Max Friar
Scott Nicholson
Ben Bishop
Matthew J. Baas
Rick Purcey
Doug Yntema
Shane Kissack
Max Friar
Partner
Max Friar has been working in mergers and acquisitions since 2005, beginning his career as the Director of Marketing for a premier Midwest mergers and acquisitions firm. While there, he designed and managed a revolutionary marketing program for their clients. The program was instrumental in new client acquisition, and garnering interest from new, qualified buyers.
Max has a passion for entrepreneurship, technology, internet marketing and personal development. As the owner of three small businesses (M&A Firm, Web Development and Real Estate), he understands the strategic (vision/planning) and tactical (daily “fires”) challenges that small businesses face, and is uniquely qualified as a pioneer in the small business transaction space. He brings energy, focus, creativity and unique ability to create order out of chaos. These abilities have been essential to Max’s success over the past 12 years.
Matthew J. Baas
Partner
Matt is a small business mergers and acquisitions specialist. He is passionate about working with small business owners to reach their goals. With Small Business Deal Advisors, Matt performs business valuations and prepares marketing materials. He works diligently to assist clients in the successful marketing and sale of their businesses. Matt began his mergers and acquisitions career with a West Michigan-based M&A advisory firm. As a financial analyst, he supported numerous aspects of M&A engagements for clients. He assisted in due diligence, financial modeling, and market valuation, as well as telemarketing and business development. Matt also has experience with a leading Chicago-based middle market investment bank. In this role, he prepared marketing materials and provided various research activities.
Doug Yntema
ASSOCIATE
Doug has extensive experience in finance, strategic planning, and business management. His background includes a 19 years’ experience selling over $130 million dollar worth of properties. He has also started several businesses and is a partner in companies that continue to grow. He is an expert at getting deals done and helping increase profits and analyzing new business opportunities for existing businesses. A graduate of Hope College in Business administration, Doug has worked with companies as large as 50 million down to main street businesses, improving their performance and increasing their value. His primary objective is assisting business owners and business buyers in making seamless and successful transitions to the next stage of their lives and careers. He is committed to taking the time necessary to understand the goals, objectives, dreams, and desires of his clients and to assessing and evaluating all available options to ensure optimal outcomes.
Scott Nicholson
Associate
Scott entered the mergers and acquisitions space in 2016, working with a Grand Rapids-based M&A advisory firm. Scott managed several unique projects that developed his business transactional experience. Scott has been in the financial services and banking industries since 1983. Most recently, he was a financial advisor and an investment advisor representative at West Michigan-based investment advisors. Scott holds his Series 6 (Investment Company and Variable Contracts,), Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law, ), Series 65 (Uniform Registered Investment Adviser Law), and Series 62 (Corporate Securities Representative) securities registrations, Life, Accident and Health licenses. Scott also has a residential mortgage license with the state of Michigan. He has written mortgages for 30+ years. Scott has an MBA from Western Michigan University and an undergraduate degree from Aquinas College where he studied Economics and Business.
Rick Purcey
Associate
Rick started his M&A career in 2015. He has an extensive background in all aspects of the qualities necessary to fill the M&A Advisor role. He began his career as a magna cum laude graduate of Grand Valley State University, earning a BBA with an emphasis in accounting prior to passing the Uniform CPA Examination in the State of Michigan. Since that time Rick has accumulated a vast knowledge of the inter-workings of all types of business entities through his experiences as a public accountant for five years and then in private sector positions ranging from financial analyst to controller. In conjunction with the financial expertise Rick has gained handling all components of the monetary affairs for many companies in a wide variety of industries, he brings to that a unique blend of sales experience not found in other Merger and Acquisition Advisors. Subsequent to his tenure in the financial arena, Rick embarked on a highly successful career in sales where he was bestowed with numerous awards for outstanding performance and achievements. Rick is an active member in the AICPA, MACPA, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and also holds State of Michigan licenses as both a CPA and Mortgage Loan Originator. The passion, enthusiasm, and energy he brings to everything he approaches has created opportunities where they may not have existed before.
Shane Kissack
ASSOCIATE
Shane joined SBDA serving Northern Illinois and Southeast Wisconsin in early 2020. He is an entrepreneurial-minded business development and strategy advisor to small and mid-market business owners. Shane has over 20 years of business experience playing multiple roles in a variety of industries. He began his career in the golf industry running operations for multiple private clubs in the Chicago area. He then shifted to business owner when he started, operated and ultimately entered the sphere of Mergers and Acquisitions on the sell-side as he sold the first of two businesses in 2012. After selling his businesses Shane became an investor and advisor in a growing retail beverage operation while temporarily living abroad in Varese, Italy. Upon return to the U.S., he served as an economic development manager. In that role, he administered development incentives for small to mid-size commercial real estate developments and guided the recruitment, retention, and expansion of local manufacturers.
Ben Bishop
Business Developement Manager
Ben Bishop joined Small Business Deal Advisors in 2020. His role includes business development, marketing material creation, financial analysis, and business valuation analysis. Ben is enthusiastic over the opportunity to work with small businesses and help them make the best financial decisions that they can. Ben carries a strong passion to do everything he can to finish the day knowing more than he started the day with.
Jeff Koviak
Analyst
Jeff Koviak joined Small Business Deal Advisors as a business development and M&A intern at the start of 2021. He helps assist with financial analysis, valuations, marketing materials, research, business development, and client outreach. Jeff enjoys the collaborative and challenging nature of his role, and is motivated by the critical impact SBDA can have on their client's lives. Jeff is currently a student at Michigan State University majoring in finance and economics. Jeff enjoys traveling and golfing in his free time.
Kevin Wang
Analyst
Kevin Wang joined Small Business Deal Advisors as a business development and M&A intern in the Summer of 2021. He assists with financial analysis, valuations, research, business development, and client outreach. Kevin enjoys helping small business owners and is dedicated to helping them achieve their goals. Kevin is currently a student at the University of Michigan majoring in business and minoring in computer science. In his free time, he enjoys making music and exercising.
Sandy Kiriakidis
Transaction Coordinator
After witnessing repeated acquisitions at several companies she worked for, Sandy decided to capitalize on these opportunities from a new angle. She entered the M&A sphere in 2017, where she worked as an advisor for a New England firm. Her pre-M&A career spanned several industries: financial services, consulting, as well as software. Aside from her primary responsibilities, she spearheaded several initiatives where she discovered and addressed gaps in company processes, solving the inefficiencies at their root instead of the superficial symptoms. It was through these initiatives that she developed her natural talents for problem solving and comprehensive process improvement. In her one-of-a-kind role at SBDA, Sandy melds her passion for both M&A and functional improvement. As a true intermediary, she coordinates and synchronizes the various teams within SBDA. She is continuously analyzing, honing, and sharpening internal and client-facing processes, to create the best possible experience across the board: for all clients, as well as internal teams and external parties. Sandy holds an MBA with a specialization in Business Intelligence, as well as an undergraduate degree in Management and Finance. She has native fluency in Greek, and is conversant in French.