New
Working Paper
Track B
The Preparation Gap
in Early 2026
in Early 2026
Post-LOI adjustment patterns in lower-middle-market transactions — and why information asymmetry, not market conditions, is the primary driver.
Named Finding
73% of LMM transactions include at least one post-LOI price adjustment, averaging 18% — driven by information asymmetry, not market conditions.
The First Question Is Never About Value
What founders actually want — and why the answer is almost never what they say first.
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$2.5T in Dry Powder. What It Means for Sellers.
Motivated buyers are still disciplined buyers. What the PE capital overhang actually produces at the table.
Latest Articles
6 articles
Misalignment Tax
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7.2x. What That Number Actually Means at the Table
The average LMM multiple is holding flat. The spread between prepared and unprepared sellers is where the real story lives.
False Summit
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Founders Are More Realistic in 2026. That's Not Enough.
After two years of correction, founders have adjusted price expectations. The buyer's model hasn't changed.
Misalignment Tax
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The Buyer's Model Runs Before the First Meeting
Every sophisticated buyer arrives with a proprietary underwriting framework. Most founders have never seen it.
Market Signal
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Customer Concentration: The 40% Rule in Early 2026
GF Data documents a 0.8–1.2x EBITDA discount when concentration exceeds 40%. In current buyer underwriting, applied without exception.
False Summit
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76%. The Number That Reframes Every Exit Conversation
Not because founders built the wrong business. Because they walked in without the model the buyer was already running.
Misalignment Tax
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The Room Always Goes Quiet at This Moment
There's a specific point in every engagement where the founder sees their business the way a buyer sees it for the first time.
Research Papers
Full archive at Cordis Institute →
001
The Preparation Gap in Early 2026
Post-LOI Adjustment Patterns in Lower-Middle-Market Transactions · Cordis Institute No. 001
→
Q1A
The False Summit
Why Founders Optimize for the Wrong Metric in Exit Preparation · Publishing April 29
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Q1B
The Preparation Gap — Full Report
Quantitative Analysis of Pre-Transaction Preparation and Post-LOI Outcomes · Publishing May 1
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