Acquirable Podcast Ep. 019 – Ryan Boyle | President | BOB Search

Back in November, I sat down with the guys at the Acquirable podcast at the ACG A&D Conference. They just released the episode, so I wanted to share it here.

We talked for about 15 minutes about what actually happens to leadership when a founder-owned A&D business sells to private equity.

It’s the same pattern almost every time. The entrepreneur is the central node. Every decision, every relationship, every problem flows through them. That’s required to successfully build something from scratch, but it inevitably hits a breaking point and inhibits further scaling.

PE comes in with a strategy, capital, and a timeline. But none of that matters without accountable leaders in every function. That’s the professionalization exercise, and it’s where most of the hard conversations live.

We talked through real examples of both sides, plus why the CFO hire is almost always the most urgent after the CEO, and what entrepreneurs can do before they sell to set their teams up for what’s coming.

Worth 15 minutes if you’re anywhere near this situation.

And big thanks to Josh Hotsenpiller and Justin Loutfy with Stone Canyon Advisors for having me!