『The Fork in the Road』のカバーアート

The Fork in the Road

The Fork in the Road

著者： The Authority Company
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The Fork in the Road with Perry S. Kaufman is a show for successful founders who face many decisions and questions about pushing the business forward and how their role may need to change. Each episode focuses on moments where owners face real choices about growth, control, risk, their legacy and the life they want to live.

Perry brings more than 40 years of experience guiding founder led companies through growth, complexity, risk and transition. He began his career as a CPA, then became a founder himself. Today he leads PSK Consulting, and has advised hundreds of private companies across a variety of industries in areas of finance, operations, leadership, and scale.

The Fork in the Road turns Perry’s real-world experience into direct conversations about how to understand the different stages of a predictable business life cycle, strategies for each, intertwined with the founder’s personal goals.

If you are approaching or already standing at a fork in the road between enjoying the status quo, scaling up, or considering an exit, this show gives you food for thought, and knowledgeable insights along with comfort that you have unique options about where to go from here.
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  • Jon Sayah Almost Lost Millions Selling the Family Business

    Jon Sayah Almost Lost Millions Selling the Family Business
    2026/08/04
    What really happens when a successful family business enters the private equity market before it’s fully prepared?

    In this episode of The Fork in the Road, Perry S. Kaufman speaks with Jon Sayah from LES Family Investments about growing up inside his father’s lighting company, navigating the complicated dynamics of working with family, professionalizing the organization, and eventually selling the business to private equity.

    Jon shares how his father grew a small Dallas lighting operation into a company with as many as 30 retail showrooms. After an unsuccessful first attempt to join the family business, Jon spent 15 years building experience at a major lighting manufacturer before returning with a clearer role and a deeper respect for what his father had created.

    The conversation explores how the company adapted as e-commerce, foreign competition, and LED technology disrupted the lighting industry. Jon also explains why the company’s first private equity deal fell apart after due diligence revealed gaps in its financial systems, inventory controls, and business data.

    Perry and Jon discuss why founders should begin preparing for a sale several years before going to market, how a transaction can distract key employees from running the company, and why working capital disputes can reduce the amount a seller receives after closing.

    They also examine family succession, estate planning, ownership among siblings, and the challenges that can arise when private equity investors become heavily involved in daily operations.This episode offers practical lessons for founders considering succession, outside investment, or the sale of a privately held company.

    Topics include:
    Family business succession
    Preparing a company for sale
    Private equity due diligence
    Business valuation
    Working capital adjustments
    Estate planning for business owners
    Professionalizing a founder-led company
    Managing family dynamics
    Selling a privately held business
    Post-acquisition leadership

    Learn more about Perry S. Kaufman and The Fork in the Road at perryskaufman.com.

    Timestamps
    00:00 Welcome to The Fork in the Road
    01:25 Growing up in the family lighting business
    03:09 How Lights Fantastic was created
    04:03 The ceiling fan opportunity
    05:04 Working in the business as a child
    05:48 Why Jon’s father sent him elsewhere first
    08:08 Returning to a struggling family company
    09:06 Why Jon and his father clashed
    10:14 The challenges of family business dynamics
    12:15 From founder to second-generation leader
    14:30 Returning after 15 years
    16:11 Dividing responsibilities between generations
    17:20 Why the second attempt worked
    19:01 Professionalizing the company
    21:29 Hiring a CFO and improving operations
    23:31 The disruption of e-commerce and LED lighting
    26:09 Why the company fell behind
    28:31 Deciding whether to sell
    29:44 Starting the private equity process
    32:01 Why the first deal fell apart
    33:53 Prepare your business three years early
    34:58 How a sale distracts your leadership team
    37:11 The reality of private equity due diligence
    39:10 Working capital adjustments after closing
    42:00 Estate planning for family business owners
    44:45 Using a trust to transfer the business
    47:42 Dividing ownership among siblings
    49:32 What private equity gets wrong
    52:01 Why sellers struggle after an acquisition
    53:00 Jon’s biggest lessons for founders
    55:41 Why preparing for a sale improves any business
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    57 分
  • Patrick Murphy, CEO of Maket: How AI Is Changing Home Design Forever

    Patrick Murphy, CEO of Maket: How AI Is Changing Home Design Forever
    2026/06/11
    What happens when AI collides with one of the world’s oldest industries?

    In this episode of The Fork in the Road, Perry S. Kaufman sits down with Patrick Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Maket, an AI-powered platform transforming how homes are designed. Maket allows homeowners and builders to instantly generate and customize residential floorplans, giving everyday people access to tools that once belonged only to architects and specialists.

    Patrick shares the founder story behind Maket, the friction of building an AI company in a slow-moving industry, and why housing has become one of the biggest systems problems in the world. The conversation explores the future of AI-assisted architecture, affordable housing, design accessibility, and the challenge of balancing creativity with real-world practicality.With more than 900,000 registered users, Maket is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about companies at the intersection of AI, housing, and design technology.

    Topics discussed include:
    • AI-generated architecture
    • The future of residential design
    • Affordable housing and technology
    • Why architecture has remained inaccessible
    • Founder lessons from scaling an AI startup
    • The emotional impact of designing your own home
    • Technology adoption in traditional industries
    • How AI is changing the built environment
    • Product-market fit and startup growth
    • The future of housing infrastructure

    Subscribe for more conversations with founders, investors, and business leaders shaping the future.

    Chapters / Timestamps
    00:00 Intro
    01:12 Meet Patrick Murphy and Maket
    03:08 The origin story behind the company
    06:25 Why housing became a systems problem
    09:14 What traditional architecture gets wrong
    12:40 How Maket’s AI platform works
    16:18 Democratizing home design
    20:11 Why AI and housing move at different speeds
    24:05 The emotional reaction users have to designing homes
    28:16 The biggest misconceptions about AI architecture
    32:47 Affordable housing and the role of technology
    37:22 When Patrick realized Maket was becoming real
    41:35 The challenges of scaling an AI company
    46:50 Trust, regulation, and the future of housing
    52:08 What most people still don’t understand about AI design
    57:41 What success looks like now
    01:01:20 Final thoughts
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    43 分
  • From Failed Startup to $200M Company | Tejas Manohar

    From Failed Startup to $200M Company | Tejas Manohar
    2026/04/14
    What happens when your startup fails overnight?In this episode of The Fork in the Road with Perry S. Kaufman, Tejas Manohar shares how his first company collapsed during COVID… and how that failure led to building a company that has raised over $200 million.

    Tejas walks through his full founder journey, from teaching himself to code as a teenager to landing a job in Silicon Valley at 16, to building HighTouch, a company transforming how businesses use data and AI.

    You’ll hear how he:
    Got hired without revealing his age
    Found his first customers through cold outreach and online communities
    Pivoted after losing everything
    Built a product the market started pulling, not pushing
    Scaled from 3 founders to 350+ employees

    This is a real look at what building a company looks like, messy, unpredictable, and driven by persistence.If you’re a founder or thinking about starting, this episode will change how you see the journey.

    ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
    0:00 Welcome + Tejas intro
    1:00 Early obsession with programming
    2:30 Influence of immigrant parents
    6:20 How he got hired at 16 (without saying his age)
    10:30 Learning + dreaming at Segment
    13:00 Why you don’t need a “perfect idea”
    16:00 The first startup (and why it failed)
    18:00 COVID wiped out the business overnight
    20:00 The pivot that led to HighTouch
    21:30 What HighTouch actually does (simple explanation)
    24:00 Stage 1: Survival and first product
    27:00 How they got their first 3 customers
    30:00 Why early customers are the hardest
    33:00 The moment they knew it would scale
    35:00 Growth tactics: communities, content, sales
    38:00 Scaling leadership from 3 people to 350
    41:00 Raising $200M and investor mindset
    44:00 Building a “generational company”
    45:30 Advice for founders: agency, resourcefulness, curiosity
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    49 分
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