Testimonials
Kevin Lewis, President, Al's Roofing Supply Inc., Hayward, CA
We met Adam while making the difficult decision to accept an offer to sell our family-owned business after 42 years. We could not have chosen a better advisor! He understood the delicate balance of wanting to maximize the sale while managing the emotions involved in the decision making. He researched our industry and listened to what we do in our business, and understood how important it was to take care of our employees. After meeting with the buyer he gave us detailed suggestions and used a number of strategies to get us the best deal. He recommended a stock purchase over an asset sale, which is extremely difficult in today's market. He was available 24/7 during the demanding due diligence process, and acted as a liaison between a large publicly traded company, and our mom and pop shop! He also helped ease the transition. We believe that Adam's greatest benefit is his ability to simplify the complex dynamics of business sale. We would recommend Adam to anyone looking for a great partner to help them transition out of their business.
Kim Boege, CEO, Cloud Company, San Luis Obispo, CA
"If you are selling a company, having a seasoned M & A advisor is IMPERATIVE. With Adam leading the way, our family was able to find the right buyer and get the price we were hoping for. We could not have asked for a better person to steward my family and our advisors through the process.
Cloud Company, a third-generation manufacturing company, was ready to move forward with selling the business. Our desire was to work with someone with financial expertise, deep negotiations experience, passion, compassion, and the knowledge to sell our company with as much honor and respect as possible. Adam delivered all of those things. He has a positive mindset and is a master in "getting to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow". Adam's care and communication skills are stellar and he explained our options at every stage which helped us to balance risk and opportunity when emotions were running high."
Richard Tarlov, Founder-Owner, Canyon Market, San Francisco, CA
"Our founder-led natural foods market was fielding inquiries from potential buyers. My wife and I were trying to plan an exit strategy after fifteen years running the business day to day, but needed several key pieces of valuation and financial planning information to move forward. Our initial contact with an attorney, who happened to be a mutual colleague of Adam’s, steered us to him, and he in turn introduced us to an expert financial planner as our first step. This experienced and collegial team became our adviser group throughout the process of first, turning down one persistent offer, then capitalizing on a much better one. Adam was tuned in to the process in great detail, focusing us on the key priorities at the right times and providing needed perspective on a complex process. The end result was a resounding success for us, the buyers and our team.."
Howard Schutzman, Founder-Owner, Broadway Veterinary Associates, Oakland, CA
"My business partner and I engaged Adam to help us sell our medical practice. We were looking at several possible buyers and were feeling a little overwhelmed. Adam guided us throughout the process and worked out our strategy that allowed us to reach a career milestone that exceeded our expectations. Adam's professional and thorough approach along with the partners he works with in tax, legal, HR and wealth management kept us calm, addressed our needs, allayed our concerns and helped us to negotiate a home run deal."
Rich Andres, Founder & Chairman & Mark Andres, President, Toyota Material Handling, Livermore, CA
"We are a mid-size family owned business with ~300 employees and (6) branches across Northern and Central California. Since 2016, we've been on a hyper-growth path and Adam has been instrumental in assisting us with everything from leadership transition to acquisitions. Most recently we've brought Adam in to provide some leadership training for our management team(s) and the feedback has been very good.
Adam has a unique and approachable style that makes him easy to talk to and collaborate with. This is key to get the best out of any consulting relationship."
Connie Silver, Owner, Wall Covering Designs, San Carlos, CA
"Adam helped guide myself and my children to the best decision for the future of the company. Although family dynamics can add challenges he stayed the course in determining and developing the future leader. Not every child is capable of running a business, and these decisions can be heartbreaking but necessary. Adam guided us through this difficult process then lead my daughter into her CEO role."
Doug Sleeter, Founder, The Sleeter Group, Inc., Pleasanton CA
"For entrepreneurs who need someone to help you develop your strategy, Adam is a perfect advisor. He learns your business quickly, and brings new clarity to what your true value is, and helps you discover the best ways to maximize that value.
If you are considering an acquisition or merger, perhaps the most important factor to the success of the deal is to accurately assess the strategic fit. Adam can help you see through the fog and develop a clear understanding of that strategic fit. He works quickly to capture the tradeoff values between buyer and seller, and he will guide you through the process. He is the perfect sounding board and the coach that will help you see the deal from both sides and keep you on track."
Melissa Wells, Co-Founder, Spherical Dynamics and Five Dynamics, Santa Cruz CA
"Adam was hired as COO by my company to help us create and execute our business plan, get to market effectively and prove we had something to sell. The company was mostly comprised of people who were innovators and had little interest in building solid business foundations and exit strategies. Adam’s patience and persistence guided us quickly to build a workable and realistic strategy to take our product to market and generate real sales.
Adam turned strategy into action and he helped us build an infrastructure around people, process and accountability. His direction, steady guidance and good nature helped us to stay focused and working as a team.
Adam helped us to create a valuable company, and then we used his expertise to help us sell the company to a strategic partner."
Tim Masiewicz, Principal, Total Environmental & Power Systems, Inc., Concord, CA
"Adam has strategically assisted our company over the years with the growth of our business from the inside out - from 15 employees to over 75. His interaction with our need to grow and his experience in transforming our infrastructure has saved us years of growth pains by pointing us forward and around obstacles that in the past, stopped us in our tracks.
His leadership abilities are incredible, he makes no decisions for us, but helps lead us where we want to go and does exactly what he should do, advise not decide. Adam also has extensive financial acumen and works with us, and our accountants to ensure we are making the best financial decisions we can with our money."
James Lord, Principal, SURFACEDESIGN, Inc., San Francisco, CA
"Adam is one of those amazingly perceptive people who can listen, formulate and establish an understandable comprehensive solution that makes you confident in the decisions you make to move forward successfully with whatever your business needs are."
Roderick Wyllie, Principal, SURFACEDESIGN, INC., San Francisco, CA
"Adam’s contribution to our company has been significant and continuously evolving. As design professionals we often apply problem solving skills we use in design to business matters that ultimately require a completely different set of tools. He has provided those tools and helped us define our goals, create organizational structure and rethink our own roles as partners/directors in the company. His contribution is so valued because he never views his role as changing the personality of the culture rather; his role clarifies and edits our efforts as design professionals. Through Adam we have refined our overall financial approach, defined employee roles and made more space for the work we are passionate about."
Cristene A. Burr, Executive Director, San Ramon Valley Education Foundation, San Ramon, CA
"Adam is great at helping people to expand their comfort zone. As our President, he challenged conventional wisdom and was largely responsible for taking a small, insignificant non-profit and turning it into a thriving, relevant organization. By showing board members what was possible, when you remain open to change, his leadership was not only contagious but the key ingredient to why major corporations contribute large amounts of money to our Foundation every year."
Mike Robertson, President, Risk Concepts Insurance Brokers, Pleasant Hill, CA
"Adam has a knack for listening, confirming his understanding then proposing ideas that lead you to the outcome that you are seeking. Adam is particularly adept at providing a “forest through the trees” perspective that can so easily elude a business owner caught up in the day-to-day demands of management and pursuit of growth initiatives. Adam communicates with a sense of humility and humor that allows clients to “safely open up” and discuss how they can be overcome any mistakes and how a new course of action can be implemented facing."
Seena Clark, President, The English Center, Oakland, CA
"Over the course of ten years, Adam has offered advice, intensive counseling with detailed suggestions, and facilitated strategic planning for this organization, all on a pro-bono basis. He donates his time and talent because it’s so important to him to help organizations with a wonderful calling and too little support.
At various critical junctions, Adam has consistently identified what is most important - both from a big picture perspective and a detailed look at core issues. He then provided us with key steps to help us further analyze, make big decisions and implement a detailed plan to move forward and accomplish our board tasks as the fiduciary leaders of the organization. He is particularly skilled at asking the tough questions to help us focus our leaders’ attention on those core issues to encourage us to find ways to do what needs to get done and to get better results from leaders.
His keen financial acumen has saved our organization from many a panic attacks and uninformed decision-making. He always can see a way through the difficulties to help us resolve issues and find a safe path forward.
He does all of this with a charming and uplifting sense of purpose, clarity and humor. He is a delight to work with and has a good grasp of the issues that bring many an organization to its knees, the all-too human reactions and behaviors that drive poor decisions, and the reluctance to change course in the middle of projects. He has a way of presenting the weighty questions with options that make the answers no-brainers. Adam will provide expert and supportive guidance in any types of business situations you are facing. He’s simply the best!"
Kip Hollister, Founder and CEO, Hollister Inc., Boston, MA
"Adam set us up with an excellent growth strategy, and enabled us to define a system of metrics needed to create an atmosphere that is results-driven and accountability-driven. The depth of his industry knowledge and passion for results, paired with his personal, customized approach, made for an extremely pleasant and effective working relationship."
Kristin Knight, CEO, Filter, Seattle, WA
"Adam worked with me personally to help define steps needed for a turnaround in my company and consulted with me on a range of issues from sales to management and finance. His in depth knowledge of our industry particularly in sales and finance makes him a valuable resource. He is truly passionate about helping his clients succeed and get to the next level."
Carol Kotewicz, CEO, Renoir Staffing Services Inc., Oakland, CA
"Adam has the ability to analyze certain situations from a very objective point of view. He never takes sides; he states the facts and then sums them up to bring light to the bigger picture. It is very helpful to an owner who is many times lost in the details."
