At times, selling a business can feel like you’re in a dogfight.
While the stakes are not life and death, the parallels are there: high-stakes, emotionally intense battle with incomplete information about your adversary. You need to stay calm and think clearly under intense pressure, which is why we invited Hasard Lee to be our second in a special three-part series with the world’s leading experts on things founders need to master for a successful exit.
Lee, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, authored the international bestseller “The Art of Clear Thinking.” This Wall Street Journal Bestseller, #2 in U.S. business books, has been translated into multiple languages.
As a flight commander in Afghanistan, Lee led over eighty combat missions, piloting two different jets on the same day in support of ground troops. Selected to fly the F-35, a cutting-edge, costly weapons system, he later became Chief of Training Systems at the world’s largest training base, innovating pilot training technology and methods.
Lee provides a mental toolbox for founders, guiding clear thought amid the emotional challenges of selling a business. In this episode, you’ll discover how to:
- Think clearly in a crisis.
- Leverage the ACE Helix method for making better decisions.
- Find your optimal band of performance.
- Apply power laws to your decision-making.
- Visualize a negotiation by”chair flying.”
- Prepare to meet with an acquirer using a military technique called “red teaming.”
- Overcome bad decisions before they turn lethal.
📽️ Clip of the Week
In this clip, Hasard Lee shares a framework for how to make smart decisions under intense stress.
📣 Quote of the Week
“I think it comes down to preparation. And even though you are only going to get one shot at selling your company, you can still do a lot of preparation.”
– Hasard Lee, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and author of The Art of Clear Thinking
📈 Deals
- Roofing Corp of America (RCA), one of the largest commercial roofing enterprises in North America, specializing in a broad range of roofing services, has been acquired y FirstService Corporation, an outsourced property services in North America. RCA, known for its end-to-end roofing solutions, operates from 16 regional branches across 11 U.S. states and has a workforce of over 900 professionals. The company generates annual revenues of approximately $400 million. In this strategic acquisition, FirstService has secured a controlling interest in RCA for $413 million, while RCA’s senior leadership, including CEO Randy Korach, retains a portion of the equity and will continue managing the business. The funding for this acquisition comes from a combination of cash on hand and FirstService’s existing revolving credit facility, which has a total borrowing capacity of $1.25 billion.
Watch the full interview with Hasard Lee.
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