For the past several months, I’ve been sharing lessons on leadership, resilience, and perseverance from an unlikely source—my 5-pound cat, Charlotte. Last week, Charlotte crossed the rainbow bridge. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what she taught me—not in theory, but in how she lived every single day. Charlotte came into my life … Continue reading The Rainbow Bridge
Highland Global is proud to support the 2026 ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club. For us, sponsorship is not just about visibility. It is about alignment. Alignment with excellence. Alignment with discipline. Alignment with institutions that reflect preparation, precision, and performance under pressure. At Highland Global, we have long believed … Continue reading Why Sponsorship Matters
We live in a time that rewards speed, visibility, and constant motion. Business moves quickly. Communication is immediate. Meetings happen by video. Brands are often measured by how often they appear rather than by how deeply they are trusted. In that kind of environment, it becomes easy to confuse activity with substance and exposure with … Continue reading Why Serious Firms Still Believe in Presence, Discipline, and Long-Term Relationships
When a valuation comes in below expectations, people often focus on the report. The report becomes the issue.The appraiser becomes the issue.The methodology becomes the issue.The tone becomes the issue. But one of the quiet truths is that the report usually did not create the discomfort. The truth did. The report just made it harder … Continue reading The Report Is Not What Made the Deal Uncomfortable. The Truth Did.
There is a version of deal support that looks solid until you ask one uncomfortable question: What happens if things go even slightly worse than expected? That is where some transactions start to feel much thinner. Because one of the quiet truths is that some deals are called “supportable” only because the structure quietly assumes … Continue reading Some Deals Are “Supported” Only Because Nobody Priced in What Could Go Wrong
There is a category in deal work that deserves a little more suspicion than it often receives: the “one-time” expense. Sometimes it is real. Sometimes it is absolutely appropriate to adjust. But one of the quiet truths is that a surprising number of one-time expenses have a remarkable habit of appearing year after year in … Continue reading A Lot of “One-Time Expenses” Seem to Happen Every Year
There are moments in a transaction when someone reaches for social proof. Not market proof. Not earnings proof. Not valuation proof. Social proof. It usually sounds like this: “Everyone agrees on the number.” “Everybody is aligned.” “We’re all on the same page.” “No one else has had an issue with it.” That is supposed to … Continue reading The More Often Someone Says “Everyone Agrees,” the Less I Care that Everyone Agrees
You hear this all the time in small business acquisitions: “The upside is tremendous.” Maybe. But one of the quiet truths is that what people call upside is often just a promise that the buyer will work harder, longer, and more personally than the seller did. That is not always upside. Sometimes that is just … Continue reading The Buyer’s “Upside” Is Often Just Unpaid Labor in a Nicer Sentence
A spreadsheet can look very professional while still being deeply unserious. That is one of the quiet truths of deal work. Some projections are not really forecasts. They are negotiations in numerical form. You can usually tell by how politely they lean. Revenue rises. Margins improve. Costs behave. Staff integrates smoothly. Customers stay. Capex stays … Continue reading Some Projections Are Not Forecasts. They Are Negotiations Disguised as Spreadsheets.
Whenever someone says, “There are a lot of interested buyers,” it is usually meant to end the debate. It rarely should. Interest is not proof. Activity is not support. And buyer attention is not the same thing as valuation evidence. One of the quiet truths in deal work is that many people use market excitement … Continue reading “There Are a Lot of Interested Buyers…”
Highland Global Business Valuations 