Ryan Kirby, Partner at Alderman & Company, on What It Actually Takes to Sell an Aerospace & Defense Business

Ryan Kirby is a Partner at Alderman & Company, an investment bank focused exclusively on aerospace and defense M&A. He's spent his career on the sell side, helping owner operators position their companies, find the right buyer, and walk away with the best outcome, not just the highest number.

In this episode, Ryan and Brian get into the real mechanics of selling a business in A&D, and most of it applies well beyond that industry.

What we cover:

• Why customer concentration scares buyers, and how to reframe it (program-level diversification within one large customer can change the story)
• The succession planning problem: why "retiring before you sell" is ...