Max L. Friar
Co-Founder
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
Co-Founder
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.
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.
Sam Scharich
Associate & Business Development
Sam Scharich joined Small Business Deal Advisors in 2018 and aids in all aspects of financial analysis, deal flow, research, valuation, material creation, business development, and client interfacing. Sam has a passion for working with small businesses and enjoys meeting the hard-working business owners that form the backbone of the U.S. economy.
Sam is a Grand Rapids native who has a passion for entrepreneurship and building relationships. He is a current student at Michigan State University in the Eli Broad school of business learning finance, economics, and coding skills. Sam brings energy, enthusiasm, quick and creative thinking as well as a desire to learn and get things done.
Garrett Monroe
Associate
Garrett joined Small Business Deal Advisors as a financial analyst in 2019. Through this position, he supports company leadership and associates in managing M&A client engagement projects. Additionally, he assists in financial modeling, market valuation, due diligence, and marketing material creation.
Garrett also has experience with a well-respected private equity firm and middle market investment bank, where his main responsibilities included: deal sourcing, in-depth financial analysis, marketing initiatives, and industry research.
Garrett graduated, magna cum laude, from Grand Valley State University in 2019 with a BBA in Finance and Supply Chain Management. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth, West Michigan and enjoys networking with other professionals in the Grand Rapids area.
He currently resides in Grand Rapids with his wife, Claire. In his free time, Garrett enjoys playing golf and going to the beach.
Michael Conlin
Associate
Michael entered the mergers and acquisitions space in 2017. His objective in working with business owners selling their business is to put them in a position to obtain a high, fair price for their business, while selling the business to the ‘right’ buyer that can smoothly transition the business to a new stage.
Michael’s marketing efforts on behalf of business sellers strives to develop a large group of serious prospective buyers with financing, and to conduct a transparent bidding process that is fair to all participants, with the goal of multiple bids.
As a recent business seller stated after his business successfully sold, “Michael was able to sell my business for a much higher price than I expected.” In working with clients, Michael leverages his over 30 years of experience in the software and advanced technology fields. Michael has a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and 2 undergraduate degrees (B.A. Marketing, B.S. Psychology) from Michigan State University.