Smart Business Dealmakers

06/13/2024

Incredible class of inductees this year to the Cleveland Dealmakers Hall of Fame. Kudos to great careers for Rocco Di Lillo, Ron Weinberg, Steve McHale, Ansir Junaid, and David Heller. And they’re not close to being done yet!

04/25/2024

The stage is set for the 2024 Baltimore Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by First National Bank. Hundreds of attendees are ready to network with and learn from the region’s top dealmakers.

03/14/2024

Huge thanks to our keynote speakers at the St., Louis, Smart, Business, Dealmakers Conference: Donn Rubin of BioSTL, of and Han Ko of USAKO. And happy 314 Day!

03/14/2024

Off and running at the St. Louis Smart Business Dealmakers Conference! Ready for a day full of meaningful insights and great networking.

02/29/2024

Another packed house for the kickoff of the 2024 Pittsburgh Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe. Seven years of insights into middle-market M&A trends. Thanks to all of our sponsors!

11/02/2023

Wrapping up our panel discussions in Minneapolis with the inspiring story of , CEO of SOAR Leadership Groups and former CEO of Forever Bride

11/02/2023

Underway with the Minneapolis Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by Taft, at the beautiful Interlachen Country Club. Another sellout event!

11/02/2023

Breakfast game is 🔥 at Interlachen Countey Ckub for today’s Minneapolis Dealmakers Conference.

10/05/2023

Our Midday Keynote: Insights from a Visionary Entrepreneur with .wong, co-founder of “If you can’t make it through a down cycle, you probably shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing.”

10/05/2023

Under way at the 2023 Chicago Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by at the beautiful Union League Club of Chicago

07/18/2023

Biju Kulathakal is the co-founder and CEO of Halo Investing, the first independent multi-issuer technology platform for Structured Notes, connecting investment advisors and their clients to the world’s largest banks. He stops by to talk about launching the company, pitching to investors and growing the business from an idea to more than 200 employees working in 5 countries. Link in bio.

06/01/2023

Incredible kickoff to our Cleveland conference with co-owner Dee Haslam, CEO Chris Adams and Findaway founder . With moderator Jeff Bechtel of First National Bank.

03/30/2023

Good morning, Nashville! Ready to go for another sold out event. Thanks to our presenting sponsor and all our supporting and specialty sponsors.

03/23/2023

Incredible kickoff panel at the Boston Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by , with Jerry Sargent, Rob Hale, Tony Oh and David Dunstan. 400+ entrepreneurs, investors and advisers registered for a day of learning and connecting.

03/02/2023

Kicking off our second of 16 conferences this year in St. Louis. 300+ entrepreneurs, investors & advisers registered to get the latest M&A trends.

02/09/2023

Packed house this morning for the SOLD OUT Pittsburgh Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe. Always a great turnout in .

12/10/2022

From .voinovich 's position as principal at Ohio Innovation Fund, she's seeing an increase in new blood via internships interested in entrepreneurship, eager to work with or start new ventures that can make an impact through meaningful work. Illustrating that change, she says applications for internships with the Fund have gone from a couple hundred to nearly 5,000 in a few years for just five spots. In this episode of the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast, she talks about what she's seeing on the ground as an investor with an Ohio focus, as well as how investment sourcing at the Fund has been affected by the pandemic and ongoing economic uncertainty.













PODCAST ART 192 - Faith Voinovich.png

10/15/2022

Hire Character. Train skill. - Peter Schutz

07/22/2022

“Capital isn’t scarce. Vision is.” – Sam Walton

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06/22/2022

Investing in downtown Baltimore isn't always easy, but there are opportunities out there. F.N.B. Corporation Corp.'s Mac Tisdale, MCB Real Estate, LLC's P. David Bramble, Chasen Companies' Brandon Chasen and Downtown Partnership of Baltimore's Shelonda Stokes discuss the opportunities available for investors. https://hubs.la/Q01ffF7R0

MCB Real Estate's P. David Bramble, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore's Shelonda Stokes, Chasen Companies' Brandon Chasen and FNB Corp.'s Mac Tisdale discuss the opportunities available for investors in downtown Baltimore.

06/02/2022

"We were growing but not quite as fast as we were hoping to. And then the pandemic hit and virtual learning skyrocketed." Co-founder & COO Christine Nicodemus discusses last year's sale of Ascend to Aperture Education.

Christine Nicodemus spoke on Ascend's acquisition by Aperture Education.

05/24/2022

Gaming is not just what your kids do in the basement. The eSports industry is booming and capital is rushing in, says eSports partner Scott Norcross.

"I think that you'll see that live gaming will be over a $2 billion industry within a year at this point," Scott says. "So, I would say this for any investor, if you were interested to get in the space, you can kind of pick your sweet spot where you're the most comfortable that probably is very similar to what you're doing in your day-to-day life."

Scott was part of a panel earlier this month at the 2022 Cleveland Smart Business Dealmakers Conference on financing eSports-related companies. Moderated by Kaulig Capital, LLC's Brooke Hradisky, it also included eFuse's Matthew Benson and Jonathan Sumers of the Cleveland Cavaliers.



https://hubs.la/Q01b_hZm0

05/12/2022

Time to celebrate the 2022 Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards for Northeast Ohio. Link in bio.

05/12/2022

We’re underway at the Cleveland Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by First National Bank. 450+ of Northeast Ohio’s too M&A players talking about raising capital, buying and selling business and more! Should be a great day to talk dealmaking.

05/05/2022

Diane Pearse, who recently stepped down after a successful 6-year run as CEO of Hickory Farms, talks about the company's recent acquisitions, broadening its brand and how it took an unusual route to its purchase of WickedGoodCupcakes.

"The best part about all of this is that we did establish this relationship and when they were ready to actually sell the company they did not go through a process," she says. "They did not hire a banker. They didn't do a number of bids to basically pit two acquirers or three acquirers against one another. They said, 'This is our business. We started it. We want it to be in a home that we'll be happy for it to be someone who's going to nurture it and take it to the next level.'"

https://hubs.la/Q019B7YJ0

05/02/2022

NOBULL co-founder Marcus Wilson discusses the myriad lessons learned on his — and the company’s — whirlwind journey, including what investors bring to the table beyond funding and why building an engaged community of loyal customers has been the real key to success. https://hubs.la/Q019jrvd0

NOBULL Co-Founder and CEO Marcus Wilson on the myriad lessons learned on his — and the company’s — whirlwind journey, including what investors bring to the table beyond funding and why building an engaged community of loyal customers has been the real key to success.

03/31/2022

Serial entrepreneur Gerri Henwood, CEO of Baudax Bio, talks about her entrepreneurial experience as well as the differences — the pros and cons — of public and private funding. "The entrepreneurial bug is to figure out what's the way that will work best for shareholders, for stakeholders in the business, and forward the cause of the business at the same time."

Serial entrepreneur Gerri Henwood talks about her entrepreneurial experience as well as the differences — the pros and cons — of public and private funding.

03/28/2022

North Coast Ventures Managing Director Todd Federman assesses the 2021 deal year for early-stage companies, as well as the trends he's seeing on that end of the M&A spectrum. "Previously we might have expected 90 percent of the exits to be to a true strategic, now it could be almost half where there's a potential private equity in play," he says.

North Coast Ventures Managing Director Todd Federman on the deal year for early-stage companies, as well as the trends he's seeing on that end of the M&A spectrum.

03/23/2022

Great to be back in person in The Music City with the Nashville Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by ! Thanks to City Winery Nashville for providing the perfect venue to bring together the region's top M&A players. And thanks to our supporting and specialty sponsors: , , Pinnacle Financle Partners ( Tennesse Valley Group, Burr and

03/15/2022

17 dealmakers driving the Greater Nashville economy will be honored March 23 at the 2022 Nashville Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by . Save $100 on tickets with code IG100. Link in bio.

Ronnie Andrews of Oncocyte
Steve Berneman of
Stu Clark of
Stephen Cook of LFM Capital
Silas Deane of
David Fitzgerald of Petra Capital Partners
Debbie Gordon of Cloud Range
of Jones Therapy Services
Joshua Mundy iammrmundy of Pivot Technology School
Marjorie Morrison marjoriem of Psych Hub
Bob Rolfe of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Andrew Ross of
Eric Satz of
James Story of
Ken Thomas of .protective.services
of
of Junpstart Health Investors