Josh Gladtke

Behind every deal are real people, real families, generational stories. This transaction changes lives, not just bank accounts. You can't represent a client well if all you know is deal mechanics. You have to know the business, the owner. A great process takes this all into account.

When the business has a real service or maintenance base in the trades — HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, landscaping — is doing $1M to $5M+ in EBITDA, and the owner wants an advisor with real skin in the game. When all three align, I know it's on.

Every time a founder tells me they already have buyers calling them and they don't need help. I get it — it feels good to be wanted. But that buyer wants you alone in a room. No process, no competition, no one in your corner who knows this world. What you may leave on the table isn't just money — it's structure, terms, legacy, what happens to your people after you sign.

Just that — trust. It's very hard to come by in business, especially when something this critical is on the line. To truly know in your gut that you can trust the people you're working with. Not to think it. To know it. I've known Gregg for over 30 years and Eric almost as long. We've seen each other through a lot. When something gets hard — and something always gets hard — there's no question about where anyone stands. That's what we bring into every deal. People are at their best when there's no second guessing, no overreaching, and nothing to prove. I know I am.

I've been humbled. Truly humbled in business and in life. Getting sole custody of my son Zach and raising him — the ability to put someone above myself every day makes me a better human, partner, and worker.

They need help. Maybe not Good Hope — but this process is beyond a full time job, and on the other side of the transaction is a 28 year old Harvard or Wharton kid, brilliant at deal structure, who gets paid a bigger bonus the better that structure serves the buyer. Not you. You need people who know the playbook.

I spent over a decade running trading desks in London and New York. Leaving that world turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. It led me to Swavelle, a founder-owned textile business where I spent 8 years running international sales and living inside a strong operating company. Those years shaped how I think about what founders actually care about. When I joined Good Hope as a Partner, I knew what I wanted: to work with people I trusted, on deals that meant something — to me and the owners I'd be standing next to. "Get after it. Be honest. Bring good energy. That's Good Hope.