The strongest clients are not the ones who always receive good news. They are the ones who respect the process when the news is not good. That is a meaningful difference. In professional work, especially in valuation, the relationship is tested less by easy files and more by difficult ones. Anyone can appreciate the process … Continue reading The Best Clients Respect the Process
Experience Matters Most: Where Judgement Meets Reality
Experience Matters Most is a collection of observations drawn from years of watching decisions play out beyond the spreadsheet. These posts explore leadership, risk, valuation, and integration through the lens of real-world outcomes—where assumptions are tested, pressure reveals priorities, and judgment determines whether value is preserved or destroyed.
This series focuses on the space between models and reality and is grounded in the belief that judgement is where theory meets consequence. They look beyond price and process to examine what actually drives continuity, erodes goodwill, and determines whether value endures after the ink dries. Because the most important risks—and the most important decisions—rarely appear in the model.
Free Analysis Is Still Analysis
One of the subtler traps in professional services is the idea that “just a little insight” is somehow not real work. It is real work. A preliminary reaction based on experience is real judgment. A file-specific explanation of why a deal is unlikely to work is real analysis. A discussion of what is driving the … Continue reading Free Analysis Is Still Analysis
Explanations Are Not Evidence
One of the more persistent problems in transaction work is that too many people confuse explanations with evidence. They are not the same. An owner explains why he paid himself below market. A borrower explains why margins were weak. A broker explains why the business is worth more than the numbers suggest. An advisor explains … Continue reading Explanations Are Not Evidence
If You Want the Analysis, Engage the Professional
There is a line that professionals in every serious advisory field eventually have to learn to hold: If you want the analysis, engage the professional. That should not be controversial. Yet it becomes controversial the moment a transaction starts to wobble and someone wants insight without commitment. A lender sends over a potential file. The … Continue reading If You Want the Analysis, Engage the Professional
Narratives Do Not Replace Normalization
There is a sentence that applies to more transaction files than many people would care to admit: Narratives do not replace normalization. An owner may have chosen to underpay himself. He may have been trying to preserve cash. He may have been wearing multiple hats. He may have had personal reasons for taking less than … Continue reading Narratives Do Not Replace Normalization
Collateral Does Not Cure an Unsupported Value Conclusion
There is a misunderstanding that surfaces from time to time in deal work, and it deserves to be addressed directly: Collateral does not cure an unsupported value conclusion. A lender may feel comfortable with the loan because there are additional assets, guarantor strength, or other forms of support in the broader credit structure. Fine. That … Continue reading Collateral Does Not Cure an Unsupported Value Conclusion
A Valuation Is Not a Negotiation
There is a moment in some assignments when the tone changes. The conversation stops being analytical and starts becoming strategic. That is usually the moment the parties realize the valuation may not support the deal. Questions that begin as requests for clarity gradually become attempts to reopen settled principles. A compensation adjustment becomes a debate. … Continue reading A Valuation Is Not a Negotiation
A Valuation Is Not a Box to Check
One of the more dangerous attitudes in lending and transaction work is the quiet belief that valuation is just a box to check. It is not. The moment someone says, in effect, “We just need to get through the requirement,” the process is already at risk of being misunderstood. A valuation is not there to … Continue reading A Valuation Is Not a Box to Check
The Deal Does Not Have a Method Problem. It Has an Evidence Problem.
In difficult transaction files, people often pretend they have a method problem when what they really have is an evidence problem. That distinction matters. If adjusted earnings are weak, if normalized free cash flow is negative, and if the purchase price only survives by leaning heavily on inventory or fixed assets, then the next question … Continue reading The Deal Does Not Have a Method Problem. It Has an Evidence Problem.
Some of the Most Important Valuation Work Happens Before the Engagement Letter Is Signed
One of the things people outside this profession often fail to appreciate is that some of the most important valuation work happens before the engagement letter is ever signed. That is where experience often shows itself first. A seasoned professional can look at a proposed transaction, review the basic facts, identify the likely fault lines, … Continue reading Some of the Most Important Valuation Work Happens Before the Engagement Letter Is Signed