Family Business Audiocast

In this episode of The Family Business Audiocast, host R. Adam Smith welcomes sports industry veterans Drew Sheinman (Brand Velocity Group) and Brett Johnson (Benevolent Capital). The guests explore how their unique investment platforms are revolutionizing the sports industry through family-focused approaches. Drew shares BVG's innovative "Share the Gains" program, allocating 10% of carried interest to portfolio company employees, while Brett discusses his community-centered developments with Phoenix Rising FC and Rhode Island FC. Both demonstrate how family business enterprise values can transform investment strategies while creating sustainable wealth and community impact.

R. Adam Smith welcomes Ilya Strebulaev, tenured professor of finance and private equity at Stanford Graduate School of Business and founder/director of the Stanford GSB Venture Capital Initiative. Celebrating 20 years at Stanford, Strebulaev shares insights from his extensive research and teaching experience in venture capital and entrepreneurial finance. The conversation explores his recently published book "The Venture Mindset" and how its principles can be applied within the family business enterprise context. Strebulaev emphasizes the importance of flexibility over rigid commitment, the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the necessity of embracing failure while pursuing innovation. He provides valuable perspectives on portfolio construction for family wealth offices, fund manager selection strategies, and the unique position family investment offices hold in the venture capital ecosystem to capitalize on higher risk-adjusted returns through illiquid assets.

R. Adam Smith welcomes Wendy Diamond, Chicago Office Tax Managing Partner and head of the US Family Enterprise platform at Deloitte. With over 25 years of experience advising multi-generational businesses, Diamond shares valuable insights on family office management challenges and strategic growth opportunities in today's complex business environment. The conversation explores key findings from Deloitte's recent family enterprise survey, particularly the perception gap between current and next-generation leadership regarding succession planning. Diamond emphasizes the importance of transparency in leadership transitions, board governance evolution, and strategic talent management. She also discusses how family enterprises are increasingly diversifying their investments through private equity and other asset classes, while simultaneously addressing emerging challenges like cybersecurity and technological transformation in the family business enterprise ecosystem.

R. Adam Smith welcomes Emily Bouchard and Jim Benedict from PNC Private Bank Hawthorn for an insightful discussion on guiding ultra-high-net-worth families through business transitions. As leaders in family enterprise advisory, they share complementary perspectives on the multifaceted challenges families face before, during, and after selling a business. The conversation explores crucial pre-sale considerations including family dynamics, wealth structure, and emotional preparation along with effective governance models for family wealth office transitions. Bouchard, who leads the Institute for Family Business Success, emphasizes the importance of preserving family identity beyond the business, while Benedict provides strategic insights on recapitalization alternatives, tax considerations, and mechanisms for sustaining family harmony through structural planning. Their holistic approach demonstrates how financial planning must integrate with family financial planning to maintain legacy and purpose across generations.

R. Adam Smith welcomes Dave Specht, Director of the Drucker School Global Family Business Institute and renowned family enterprise advisor. Drawing from his extensive experience at Wells Fargo and as author of "The Family Business Whisperer," Specht shares his expertise on succession planning through his innovative "Five C's" framework - contingency plans, cash flow planning, compensation, communication, and conflict management. The conversation explores how family financial planning must balance technical considerations with emotional intelligence, particularly when navigating business transitions. Specht highlights the importance of implementing advisory boards as stepping stones to more formal governance structures and discusses his collaboration with the James E. Hughes Foundation to redefine wealth as well-being within the family business enterprise ecosystem.

R. Adam Smith welcomes Karen Costa, National Leader of the Family Office Advisory Center for RSM US. With over 20 years of tax consulting experience, Costa shares valuable insights on the evolution of family wealth office services and explores the holistic approach needed for effective family financial planning. The conversation honors her colleague Tony Wood's legacy while examining the intricacies of multi-family office structures, tax strategies for family enterprises, and the importance of women's leadership in the family business ecosystem. Costa emphasizes the need for advisors to deeply understand client goals before implementing tax strategies and discusses how RSM's global capabilities serve increasingly international family office management needs.

In this milestone episode, R. Adam Smith welcomes Kyle Chapman, President of Barry W. Miller Group, a $3 billion industrial manufacturing conglomerate. Chapman details how his family wealth office evolved from a $20 million company to a global enterprise while maintaining their people-centered leadership philosophy. The conversation explores the unique hybrid private equity model they've developed, their approach to family business enterprise governance, and how they've created a culture where caring for people drives performance. Chapman shares insights on talent attraction, innovation, and preserving legacy across generations in family enterprise.

In the nineteenth episode of The Family Business Audiocast, host R. Adam Smith welcomes Peter Vogel, Director of the Global Family Business Center at IMD Business School and Debiopharm Chair for Family Philanthropy. Vogel discusses his approach as a "pracademic" who bridges rigorous academic research with practical frameworks for family enterprises. He explains how family businesses evolve over generations from single-entity operations into complex enterprise systems with multiple holdings, describing examples of European families with thousands of members and hundreds of business entities. Vogel shares insights from his work creating practical tools like the Family Office Navigator and Family Philanthropy Navigator, emphasizing the importance of intergenerational planning for holistic transformations. The conversation explores global family office hubs, technological challenges facing family enterprises, and the strategic role of philanthropy in wealth transition.

In this episode of The Family Business Audiocast, host R. Adam Smith welcomes Elizabeth Bagger (founder of Avante) and Lena Chihab (manager of FBN Levant) to discuss family business governance across global contexts. The experts explore the primary challenges family businesses face when establishing effective governance structures, highlighting family dynamics, intergenerational communication, and conflict resolution mechanisms as universal concerns. Bagger emphasizes how family dynamics often undermine even well-designed governance frameworks, while Chihab provides regional insights from the Middle East. The conversation examines the delicate balance between preserving legacy and fostering innovation, the increasing role of women in family wealth office leadership, and how family constitutions can serve as educational tools for next-generation engagement rather than mere control documents.

In the seventeenth episode of The Family Business Audiocast, host R. Adam Smith welcomes Jason Ma (founder and CEO of 3EQ) and Michelle Bross (founder of Tresynergy Family Office). Bross shares her journey from real estate entrepreneur to family office founder after a significant liquidity event, describing her innovative three-bucket approach to family wealth management inspired by her children's input: preservation, philanthropy, and alternative investments. Ma discusses his comprehensive framework for mentoring next-generation leaders, emphasizing both vertical goal achievement and horizontal development of mindset and skills. Together, they explore succession planning strategies, impact investing as a tool for next-gen engagement, and the importance of balancing financial returns with meaningful social impact in family enterprise development.