Growth-Drive's Business Advisor Coffee Klatsch

About Growth-Drive's Business Advisor Coffee Klatsch

Every week a group of senior pros gather to dig into business advisory strategies, best practices, and client cases. Open to all - join the conversation every Tue @ 0930 ET - link below.

Publisher

George Sandmann

Category

business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Feb 2025

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

80 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026

   Coffee Klatsch 10-20-2026

   Summary How do great advisors actually build referral relationships? In this episode of the Coffee Klatsch, George Sandmann previews the new Growth-Drive user interface and portfolio view before heading off to ACG Philadelphia, and Peter explains why "Can I Borrow Your Car?" is a culture change tool as much as a sales approach, ahead of February's Fearless facilitation training. Then Paul asks the question that takes over the hour: what really works for building a pipeline? Mike Garrison calls for written strategy, regenerative referrals, and speaking (with writing as "the gym for consultants"). Member of the year Eric Owen shares how he hosts his own networking events and leads an EPI chapter so he controls the room. When Mitch asks how to vet a business broker, the group's advice is to ask about their favorite client, ask about the deal that went wrong, and lean on the community first. Mike Laskowski shares his COI primer, Steven pitches a board-game networking night, and a Dungeons & Dragons dinner story shows how relationships deepen once you find common ground. The lightning round lands on one message: be more human, give first, and be interested rather than interesting. Keywords Coffee Klatsch, referrals, networking, centers of influence, COI primer, Provisors, EPI, BEI chapter, XPX, speaking, writing, hosting networking events, relational equity, give before you take, business brokers, investment bankers, vetting referral partners, Can I Borrow Your Car, Fearless facilitation, Bowen theory, owner dependence, Growth-Drive UI, portfolio view, member of the year, Growth-Drive community Chapters 00:00 Pre-show banter and Tip's annual review season 05:46 George on the road and the new user interface 07:05 The sash, the scepter, and member of the year 09:06 Fearless facilitation training this February 10:05 "Can I Borrow Your Car?" as a culture change agent 12:42 Inside the new UI and the coming portfolio view 19:28 Paul's question: what actually builds a pipeline? 20:38 Networking through community and volunteering 22:50 Written strategy and regenerative referrals 25:30 Why speaking and writing win clients 27:31 Leadership roles and hosting your own networking event 33:41 How to vet a business broker: ask about their favorite client 38:44 Porsches, Jeeps, and who you trust with your referrals 40:42 Ask about the deal that went wrong 42:46 Lean on the community first 45:34 The COI primer: give before you ask 49:36 Start your own chapter and control the room 52:59 A board game networking night 56:02 From transactional to relational equity 1:00:16 Lightning round: final takeaways

2. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Coffee Klatsch 10-13-2026

   Summary Fresh off the Growth-Drive Summit in Charleston, the Coffee Klatsch crew gathers to unpack what stuck. George Sandmann leads a candid debrief: Carl Cox's execution exercise and the "Could, Should, Must, Will" filter for cutting through the noise, the power of table assignments that gave newcomers a real voice, and the summit's one flaw (a room too loud to hear your own table). Mike Garrison shares how a six-hour drive home with Peter turned into a recorded strategy session that rewrote their client approach, giving us the lifeguard analogy: let clients swim, jump in only when they go under. The group digs into moving from expert to guide, using AI to rehearse client conversations and analyze meeting transcripts, and the Fearless facilitation training coming this February. In the closing lightning round, one theme rises above the rest: this community is the magic, and the challenge now is getting more of its 284 members engaged. Keywords Growth-Drive Summit, Coffee Klatsch, Could Should Must Will, facilitation, strategic intent, expert vs. guide, lifeguard analogy, succession planning, case study, table workshops, study groups, BEI, EPI, CLARITY, CLAIRE AI, AI role-play, discovery calls, Fearless training, sales coaching, revenue durability, business advisory community, private business owners Chapters 00:00 Pre-show banter: weather, winter travel, and the Charleston-to-Roanoke road trip 09:18 Mike Garrison's AI article for private equity players 11:08 Summit takeaway: Carl Cox's execution exercise 12:30 Could, Should, Must, Will: a facilitation tool for priorities 14:20 Rereading the Growth-Drive book after the summit 18:07 The BEI handouts and five client-facing succession articles 21:06 Table conversations: "the coffee klatsch on steroids" 23:32 How impactful were the table assignments? 25:53 Seeing it from the owner's side of the table 28:00 The one drawback: a room too loud to hear 31:19 Doing the homework: case study prep and a pre-summit webinar 33:21 Same format next year? Plus BEI timing 35:08 Case formats and democratizing study groups 38:17 Wrestling with the big strategic ideas 41:06 A six-hour car debrief and the lifeguard analogy 46:04 Community is the magic 48:37 Creating deal flow: from expert to guide 49:59 Owning the language: role-play and AI-powered prep 54:59 Don't solve, don't sell: rethinking the discovery call 55:46 Fearless facilitation training and the sales cohort 57:51 Lightning round: final takeaways 1:07:46 284 members and the engagement challenge

3. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Coffee Klatsch 09-29-2026

   Summary This Coffee Klatsch session features real-time deal talk between advisors, led by Eric sharing two live transactions — a 90/10 ownership flip between brothers-in-law and a minority buy-in for three key employees. Chad brings a fresh case for group input: valuing a cybersecurity company mid-partner-dispute with newly signed contracts not yet reflected in historical earnings, sparking a detailed discussion on weighting future revenue, customer concentration risk, and earnout structuring. Mitch, a former business owner who sold to private equity, adds firsthand color on what earnouts actually feel like post-close — including a memorable payroll scare the day after his sale — and stresses the value of coaching sellers to mentally let go of control before closing. Julie, an HR executive, contributes perspective on the human and cultural fallout of ownership transitions, especially when former owners stay on. The session closes with takeaways emphasizing the value of real deal experience over theory, and the importance of building deeper one-on-one relationships within the community ahead of the upcoming Summit. Keywords Management buyout, ownership transition, earnout structuring, seller note, normalized EBITDA, valuation adjustments, customer concentration, minority ownership, deal structuring, cookie jar syndrome, third-party valuation, employment agreements, post-sale transition, coaching sellers, cybersecurity company sale, family business conflict, Growth-Drive Summit Chapters - 00:39 – Introductions and casual catch-up - 06:53 – Summit travel plans and Charleston chat - 07:45 – Eric's deal #1: brothers-in-law flipping 90/10 ownership - 12:11 – How day-to-day roles were restructured ahead of the flip - 15:21 – Valuation disagreement: unrealistic forecasts and record-year EBITDA - 18:35 – Chad's case: valuing a cybersecurity company mid-partner split - 20:00 – Group input on weighting future contracted revenue - 21:00 – Eric's past deal: proving margin gains added $500K to sale price - 25:48 – Distinguishing booked contracts from projected pipeline - 27:23 – Second deal: minority buy-in for three key employees - 31:12 – Suggestion: using a third-party valuation for objectivity - 33:09 – Uncovering "cookie jar syndrome" and compensation imbalance - 34:46 – Structuring earnouts and seller notes to manage risk - 39:23 – Mitch shares his own earnout experience and lessons - 44:02 – Julie on best practices for post-sale employment agreements - 46:17 – The risk of forcing an ownership relationship that isn't working - 47:46 – Family business dynamics and sibling roles - 51:39 – Mitch's story: the day-after-sale payroll scare - 52:52 – Letting go of control after a sale - 53:29 – Transition to closing takeaways - 53:33 – Paul's takeaway: "exit right," not "exit left" - 54:07 – Mike's takeaway: coaching vs. advising, intangible value - 55:02 – Teresa's takeaway: reconnecting with the community - 55:36 – Mitch's takeaway: appreciating situational, story-driven discussion - 56:34 – Julie's takeaway: coaching and open-ended questions - 57:33 – Jemaiah's takeaway: the value of a like-minded expert community - 59:28 – Chad's takeaway: the reminder of why these calls matter - 59:52 – Eric's closing thoughts and Summit encouragement

Podcast Authority Score: 35 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

71

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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