Ownership & Transition
Preparing for succession, liquidity, family decisions, unsolicited offers, and the possibility of a sale.
Marshall Institute
Perspective before the decision.
Practical knowledge for business owners navigating growth, acquisitions, ownership transitions, and the decisions that shape a company’s future.
Why the Institute Exists
Important decisions should not begin with a transaction.
Owners of privately held businesses often encounter their most consequential decisions only once. The Marshall Institute was created to help them understand the questions, alternatives, risks, and tradeoffs before timing or momentum narrows their choices.
The objective is not to tell owners what to do. It is to make the decision itself more informed.
Four Areas of Focus
Built around the owner’s journey.
Content is organized around the moments when clear thinking, preparation, and experienced perspective matter most.
Growth & Acquisition
Defining acquisition criteria, evaluating targets, financing growth, and integrating what has been acquired.
Value & Readiness
Understanding earnings, working capital, transferability, diligence, valuation, and the work that should begin early.
Judgment & Execution
Comparing alternatives, negotiating terms, managing confidentiality, and protecting what matters beyond price.
Featured Long-Form Guides
Start with the decision in front of you.
Long-Form Owner Guide
When an Unsolicited Offer Arrives
How to create distance, test credibility, protect information, understand the economics, and preserve alternatives.
Read the guide Long-Form Owner GuideChoosing the Right Buyer
A practical framework for comparing strategic, financial, family, management, and individual buyers.
Read the guide Long-Form PerspectiveIs Your Business Growing—but You Never Have Cash?
Why profitable companies can become more cash-starved as they grow—and how the right kind of debt can make a business financially stronger
Read the perspectiveProject Legacy
A growing body of practical thinking for business owners.
The Marshall Institute is the publishing home for Project Legacy: original articles, owner briefings, practical guides, and decision frameworks developed to preserve useful knowledge and make it available to the next generation of owners.
About the Institute