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John Langston

Politician

Sep 17, 2026

12:52
Yeah, I think, you know, is there is there a specific deal that comes to mind, John, that like being whether it's your firm or some other firm, like bringing in that right advisor, change the outcome for the seller in a way that was meaningful and maybe beyond the expectations of the client?
13:12
Yeah, look, I mean, first of all, I would say firsthand we've experienced clients who've gotten an initial unsolicited bid for somebody comes in, they hire us, we put together a professional process, we very diplomatically communicate with that group, bring in other bidders, and you see the bid go up 20%.
13:27
Happens all the time.
13:29
So that's normal, frankly.
13:30
That's why I don't have any issue with the 24%.
13:33
But I'll give you a quick example where I think an advisor can add a lot of value, even to a very well-intentioned client.
13:39
I've had clients say, I'm a really ethical, honest person.

9 MINS LATER

23:05
What made this? And then how did you navigate it? And what did that teach you about just deal structure broadly and how you're approaching this?
12:17
As you think about the role of an advisor in this kind of crucial and also emotional journey of selling part or all the business, what advice would you offer them so they can be most helpful to business owner clients?
12:32
Yeah, I think it's a great question.
12:34
Just quickly as a bridge to this, I'll explain the title behind the book of 24% More.
12:40
There was research done on 13,000, over 13,000 private company transactions going back the last 20 years.
12:47
University of Alabama, Portland State, And then the Ultra High Network Division of Northern Trust did these studies.
12:53
And what they found is that on average, a private company that engaged a competent investment banker on average received, it was actually 25% more on their transaction value.
13:04
I felt like that seemed not to be a research-based number, and I wanted to lower it, so I went with 24%.

30 MINS LATER

43:11
Can you just talk about the evolution of your own giving and why, you know, how did you end up doing that? Start with the Langston Fellows and then tell us a little bit about the center.

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