Our Distinction

WHIZDOM’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) synthesizes together two extraordinary and unique factors enabling it to deliver on its mission to provide Solutions To Accelerate Value Creation™ to the M&A Community and business owners:

  • Ivy Millman, its CEO; and 
  • WHIZDOM’s proprietary methodologies developed over 25+ years

These factors combine synergistically to give Clients something highly prized and totally unique. Something we like to call… The WHIZDOM Experience™.

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WHIZDOM translates the power of technology in ways that enable corporations to create innovative and effective solutions to next-generation business challenges.

Bob Johansen

President, Institute for the Future
bob johansen

Areas of Focus

  • U.S.-based B2B Companies
  • Segment: Lower Middle Market (LMM)
    • Annual Revenue: $5 million to $50 million 
    • EBITDA: $1 million to $10 million
    • No. of Employees: 20 to 500
    • Enterprise Value: $10 million to $100 million
    • Typical Profile: Privately held (family-owned, founder-led, or PE-backed); Regional
  • B2B Sectors (Industries)
    • B2B Services
    • Software and Tech-enabled Services
    • Technology
    • Healthcare
    • Light Manufacturing

Why Do Executives Talk To Ivy?

Executives, including C-level executives, appreciate Ivy’s engaging style.

She has had many deep-dive conversations with Business Customers at myriad small and large companies throughout her career.

They also appreciate her inquisitive nature, experience from other companies and industries and ability to keep up on the changing business climate. During discussions with business leaders and executives Ivy might learn:

  1. How their Company operates; and
  2. How they deploy technology-based solutions in their business operations; and
  3. The impact a Company’s products have on their Company and on their own Company’s Customers

Multi-industry Experience

Over the past 25+ years Ivy’s and WHIZDOM’s experience included developing relationships with executives across many industries. Examples: 

  • Agrochemicals (Monsanto)
  • Aerospace (The Boeing Company, NASA)
  • Airlines (United Airlines; America West Airlines)
  • Capital Goods (Caterpillar, GE Appliances; Navistar)
  • Drug Stores (The Walgreen Company)
  • Electronics (Palm; Motorola; Zebra Technologies; WMS Industries; Cisco Systems)
  • Financial Services (Visa International)
  • Food & Beverage (McDonald’s; The Coca-Cola Company; Coca-Cola Enterprises)
  • Healthcare (Abbott Laboratories; McKesson; Siemens)
  • Higher Education (Harvard Business School)
  • Hospitality (Harrah’s Entertainment; Hyatt Hotels & Resorts)
  • Information Technology (Apple, Dell/EMC, Cisco Systems, Adobe Systems; Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems; Autodesk; IBM; SGI)
  • Printing and Publishing (RR Donnelley & Sons)

Subject Matter Expert

Ivy is a sought after industry expert in B2B Customer Due Diligence for B2B Company Acquisitions:

  • Advising Searchers on strategies to obtain confidential contact information for Business Customers from Sellers
  • Interviewed for Professor A. J. Wasserstein’s Yale School of Management Due Diligence Case on the topic of Customer Due Diligence; WHIZDOM’s Customer Due Diligence process map is published in the Case
  • Interviewed about Customer Due Diligence on Jared Johnson’s podcast “Before You Buy or Sell a Business” (Vice President of Internet Bank)
  • Invited to present interactive workshops and live webinars on B2B Customer Due Diligence by Search Fund Investors and leading business schools

Methodologies

WHIZDOM has proprietary methodologies to: 

  • Complete Customer Due Diligence for Buyers of B2B Companies when there is a tight deadline and a planned close date
  • Obtain confidential Business Customer contact information from Sellers
  • Develop customized Discussion Guides to ensure vital information is obtained for Customer Due Diligence from the target Company’s Business Customers
  • Provide individual and aggregate findings obtained from interviewing the target Company’s Business Customers
  • Provide independent, unbiased, 3rd-party insights, analysis and recommendations to a Buyer about a target Company’s Business Customers
  • Obtain, whenever possible, information from a target Company’s Business Customers that the Seller may not know (i.e., Customers may not be willing to share key information with the Company’s representatives)