The Family Business Crossroads: Plotting Your Company’s Journey

Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.

Mitch Brill is a Founding Partner at Altium Wealth Management. He has extensive experience in the areas of securities, financial services, estate planning, business exit strategy planning and executive benefits. In 1996, Mitch accepted a position teaching financial advisors and in 2003 he founded his own financial services firm called Elite Strategic Partners. Mitch holds a Masters Degree in the Science of Financial Services. He is a Certified Financial Planner, a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy and has a degree in Exit Strategy Planning. He regularly lectures to professional organizations regarding the creation of efficient financial strategies and portfolios for both individuals and businesses. In 2007, Mitch published the first edition of his book "Keep It, Grow It, Enjoy It, Bestow It". Mitch also co-hosted the nationally syndicated radio show “On the Money”. Mitch graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1989.

Darren Gleeman is the managing partner of MBO Ventures, an ESOP Investment Bank. An ESOP is a tax advantaged way to sell your company to the employees. When selling to an ESOP, the owners can defer their cap gains on the sale, the IRS subsidizes the sale, the company can run 100% income tax free, and the owners can receive warrants to buy a chunk of the company back in the future.

Joshua Goldman was a partner and Founder in the family firm of Bargold Storage Systems, installers and managers of basement storage units to relieve the clutter of apartment living. Bargold had previously managed self-storage facilities, but recognized an unfulfilled demand for on-site self-storage in buildings throughout the New York metropolitan area. Bargold installed its first storage units a condominium in 1995. They knew they could satisfy that need in every building that had available basement areas, no matter how cluttered or rough and they committed themselves to provide that service at half the price of off-site self storage facilities, and at no cost or concern to the Board, owner, or Managing Agent. Today Bargold has units in more than 2000 buildings. Bargold was sold to Extra Space in June of 2022.