Instead they leverage their knowledge and relationships to the advantage of their business clients and fellow advisors with whom they collaborate. They are connectors. They invest the time and resources to develop deep relationships, not solely more transactions. This is why I see myself as a steward, a chief-of-staff, and a “strategic value architect.” Trusted advisors who embrace the “it takes a village” notion of collaboration, I dedicate this book to you.
Kelly, Rafiq and Boxy : I would not know which day it is, when and who to call, and where to go without your steady reminders. You are my magic ecosystem that frees up invaluable time and the best human capital I have had the privilege of knowing. May abundance befall you and yours. God bless.
Adrienne Moch : I've been at this for three decades and I am not always able to string the right words to my thoughts to ensure the best balance of communication and intent. If you love purple and Chicago and somebody who edits like no tomorrow, contact Adrienne.
It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how a strong man stumbles, or when the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of his achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring bravely, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat.
On April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States of America, gave this compelling speech in Paris, France. Its wisdom is as applicable today as then.
Foreword
I have known Carl for 20+ years from the first time he walked me not only to the door of his office, but to the elevator to the lobby and out to my car. I knew this was somebody with whom I would do business. He walks the talk. We've been referring top clients and advisors back and forth ever since.
Philosopher and Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus stated, “Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.” Never before have words jumped off pages of a valuation and equity value creation book and impacted me the way Carl's book has. I'm not surprised. Valuation usually presents itself as an academic exercise, but it is in fact a tool that can change people's lives, and it's about time somebody said so.
The greatest risk of any wealthy individual's life is that they never achieve some significant measure of fulfillment while on this planet – as Carl references from “success to significance.”
While success for a few might be defined as the amount of money or assets they accumulate during their lifetime, for most it is the less calculable metrics of having the time to do good in their communities. It is the way posterity will remember their family's name or legacy. Carl's book bridges this gap from this holistic “ecosystem” perspective to that of the families' “constituents” – most often thought of as their advisors and clients but, as he illustrates, much, much more.
The greatest risk for any professional advisor (I am referring to accountants, attorneys, bankers, and financial advisors), assuming they serve wealthy entrepreneurial individuals, families, and Family Offices, is that they will only contribute to wealth preservation by offering common product and services. They will seldom make any measurable contribution to the more hard-to-measure attributes for their wealthy clients (and for that matter, for themselves). Carl's book offers an alternative narrative where all achieve an aligned vision and share in the success.
I am a certified public accountant and my business office is physically located within a multi-family office. Here, we primarily serve two ultra-wealthy families, originating from two brothers and their spouses. They had 6 children who in turn have had 19 children, making us a third-generation family.
While I am a CPA, I do not prepare income tax returns or financial statements, which are the two services most typically associated with being a CPA. I do indeed review income tax returns prepared by other CPAs on our families' behalf, and sometimes also work in other technical areas, such as income tax controversy representation and estate and gift tax planning and reviewing legal documents.
For the most part, I assist my families with matters that might be described as nontechnical, which are typically not associated with being a CPA. I have been serving these families for almost 25 years. I call what I do “family governance.”
But as Carl points out, I leverage my knowledge and relationships. This translates into differentiation and a higher level of services, superior clients, and more revenue.
I have known Carl on a professional and personal basis. His grasp of families' governance issues – a charter, its strategy and execution, as well as its value measurement and management – is rarely matched. Family governance means I am available to Family Office employees and owners and members (patriarch, CEO, CFO, etc.), to family members who are not actively participating in the Family Office's operations, and to all of the professional advisors that serve the Family Office and all of its individual stakeholders.
Carl's and my main focus is to remain central to (consigliere) all of these associated relationships, so that an open and transparent platform exists. Our main goals here are:
1. Make sure that all of the work that we do is consistent with the families' value and mission statements and culture.
2. Provide all stakeholders (constituents) an easy-to-access resource to ask questions and discuss ideas. Help them find and leverage resources they want and, in essence, help in any way we can.
3. Save the valuable time of key personnel in the Family Office or family business who do not want to ask 10 different professional advisors the same question.
4. Look at all of the risks associated with the business decisions we make, with an “outside view” so that we do not have bad surprises.
Also, and not solely associated with my own Family Office services, we counsel CPAs, attorneys, bankers, insurers, and wealth advisors. My focus for wealth advisors is to help them to make the CPAs they interact with heroes to the CPAs' very best clients. This is a different business model than what most wealth advisors use: Most try to reach end-users (aka customers or clients) directly and not through CPAs.
And for CPAs and attorneys, we assist them in becoming the Most Trusted Business Advisor to their very best business and real estate owning clients. This, too, is a different business model than that used by most. Like many advisors, they have a lot of clients, most of which are not of an “A” variety but rather are of “B” and “C” variety, and they focus on doing large volumes of compliance/regulatory work. This is a model for mediocrity.
Carl led a countywide initiative during and after the financial crisis called Strategic Trusted Advisors Roundtable (STAR). STAR addressed these professional deficiencies that culminated in a higher level of connecting of professionals in order that they might provide a more integrated, holistic, and economically more efficient and effective model of doing good for business clients and fellow professionals.
It also succeeded in enhancing the depth and breadth of each member's service offerings, resulting in higher billings and client caliber. It focuses on deeper relationships versus solely technical knowledge and transactions. I remain a board member and cross the bridge to bring broader perspectives than those limited to business alone.
When I present in public, which I do frequently, many CPAs, attorneys, and wealth advisors tell me that they would like to work with Family Offices. I like to point out, in response, that Family Offices exist, at least in part, because the traditional service models used by CPAs, attorneys, and wealth advisors rarely offer enough value to wealthy families and individuals. Thus, as Carl knows, inadequate value is one reason wealthy families create their own Family Office by taking these functions in-house.
Carl Sheeler is this country's most forward-looking valuation and strategic advisory expert. I dubbed him a