#144: The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers

Brent Beshore is the CEO of Adventur.es, a private equity firm. Adventur.es has a totally different approach to private equity that makes them stand out in the industry. Brent and his team have even written a book to help business owners navigate the tricky and messy world of Mergers and Acquisitions. We discuss the book and why Brent thought it was important to write it. He explains why he prefers employees who don’t have previous experience in the private equity space, and how it makes Adventur.es different from the traditional private equity firm.

What you will learn:

• How Brent stumbled into private equity.
• How Adventur.es raises money.
• The lessons Brent learned in the early days of his business.
• Why Brent and his team wrote The Messy Marketplace.
• What makes Adventur.es unique in the market.
• The benefits of over-communicating with your clients.
• How Brent treats his clients.
• What normally goes wrong in a private equity firm’s approach.
• The 4 key elements Adventur.es keeps in every deal.
• You shouldn’t need a Ph.D. to understand your deal structure.
• Why Adventur.es doesn’t use traditional financing.
• The broken private equity system what it means for the market.
• Why lower markets can’t get traction in this culture.
• Brent’s “do no harm” rule.

Takeaways:

M&A is a messy world and Brent’s book is a great resource to help business owners get a grip on the complicated ins and outs of private equity. Do your due diligence and take the time to really research your prospects before you jump into anything. If you are interested in the accelerator program, then you can reach out to me at ryan@gexpcollaborative.com or LinkedIn. We also have a page on the website with more information.

Links and Resources:

GEXP Collaborative
GEXP Accelerator Program
Brent on Twitter
Adventur.es
The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers by Brent Beshore
How To Acquire Your First Small(er) Company by Brent Beshore
Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game by Walker Deibel
Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey

About Brent:

Brent leads the Adventur.es firm, and more specifically the acquisition and diligence teams while supporting portfolio company operators. Brent serves on the Shepard Poverty Program board of directors at his alma mater, Washington and Lee University. He also sits on the Tandy Leather (TLF) board of directors and is active in Love INC, a mid-Missouri-based non-profit. Brent is raising two young daughters with Dr. Erica Beshore, participating in church activities, and occasionally enjoying competitive tennis and bad golf.