Branching Out: A TreeFork Strategies Podcast

Elizabeth Shea sits down with Wayne Schepens, founder of LaunchTech Communications, to share the story of building a cybersecurity PR firm with the goal to sell. Wayne discusses how he created an agile business and honed a disciplined approach to growth, focusing on recurring revenue, strong margins, a client-centric approach, and a niche market strategy. He walks through how he prepared for an exit over several years, from working with an M&A advisor to building a unique team structure that reduced founder dependency. Wayne also offers candid insight into the sale process, choosing the right buyer, and the realities of post-acquisition integration. This episode is for founders who want to understand what it truly means to build a company designed for exit.

Elizabeth Shea sits down with Sean Griffey, co-founder and former CEO of Industry Dive, to discuss his journey of building a bootstrapped media company and navigating two successful exits. Sean shares how he and his co-founders left stable careers to launch niche industry publications at a time when investors were chasing "the next Buzzfeed” and why their contrarian strategy paid off. He reflects on the differences between partnering with private equity and running a competitive sale process to a strategic buyer. He also touches on the importance of financial transparency and the role of strategic communications in appealing to prospective buyers. This episode is for founders looking to maximize their enterprise value and find a buyer who aligns with their culture and long-term vision.

Elizabeth Shea sits down with John Burns, founder and managing director at Clare Advisors, a boutique M&A advisory firm specializing in marketing and advertising services agencies. John explains the advisor’s role throughout a sell-side process and shares how the marketing services landscape is evolving as AI capabilities are incorporated into the landscape and the buyer pool is becoming more diverse. He continually emphasizes that culture alignment can be the most valuable driver of true enterprise value that affects whether sellers can maximize their earn outs and retain their teams post-close. John also offers concrete ways to assess buyer fit, such as requesting references from CEOs of previously acquired companies, and reminds founders of the importance of selling when it feels “right” from a personal, financial, and operational perspective instead of jumping the gun as soon as a buyer reaches out.

In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea is joined by Karl Sigerist, author of Selling Your Canadian Business, a book written for founders contemplating the sale of their privately owned, lower middle market Canadian business. Drawing on decades of experience as an operator, buyer, seller, and advisor, Karl offers nuanced insight into why most deals fail, how lack of early planning can leave value on the table, and why founders must answer the question “why do I want to sell?” long before going to market and use this “why” to anchor the entire process. His practical advice on prudent advisor selection, emotional readiness, maintaining clean books, and recognizing the value of your brand applies to founders everywhere contemplating or navigating a transition into the next chapter. 

Ab Emam shares how WDG evolved from a single website project for a friend into a full-scale, midmarket agency he deliberately built for sale. He breaks down why founders should plan years before they initiate a transaction, why hiring the right business banker can dramatically change your multiple, and why leadership teams need to keep their eye on the ball long after receiving the letter of intent. Ab also speaks candidly about the identity shift that founders can experience after closing and the importance of putting a strong operator in place. This episode is a practical, founder-to-founder look at selling with intention and keeping your head in the game until the ink is dry.

In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea sits down with Jim Datovech, former CEO of LKC Technologies, to explore the long road from acquiring a medical device company to refining the product and orchestrating a successful exit. Jim shares how a deal that died at the last minute unexpectedly validated the company’s scalability and paved the way for a stronger deal months later. He offers candid insights on disciplined spending, legal preparedness, the importance of marketing to suitors, and why founders must align their expectations with market reality. This episode is a must-listen for leaders looking for practical advice to navigate a highly regulated industry.

In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth Shea sits down with Andrew Sherman, senior partner at Brown Rudnick, for a candid look at how deals really get priced, structured, and won. Andrew explains why M&A is cyclical, the differences between strategic and financial buyers, why sellers must perform reverse due diligence on buyers, and how to surface the “gold bars in the attic” — the intangible value drivers that buyers won’t pay for unless you point them out. He also unpacks common gotchas like PPP/EIDL distortions, rollover equity, earnouts, and under-capitalized “buyers” who look legit until it’s time to close. The bottom line: don’t just prepare your business — prepare your story, your expectations, and your deal team.

In this episode of Branching Out, Elizabeth sits down with Bess Winston, the founder of The Winston agency. She talks about how one modest media relations project-turned-campaign laid the foundation for her to meticulously build a nationally respected boutique firm with a powerhouse team before ultimately selling her agency in 2022. Bess shares her journey with the humor and unfiltered honesty only an experienced founder can bring. She sheds light on the emotional jolt of parting with a company, the importance of protecting your people, navigating post-acquisition culture shifts, the advice she wishes she hadn’t ignored, and the moment she learned the hard truth: “When you sign your name, you’re done.” This episode is for anyone weighing a major inflection point — whether you’re debating when to slow down, when to scale up, or who really deserves a seat at your deal table.

In this episode of Branching Out, Allan Klassen, former CEO and managing partner of Albi Homes, shares how he helped turn a Calgary-based luxury home builder into a “niche of one” and a strategic acquisition target which was acquired by Brookfield Residential in 2015. Allan walks through the realities of negotiating with a globally recognized asset management company, keeping a deal alive when it nearly collapsed, and the lessons he learned about non-negotiables, timing, and values alignment. He also opens up about the deeply emotional transition from entrepreneurial leader to an executive inside a finance-driven organization, and how that journey led him to a new role as Chief Experience Officer and ultimately to launching his own advisory practice, Clarity Quest. This conversation is a must-listen for founders and leaders who want to prepare not just their business — but themselves — for a future transaction.

In this episode of Branching Out, Ethan McAfee shares how he built Amify from a one-man operation in his Arlington townhouse into one of the largest Amazon agencies in the country, helping major consumer brands with their strategy content, advertising, and supply chain before selling to Cart.com in 2024.  Drawing on his earlier career as an internet stock investment analyst, Ethan explains how venture capital, market cycles, and founder energy can all factor into the timing and structure of an exit. He offers practical advice on preparing your company years ahead of a sale, reducing founder dependence, and balancing growth against burn to maintain control over your options. Now a senior advisor at a private equity fund, Ethan reflects on what it’s like to move from operator to investor-mentor — and why closing one chapter can be the best way to open the next.