Craig Dickens is a Partner with CDI Global North America in the Seattle-Tacoma office.

Craig is a true serial entrepreneur, CEO, Certified M&A advisor, Investment Banker, and Angel Investor. Craig has started or acquired 14 businesses across diverse sectors as well as executed 22 add-on acquisitions within those companies creating over $600mm in enterprise value. Craig graduated from the University of New Hampshire and went on to attend Babson College's top-ranked Entrepreneurial MBA Program. Craig holds series 24, 82 and 63 securities licenses and specializes in Sell-Side M&A, Institutional, private debt and equity placements.

As an M&A advisor and investment banker Craig has unlocked the code to finding greater value for many companies and their owners through the Grow Fast & Exit Profitably! methodology as well as pioneering the M&A 2.0 process. Having participated in virtually every kind of business dynamic from start-up to IPO, merger to acquisition, he now serves as CEO and Founder of JD Merit, a boutique M&A, Investment Banking & Advisory firm and Broker-Dealer with offices Nationwide and Western USA CDI Global Office.

Craig serves as Management Committee member of CDI Global.

- Having sold 13 of your own companies after adding 22 acquisitions to them to make those companies larger and more valuable, share a few life lessons on how to win at M&A?

- What should business owners know about what buyers want when buying their company?

- What about firm valuations based on EBITDA and multiples?

- You talk about reverse engineering your exit or sale – tell our audience about that.

- They say to begin with the end in mind; what do folks mean about that in the context of achieving a company sale?

- Can you share some of the most frequent “Deal Killers” and how can our audience avoid these?

- What's to most powerful mindset shift entrepreneurs need to make to achieve a sale?

- You have popularized M&A Axioms to give sellers and buyers poignant truisms about M&A. Can you share a few with us?

-How can business owners shift from working in the business to ON the business and what implications to value does that have?

-How does rapid growth before sale increase value exponentially?

-Why do most deals fail in the M&A process in your opinion?

-Talk about building generational wealth through M&As

- Any books recommended