Every founder dreams of building a business worth millions, few expect the emotional roller coaster that comes after they do. For Kevin Michaluk, better known as CrackBerry Kevin, the journey from a $15,000 bet to a $115 million exit was both exhilarating and disorienting. The Winnipeg-born entrepreneur turned his love for BlackBerry into Mobile Nations, a pioneering tech media company that built passionate online communities around mobile brands.

For many business owners, selling a company is the most significant financial and emotional transaction of their life. Yet too often, preparation begins only when the decision to sell has already been made. Mike Milani, Executive Managing Director & Principal at Baker Tilly Capital, LLC and Chair of BTF SoCal 2025, has spent nearly four decades advising owners through M&A transactions. His message is clear: the owners who achieve successful exits start thinking years, not months, ahead.

Debby has advised countless executives through acquisitions, turnarounds, and restructuring. In every case, the first question is the same: do people believe what you say? “The leader needs to be trustworthy. Without that, no matter what you do, your organization’s not going to be successful because the people… they’re not going to believe your strategy.”

Every entrepreneur faces moments when survival feels uncertain. For Mike and his team at Manitoba Harvest, that moment lasted more than two years. The company was in negative equity (its liabilities outweighed its assets) and it was relying heavily on trade credit to keep operations alive. For many leaders, this would have been the time to go quiet, hide from creditors, and hope for a turnaround. Mike chose the opposite path.

Ari Pandes, Associate Professor of Finance and Associate Dean of Professional Graduate Programs at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, is sounding the alarm on a troubling trend in Canada’s economy: the steady decline of operating companies listed on public markets, and the broader failure to scale up domestic businesses.

When we launched the very first Business Transitions Forum in 2015, it was driven by one idea: founders needed a better way to prepare for what’s next. Ten years later, that idea has grown into a national series of events and a trusted place for entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors to gather, learn, and connect. To mark the 10-year milestone, I sat down to reflect on how BTF started, what we’ve learned along the way, and where we’re headed next.