In the world of M&A, deals tend to get reduced to spreadsheets long before anyone asks about the story or the actual people underneath.
Emily Blue built her whole career on believing maybe we’ve got that backwards.
She started out as a nursing major (until an anatomy syllabus sent her running ), failed the CFA before she passed it, and eventually found herself sitting across the table from some very fancy investment bankers. Then one afternoon, she was standing in an airport after a pitch that had gone really well... wondering why she felt so flat.
A phone call with her friend Ryan Halls changed everything. Eventually, that conversation became Hue Partners, an M&A advisory firm that works exclusively with sellers.
In this episode, Emily and Stacy get into:
➤ The airport phone call that turned into a firm
➤ Why Hue said no to every buyer who wanted to hire them
➤ What happened when a banker called Emily "soft" (and Ryan’s PERFECT comeback)
➤ Why younger, fast-growing firms are exploring partnerships earlier, and why waiting too long can cost you
➤ The real estate analogy that makes a pretty freaking good case for having someone in YOUR corner when you sell
➤ Why wealth firms are starting to look at boutique asset managers as a talent strategy
➤ The "messy middle," and what happens when the story that got you HERE stops fitting where you want to go NEXT
This one is about M&A, but it’s also about relationships, story, and knowing what you actually want to build. And what happens when the way it’s always been done doesn’t feel like the way YOU want to do it.
About Emily Blue:
Emily Blue, CFA, is a math nerd turned M&A disruptor and the co-founder of Hue Partners. She cut her teeth in M&A integrations, pushed back on traditional valuations, and led corporate development, and through every deal one thing stayed true: the best transactions aren't about multiples. They're about people. So she built Hue to put founders first, with no corporate fog and no empty promises, just real partnership before and after the deal.
Outside of work, Emily serves as Board Chair of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri, and advocates through Big Brothers Big Sisters and Newhouse. She has traded Kilimanjaro for toddler trails for now, and lives a chaotic, joyful life with her husband Harrison, their kids, and two doodles.
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Running a fund is hard enough.
Ops shouldn’t be.
Meet the team that makes it easier. | billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus
