Succession Stories
Succession Stories is an award-winning podcast guiding entrepreneurs from transition to transaction hosted by Laurie Barkman, The Business Transition Sherpa®. Succession Stories explores the entrepreneurial stages of a business from growth to maturity focusing on value creation, exit planning, succession, and M&A for owner-led companies. If you are an entrepreneur looking for inspiration to create a more valuable business, or an owner who wants to figure out the best way to transition or sell their closely held company, this podcast is for you. Hosted by Laurie Barkman, Amazon best-selling author of "The Business Transition Handbook: How to Avoid Transition Pitfalls and Create Valuable Exit Options." Learn more about Laurie's strategic business transition planning and M&A advisory services by visiting: https://thebusinesstransitionsherpa.com
Episodes
What does it take to build stronger teams and more effective leaders? For Ken Bogard and Grace Gavin, it begins with a commitment to honesty.
Laurie Barkman sits down with Ken and Grace—co-founders of Know Honesty and authors of the new book by the same name—for a compelling conversation about the role of open communication in business success.
Dedicated to enhancing professional lives and sim...
“You don't want to be in the role of telling people what to do, but it's encouraging people to do what you think is right, but also being open to learn from them.” - Bill Spohn
In this episode of The Entrepreneur Gene, host Laurie Barkman welcomes Bill Spohn, President and CEO of Tru Tech Tools, to discuss the characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset, the intersection of engineering and entrepreneurship, and his career ...Is your “Fourth Quarter” of life filled with purpose—or just pressure? Executive coach Scott Couchenour helps leaders over 50 design a future they won’t regret. In this episode of Succession Stories, host Laurie Barkman talks with Scott about his journey from burnout to breakthrough, and how he now guides others through mid-life reinvention with intention and clarity.
Perfect for business o...
Cheers to 5 years of Succession Stories! On our anniversary, we are excited to introduce our new feature series, The Entrepreneur Gene! A bonus for Succession Stories Podcast listeners!
Listen weekly as show host Laurie Barkman talks with founders and CEOs exploring the rewards and challenges of the entrepreneurial path.
Read more
Ghislain Gouraige, Partner at NewEdge Wealth, helps ultra-high-net-worth families and entrepreneurs navigate business transitions. Ghislain joins host Laurie Barkman to recap the firm's 2025 Onward Conference held at Carnegie Mellon University and valuable insights to help you prepare before a sale:
- Success factors to prepare personally and financially
- How to maximize business value
What happens when a successful entrepreneur faces his own turning point? In this episode, Laurie Barkman sits down with Jon Goldman, CEO of Turning Point, to discuss his journey from co-owning the innovative promotional products company Lumpy Mail to navigating his own business succession. Jon shares insights on guiding leaders toward discovering their life purpose, aligning personal and company values, and upgrading p...
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are one of the best-kept secrets in business succession planning. In this episode, Laurie Barkman sits down with Dan Zugell, Senior Vice President at Business Transition Advisors and a nationally recognized expert in ESOPs, to explore how these plans create financial value, enhance employee engagement, and offer unique transition options for business owners.
Dan share...
Is your business truly valuable—or just another job you’ve created for yourself? In this episode of Succession Stories, Laurie Barkman speaks with Justin Goodbread, award-winning exit planner, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur who has built and sold six businesses.
Justin shares how he doubled the value of his financial services firm in just 18 months, the key to making your busi...
Join Matthew Powell, CEO of Century Companies and a fourth-generation family business leader, along with host Laurie Barkman, as they explore the art of building sustainable, multi-generational enterprises. In a world of short-term exits, Matthew champions a different path—creating lasting value for stakeholders by thinking in centuries, not just years.
Through insightful conversations with...
🎙️ Discover how scaling starts with mindset in this insightful episode of Succession Stories!
Laurie Barkman welcomes Jennifer Dawn, a seasoned entrepreneur, business coach, and host of the Happy Productive podcast, to share her journey of building and selling businesses. From launching her first venture at age 8 to founding Quantix, a software company for the attractions and amusement industry, Jennifer ...
Christin Cardone McClave knows firsthand the complexities of leading and selling a multigenerational family business.
Host Laurie Barkman talks with Christin about her journey of navigating leadership roles at her family’s third-generation business, CARDONE Industries. During her tenure as Chief People Officer and COO, she helped the company reach an impressive $1B revenue milestone. In May 2019, she played a pivotal role in the su...
- Read more
Daniel Feiman, is an internationally recognized leader in the areas of strategy, succession, and leadership development. He’s the Founder and Managing Director of Build It Backwards, a consulting and training firm working with small businesses and enterprises in over 30 countries including Apple and Hilton Hotels.
He’s also the author of “THE Book on...Succession Planning Systems.” Listen in as Laurie and ...
174: Redefine Your Purpose: The Transformative Journey Beyond The Entrepreneurial Exit, Jerome Myers
Did you know that only 20% of businesses sell... and 75% of owners express regret after selling?
Dive in as Succession Stories host, Laurie Barkman, talks with Jerome Myers about why just 5 out of 100 of businesses exit with excellence.
Jerome is the founder of Exodus and an award-winning engineer turned business strategist who helps leaders navigate post-exit transitions. Through his NEO Nav...
Laurie Barkman interviews Albert Ciuksza to challenges faced by millennial successors as they take over from baby boomer predecessors. Listen in as they discuss Albert's new book, “Succeeding: Stepping Up Without Stepping In It."
There's a demographic shift, with 10,000 baby boomers retiring daily from 2024 to 2027, often skipping over Gen X. There are emotional dynamics of succession that can sabotage successful transitions due to...
Laurie Barkman interviews brothers and business partners, David and Chris Sinkinson, about their experience as co-founders of AppArmor, a bootstrapped SaaS business with a $40 million exit. They discuss the importance of understanding product-market fit, the role of unhappy customers in identifying issues, and the significance of recurring revenue in their app business. The conversation highlights the value of building...
Today’s episode is a rewind of one of our favorite conversations with Karen Norheim, a second generation CEO of American Crane, a manufacturing company founded by her father. The show first aired in 2021.
Listen in as show host Laurie Barkman, The Business Transition Sherpa, talks with Karen about what fueled their succession story.
Karen stepped into her new role with curiosity and tenacity ...
Popular Podcasts
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com