DATES AND TOPICS:

June 1st – LIVE – AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH AN OWNER: EXIT, FAILURE, RETRY, SUCCESS with the Chapter Leadership Team and Their Clients
A take on our normally virtual “Perspectives Series: Entrepreneurs Revealed,” this live, in-person conversation will provide powerful insights from two to three owners who have had a successful exit, tried and failed, or are in the process. Join us for a frank conversation including why they exited (or are considering it), how they chose their advisory team, how they decided between internal versus external options, what they did (or didn’t do) to prepare, and what they wish they would have known then that they know now.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Gain powerful insights from exited owners themselves regarding:

• Why their first exit deal failed
• How they choose their advisors
• Why they completed internal versus external transitions
• How much preparation they did for their transition
• What they wish they would have known

July 6^th – VIRTUAL – Outcome-Focused Planning presented by Joe Strazzeri and Shelley Lightfoot
Successful Families and Business Owners often pressure their advisors to get straight to the solution for whatever their ow-ee is. This urgency mindset tends to cause us, as the trusted advisor, to feel like we need to jump to asset-centric strategies, products, and/or transactions. Starting with urgency is a band aid: apply, rip, repeat; or even worse, forget to take it off – causing the need to redo the work in the future. It’s likely the outcome will be less than they hoped for, and the family may not understand why.
Join Joe and Shelley to find out how planning for efficacy, based on verified data and a genuine understanding of the relational motives, will be your differentiator to attracting and engaging HNW clients. Learn what it takes to build a lasting outcome for your clients as well as maximize future deployment of their material assets.

Learning Objectives:
As a result of participating in the session, attendees will be able to:

• Learn why The Invisible Guest of Motive can cause a family or an advisor to push for Urgency over Efficacy – and how to avoid it.
• Determine whether you are chasing a case or building a business – one with future enterprise value.
• Re-energize your practice by gaining the language and tools to slow down at the onset in order to transform your client’s outcomes.

August 3^rd – LIVE – Helping Owners Vet and Fill the Gaps: A Cross-Functional Dialogue
As the discipline of exit planning continues to expand, business owners have access to more services than ever to help them prepare their business for growth, efficiency, succession, sale, or transition. However, choosing the right-fit consultants, coaches, fractional services, operating systems, DIY tools, implementers, executive team, personal planners, etc. (not to mention how and when to transition out of the business), can be an overwhelming process that leaves many owners feeling stuck, and often resulting in wasted resources, time, a regretful decision.
This panel discussion will bring clarity to the many resources available as well as awareness of some of the avoidable blind spots – and provide you with the confidence to help your clients choose and assess their right-fit advisory teams.

Learning Objectives:

• Solidify engagements and long-lasting relationships as well as grow and expand your practice by gaining clarity around strategic partnering opportunities for you and your clients.
• Gain a comprehensive overview of the expanding business/exit planning landscape—including operating systems, DIY tools, and specialized consultants.
• Learn how to identify, assess, and select the appropriate mix of consultants, fractional services, and professionals based on your client’s unique combination of personal and business needs and goals.

October 5^th – VIRTUAL – Emerging Market Opportunities: Scaling Up with Smart Money; presented by Colleen Ferrary and Aaron Brand
Not all business owners are the same, and neither are their paths to growth or their distinct personal drivers and business challenges.
Beyond the $20M+ companies, many Main Street businesses have immense potential but struggle with outdated mindsets, funding fears, or operational gaps that make scaling feel impossible. Are they debt-averse or ready for investors? And more importantly—are they operationally ready to handle growth capital without breaking?
Join Colleen and Aaron as they dive into the nuances of scaling an emerging business, assessing operational readiness, and finding the right funding strategy for their unique journey.
Help your clients not only understand strategies to grow their business but decide among a myriad of financing options—from traditional bank lending and SBA programs to private equity or venture capital, seller financing, employee ownership, and other creative deal structures. And learn how to identify whether they’re ready to deploy that capital successfully or what needs to be fixed first.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Diagnose the operational infrastructure gaps that kill financing deals before they start—learn how to audit a client’s systems, processes, and team structure to determine if they can absorb and deploy capital effectively (or what must be fixed first).
• Build a capital-readiness roadmap that matches financing type to operational maturity—understand which operational milestones unlock which funding options, and how to sequence improvements so clients qualify for better terms and preserve more control.
• Identify the red flags lenders and investors see in due diligence—and implement the financial hygiene, KPI visibility, and process documentation that make businesses fundable, bankable, and acquisition-ready.

November 2^nd – LIVE – Speed Dating: Always Know Who to Call!
Great collaborative advisors realize they can’t do it all, but they always know who to call! Join your fellow members for this fast-paced method to learn more about each other, while practicing your conversations with business owners. Get to know each other on a new level.
Learning Objectives:

• Learn from and get to know fellow EPI members and the expertise they bring to the table.
• Access collaborative resources to help your business owner
• Build relationships and share your own best practices

December 8^th – VIRTUAL – Virtual Business Owner Interview
This short 30-minute Zoom conversation will provide powerful insights from an owner who had a successful exit, tried and failed, or are in the process. Join us for a frank conversation including why they exited (or are considering it), how they chose their advisory team, how they decided between internal versus external options, what they did (or didn’t do) to prepare, and what they wish they would have known then that they know now.
Learning Objectives:
Gain powerful insights from exited owners themselves regarding:

• Why their first exit deal failed
• How they choose their advisors
• Why they completed internal versus external transitions
• How much preparation they did for their transition
• What they wish they would have known

Please check the box(es) of the date(s) you will attend our EPI San Francisco Chapter Meetings. Provide the requested information and click the button at the bottom to register.

Additionally, you will receive an email reminder one day and one hour before the registered session(s).