I look forward to being a guest speaker and participating in a fireside chat at Family Enterprise Canada’s Symposium on May 27, 2026.

The session, “Legacy at Risk: Guardrails for Families Selling Control to Private Equity or Others”, is inspired by CONTEXT Studios’ documentary on the rise and fall of Norwood Portable Sawmills and explores what can happen when ownership changes and protections fall short.

I’ll be sharing the story behind Norwood, from acquiring my father’s start-up to scaling it into a global enterprise with sales in more than 100 countries and on a clear path toward becoming a billion-dollar company. In 2021, I sold a controlling interest to a New York-based private equity firm, a decision that fundamentally changed the trajectory of the business.

Within months, the marketing engine was dismantled, the product development team hollowed out, and costs ballooned as the organization expanded unsustainably, all while sales declined sharply. As I raised concerns about decisions that were undermining the company’s foundation, I was increasingly sidelined and ultimately pushed out. Watching the business unravel and collapse into bankruptcy was devastating.

Over time, I watched many of the approaches and capabilities that had previously driven Norwood’s growth change significantly. In my view, key elements of the company’s marketing and product development functions were diminished weakening sales momentum, while the organization’s cost structure expanded materially
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As I continued raising concerns about the direction of the business and decisions I believed carried significant risk, I increasingly felt sidelined from meaningful involvement and was ultimately asked to step away.

Watching the company struggle financially and ultimately enter bankruptcy proceedings was deeply painful.

This session is about sharing hard-earned lessons for family enterprises navigating private equity, minority ownership, and the very real challenge of protecting legacy when control changes hands.

The conversation will be led by Andrea Lekushoff, CEO of CONTEXT Studios, who filmed the documentary on Norwood.

If you’re contemplating a transaction, advising a family, or thinking about how to put the right guardrails in place before it’s too late, I hope you’ll join us.

P.S. To learn more about what happened post-transaction, I invite you to read this installment in my article series: https://lnkd.in/epz5VjnQ