Reviews by Private Equity Professionals

Carl has written a book that goes far beyond a treatise on valuation.  He has outlined the intellectual and emotional landscape of entrepreneurship, while offering completely practical methods of ensuring the enterprise is both financially and personally satisfying.

Stan Sewitch, Founder
KI Investment Holdings, LLC

Carl has condensed a lifetime of business lessons and insight into a thoughtful examination of how to maximize business value.  Beyond the balance sheet, he identifies multiple factors that can have an effect on a business and how others perceive it.  This book is a must-read for not only business owners looking to sell their businesses but also the trusted advisory network surrounding those business owners.  CPAs, attorneys, financial advisors, bankers and investors will all benefit from Carl’s experience and wisdom.

Jay L. Rogers, President & Founder
Alpha Strategies Investment Consulting

Most business owners believe their value comes from what appears on their financial statements – sales, gross profit, EBITDA or net income. However, all acquirers buy the future, not the past, and the future is always driven by intangibles. In Equity Value Enhancement, Carl Sheeler creates a compelling argument for why and how business owners should use A-level advisors to identify and leverage their intangibles to maximize the value of their time, effort and investment.

Timothy G. Malott, Partner, Shoreline Partners, LLC, President/CEO
ShP Securities, LLC

Excellent book, though I would expect nothing less from the inimitable Dr. Carl Sheeler!  The author is a seasoned experienced business advisor who fully understands that a successfully closed deal is not just a check-in-the-box event, but a well-orchestrated ensemble of human contributors who each bring their best to all parties involved.  Valuation presented from a viewpoint that will benefit business owners and advisors alike; a must-read.

Tina Marino, President
The Heim Group, Inc.

When I met Carl Sheeler, I was struck by his intellect and his generosity as a connector. The same spirit is found in this book. A great read for the business owner looking to understand and create value in his/her business and recognizing that you can't do it alone— you must find great advisors. Once again, Carl connects the business owner to the advisor with sage-like advice."

John C. Henberger, Jr., President
Henberger Group Inc., Developer of IntelligentExit(r) "Helping Entrepreneurs Finish Strong” ™

Carl’s book Equity Valuation, A Tool to Enhance Value and Mitigate Risk makes me feel fortified in my practice as a strategist and conscious capitalist. Two other books I believe in like Carl’s are Value-Based Marketing for Bottom Line Success and In the Era of Human Capital. Each lead me to apply how to identify the customer’s value proposition and to understand how to contribute and recognize my role in helping a customer actualize it.  Value is ephemeral. On what seems like a moment’s notice, it can rise or fall, become deep or shallow, reachable or more distant.  Perspective and vision are the duality of value, leading to how it’s originated then generated and ultimately harvested. It ebbs and flows between the entrepreneur and the organization being led, pulsing capitalism worldwide. Critical thinking, innovation and leadership are its hallmarks.

Carl’s book is like a prism with his filters over its lens, enabling the reader to apply governance, risk, relationships and knowledge to the continuum that investment builders, like me, need to generate and sustain equity over time. He helps set the stage so the business model plan is calibrated and based on the entrepreneur’s ability to select advisors, like Carl to realize how to transition the plan from perspective to prescription. It’s a must-read for value seekers and equity owners in today’s world.

Robert Mance
Ford Mance Capital Advisors

Carl has opened up the next generation of professional development for the industry, bringing both practitioner issues and value accretion for one’s clients and practice to the surface.  Many professionals not only suffer the technical myopia that Carl details here but also let it negatively affect their relationships with clients.  As Carl says, access to knowledge is often one the biggest barriers to success and wealth. One of the biggest issues I see is that knowledge is often tied up in professional jargon that is disconnected with the business journey that an entrepreneur is undertaking. Because of this, many business owners cannot see the true value of straightforward advice or the millions of dollars their mismanagement can cost their company.  Carl’s suggestions help entrepreneurs do their own due diligence on the quality and level of advisor team they need to succeed.

A very valuable book for professionals, owners, and CEOs to evaluate the true merit of the business they are creating.

Adrian K. Bray ACMA, CGMA, MioD, MiEx, Chairman
Assay Advisory

Equity Value Enhancement is a practical guide to the many different perspectives of the participants in the value creation process delivering a terrific 360 degree view of risk and return.

Jeffrey Kadlic, Co-Founder & Managing Director
Evolution Capital Partners

Over an almost 40 year career I have been an investment banker, an advisor to private equity firm management teams, a company director and an owner of small businesses.  Mr. Sheeler’s book expertly describes the way to optimize the effectiveness of professionals in each of these rolls (and several more!).  I wish I could have read it 40 years ago. I could have avoided lots of on-the-job learning!

Kevin K. Albert
Pantheon Ventures

Carl Sheeler’s book is not just one more text about business management. It’s a generous offer of an extensive and rich experience in the broad area of advisory and management of privately-held businesses. I see this book as a comprehensive toolkit for managing risks and creating value, a gift full of secrets and useful insights for all the involved “constituents” in those ventures.  

Joao Pereira Nunes, Private Equity & Business Advisor
Joao Pereira Nunes Co.

Creating equity value in a business is a puzzle with many pieces. Few entrepreneurs are aware of the nature and number of pieces or the complexities involved in putting them together. Many of their advisers often only know their piece and perhaps a few adjacent pieces. Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires all the pieces to come together. Carl's book makes a compelling case for a new advisory role that entrepreneurs and their advisors should embrace to obtain better results: a person who helps the entrepreneurs put their puzzle together. I think he nailed that role by calling it the "Strategic Value Architect".

Leo Klijn, Principal
Henberger

Dr.Sheeler demonstrates a clear understanding of what is real value in an enterprise, explained in a manner that touches on the intangibles that all deal participants should embrace. His creative approach and tools on how to establish and measure equity valuation will no doubt surprise some, but those of us involved in the  everyday global transactional world can now justify equity valuation that appear to be unearthly as now rational. "Equity value Enhancement" is a must read for the responsible deal maker."

Randolph L.Tom, Chairman-Founder-Managing Member
Dynasty Capital Services LLC