Drew Larson and Brittany Brown of CoRise Capital join the Owners at Work podcast to break down their new investment fund's innovative approach to employee ownership: acquiring promising companies through traditional purchase deals, then transitioning them to ESOPs within three to five years. The catch? Their investors are exclusively 100% S-corp ESOPs. They explain how they support founders and employees through the transition, what sets their model apart from conventional private equity, and how they plan to engage selling owners, investors, and future employee owners. The conversation also touches on the succession planning crisis facing small business owners nationwide and the role they see CoRise playing to address it.
Brittany Brown is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of CoRise Capital, an investment fund focused on expanding employee ownership by investing in founder-owned businesses, helping them grow, and ultimately transitioning them to ESOP ownership. Brittany brings experience across venture capital, corporate development, and private equity, where she has worked throughout the investment lifecycle, including sourcing, diligence, negotiation, portfolio management, and exits. At CoRise, she leads investment strategy, underwriting, deal execution, and portfolio company support, bringing an investor and operator perspective to the firm's mission of creating the next generation of employee-owned companies.
Drew Larson is a Partner and Co-Founder of CoRise Capital and the founder of The Larson Firm in Des Moines, Iowa, where he continues to practice law full time. An attorney with more than 17 years of experience, Drew focuses his practice on ESOPs, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, finance, and business transactions. He has worked extensively with closely held and employee-owned companies and is active in the ESOP and business communities nationally. At CoRise, Drew brings deep experience in employee ownership, transaction structuring, and governance to the firm's investment decisions and its mission of creating the next generation of employee-owned companies.
This episode of the Owners At Work podcast is brought to you by Eide Bailey. With over 25 years of experience, Eide Baily provides a full range of ESOP services, including feasibility and succession planning analysis, corporate audit and tax compliance, mature ESOP consulting, and sustainability analysis for mature ESOP companies. o
The Owners at Work Podcast is a continuation of the biannual Owners at Work Newsletter which ran for 19 years (1990-2019). We are hoping to continue the same conversations and focus on providing updates on everything employee ownership. We plan to interview practitioners with expertise in different facets of employee ownership, academics doing new and interesting research, and most importantly, individuals who have a personal experience with employee ownership, including current and former employee-owners, mid-level to C suite management, and selling owners.
We want to produce a show that engages with relevant questions and provides practical lessons and information. We want this podcast to include the voices of those who practice employee-ownership each and every day. To that end we want to hear from you! We want to highlight what you are doing, whether you are an employee-owned company, a practitioner, or researcher.
***Please reach out via email: oeoc@kent.edu
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