From Big Law to Small Business M&A - Main Street Deal #3 скачать в хорошем качестве

From Big Law to Small Business M&A - Main Street Deal #3

In this episode of Main Street Deals, Sam Rosati and Kevin Henderson step back from deal breakdowns to share the origin story behind their partnership and the law firm they built to serve the small business acquisition community. Kevin walks through his path from growing up in California to Michigan Law and the highest levels of big law, navigating the 2008 financial crisis, burnout, and ultimately walking away from the corporate grind. From there, the conversation shifts to how a connection through the emerging ETA community led to the launch of their firm and why they saw a massive gap in legal services for small business buyers. They also unpack what today’s searchers and independent sponsors actually look like, how deals are being financed, and the industries attracting the most activity. Drawing from hundreds of transactions, they share perspective on who is buying businesses, how those deals are structured, and what makes this ecosystem different from traditional private equity. They discuss: Kevin’s journey from big law to entrepreneurship and why he chose to launch his own firm How the ETA community helped spark the creation of a law firm built for small business buyers The typical profile of today’s SMB acquirer, including age range, background, and financing strategies The difference between self-funded searchers and independent sponsors Common industries and deal structures across lower middle market transactions Why operating experience gives a different lens than traditional M&A law Links: SMB Law Group - https://smblaw.group/ Eric on LinkedIn -   / eric-b-pacifici   Kevin on LinkedIn -   / khendersonco   Sam on LinkedIn -   / sam-rosati-68787a8   Topics: 00:00 - Intro 02:09 - Kev’s origin story 06:40 - Lessons from a solo-practice upbringing 08:42 - Chasing top-tier deal training 14:11 - Burnout, in-house pivot & COVID 17:45 - ETA/Twitter DMs to a real firm 21:05 - Building a sustainable pipeline 25:03 - Why the ETA community needed a specialized SMB M&A law firm 28:28 - Buyer demographics 33:49 - How buyers finance acquisitions 37:59 - Independent sponsors explained 44:21 - Deal volume, war stories, and the entrepreneur-lawyer perspective