300+ presentations and authoritative treatises addressing enterprise and equity value and discounting issues as well as his due diligence associated with identifying, measuring, managing, and mitigating concentrated risk.
He is a board member, a certified valuation analyst (CVA), and an Instructor of Great Distinction as recognized by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA). He is also a board member and a certified business appraiser (CBA) certified by the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA) as well as an accredited senior appraiser (ASA) certified by the American Society of Appraisers. He is an active board and/or committee member of for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
While industry agnostic, Carl's knack is unique in identifying and quantifying operational risks associated with intangible assets, such as human capital areas of governance, relationships, risks, and knowledge (GRRK), the premise of this book. More importantly, he is a connector and concierge, where possessing the humility to recommend the right advice by the right person in the right way holds the greatest impact.
Whereas most valuation work product applies a somewhat check-the-box, cookbook recipe approach, Carl is a master chef (more of a meat-and-potatoes guy) who understands and can address why a certain risk factor/value driver exists and what their impact is to the finished dish (valuation work product result).
While the profession is often limited by abiding to more of a technical and transactional mindset, Carl has challenged the profession specifically and the business community generally by raising what seems like simple questions:
If we are purported to know what relevant factors influence company specific risk and their influence on value measurement and management, then why are we satisfied with the notion of the lowest fee for service is better? If a physician could tell you when and why you'll have a heart attack and also provide a real fix such that its occurrence would be slim to none, what would that be worth? Given that for most owners the largest asset families will have is the blood, sweat, and tears of a business and equity interest therein, then what are we doing to guarantee this most rare asset remains healthy and there's a strategy to ensure its value is enhanced, not simply preserved? Isn't preservation synonymous with defensive as well as the illusion of control and safety? If so, how, in a dynamic market, fueled by uncertainty, is the value of advisory services and equity enhanced and what is the economic impact when we don't consider and act on these factors?
Truth be told, I would be happier than a pig in a poke if I spent my remaining days working with families, founders, owners, boards, C-suites, and their advisors turning 8-figure companies into 9- and 10-figure companies and the balance of my time on a ranch surrounded by trees, pastures, and lots of animals.
Perhaps like the Showtime character, Ray Donovan – I'd be a “fixer” of affluent family businesses and small cap public companies adorned with jeans and a plaid shirt saying “Pay what you think I'm worth. But remember, this here ranch is a retreat for both wayward business folks and military veterans looking to find solace. One of you can afford the retreat and the other cannot.”
This book offers sometimes subtle and other times not so much guidancethat those who are unwilling to think out of the box are doomed to remain in the box. Familiar has its merits, but the fact remains time is not static, so change is inevitable. Lead the change.
If you didn't get value from this book, return it in new condition in 60 days with the receipt; the full purchase price will be refunded, no questions asked. If it has value, please feel free to share. All proceeds received by the author will go to a 501(c)3 which will benefit veterans with combat PTSD through the use of equine and canine therapy.
And if you need a value opinion, GRRK or EVE advisory services, please contact at: [email protected] I'll reply when I'm unchained from my desk.
Author's Vision and Challenge
“Values are more than numbers.”
The above statement would at first glance be seen in the context of finance; however, a significant opportunity and challenge exists. Owners' and advisors' human values are just as relevant, if not more so. Both constituencies seek better ways to get from here to there.
This may be referred to as achieving liquidity to legacy, or success to significance. But where is guidance on the nonfinancial? This higher purpose, or self-actualization for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs fans, is dear to the author. Mid-market business owners are a rare breed who dare to be great. They are the innovation and employment engine for the U.S. economy. They are the unheralded heroes who are seldom recognized in college corporate finance classes or Wall Street media. What to do when they transition from daily blocking and tackling to more time to do what they want?
This book reflects two passions of the author: (1) provide guidance to owners and advisors to leverage human and financial capital while managing risk, and (2) provide respite for those who have served in our U.S. Armed Services – our brothers and sisters in arms. (My wife and I are both U.S. Marine veterans.)
The stats are staggering. Up to 20 percent of those with military service, many who have been on five or more deployments, suffer from combat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is not an affliction for which a prescription drug is the simple answer. The operative word is trauma and healing can take years. The rate of unemployment, substance abuse, and homelessness is higher for those who have served. Supporting our troops is as important in peacetime as it is when they're deployed, with over 2,000,000 having served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. Every affected veteran, with care and treatment, can be the human capital that is so elemental to this book.
All proceeds received by the author will go to a 501(c)3. The 501(c)3 will operate at the Two Bears Ranch (see websites at www.dosososranch.org or www.twobearsranch.com)
