Resources for Stewardship
Plain-language guides, stewardship frameworks, and real founder stories.
Designed to help you move with clarity, not pressure.
Stewardship Guides
Role-specific guidance for navigating ownership transitions with intention.
For Sellers
Explore what you want to protect, what you're open to, and how to prepare for the sale of your business without rushing or compromising your values.
Read the Seller Stewardship GuideFor Buyers
Learn what it means to acquire responsibly and build something that lasts beyond the deal.
Read the Buyer Stewardship GuideM&A 101
New to M&A? Start here.
A clear, jargon-free foundation for how deals actually work — stages, roles, terms, and common pitfalls. Written for real humans, not bankers.
Stories from the Stewardship Ecosystem
Real stories. Real tradeoffs. Real lessons.
Featured episodes from Ethical Exits that capture the nuance behind “a good deal.”
- David Kahl — A B Corp founder navigating a values-aligned exit
- Cameron Madill — Building a cooperative instead of defaulting to a traditional sale
- Peter Georgariou — A B Corp buyer using acquisition as a long-term growth strategy
- Jim Black — The legal lens on stewardship, structure, and protection
- Chris Fredericks — Buying with employees in mind, not as an afterthought
Field Notes on Stewardship
Field-tested perspectives on stewardship, alignment, and ownership structure — written for founders, buyers, and the people who advise them.
Steward Market Is Now Endorsed by the Purpose Pledge. Here's What Their Framework Actually Requires.
Steward Market has been endorsed by the Purpose Pledge. Here's what the framework actually requires, why it was built, and why ownership transition is the moment when mission is most at risk.
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Steward Market Field Guide
Steward Market asks for more than basic transaction information. This guide explains every field sellers, buyers, and ecosystem partners will encounter, what each one means, how to fill it out, and how others will use it to assess fit.
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Ethical Exits Are Not Neutral
Exits aren't neutral technical events — they're purposeful inflection points whose design choices shape the fate of employees, communities, and the broader economy long after closing.
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What Founders Are Really Afraid Of When They Sell
Founders rarely admit fear when selling. The deepest concerns aren't financial — they're about erasure, identity, betrayal, and how a legacy will be judged.
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What Alignment Actually Looks Like in a Good Deal
Alignment is one of dealmaking's most overused and least defined words. It's not a feeling — it's a structural outcome that protects what matters under stress.
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Stewardship Is a Design Choice, Not a Personality Trait
Outcomes from ownership transitions rarely fail because of bad people. They fail because systems reward speed and extraction. Stewardship has to be designed, not assumed.
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