Build with Kanbrick is a three-month program designed to help businesses reach their full potential. We’ll select up to five owners and CEOs to participate in each cohort, which begins with a business system diagnostic leveraging the Kanbrick Business System to assess each company’s opportunities. As a participant, you will have access to individualized sessions with the Kanbrick team, collaborative group sessions with guest experts, and also templates, tools, and resources focused on growing your business. Build with Kanbrick alumni will also have access to the Kanbrick Community for exclusive content and networking with other executives.

No. All costs are covered by Kanbrick. That said, we are investing time into your and your company’s growth during the program, and in turn each participant should expect to invest around five hours per week.

We’ve seen first-hand the unique challenges midsize businesses face, especially in the current environment. We developed the Build with Kanbrick program based our learnings building and growing great businesses at Berkshire Hathaway, Pampered Chef, and here at Kanbrick. Our goal with the program is to share insights to help position participants’ businesses for the next decade of growth.

As a participant of the program, you will receive a comprehensive business assessment, learn key opportunities for your business, and identify tangible steps to position your business for the long term across the primary areas of people, operating system, operational excellence, and growth. We believe that we can accomplish this together through:

1. Kanbrick Business System – Deep dives through group sessions and workshops to learn how to apply our proprietary business system that is specifically tailored to mid-sized companies.
2. Individualized Sessions – Strategize with the Kanbrick team to work through opportunities we identify that are specific to your business.

3. Templates and Tools – We have spent 5+ years building the Kanbrick Business System, which is a detailed and integrated way of managing a business. We will share some of our most valued tools and templates to help you in your business.
4. Networking – You will have the opportunity to build strong relationships with your fellow cohort members and the Kanbrick team. Additionally, you will have access to the Kanbrick Community – an immediate group of mentors and guest experts to help you with your business. And, upon completion of the program, you will have ongoing access to our Kanbrick Community events and exclusive content.

The Kanbrick Business System (KBS) is our proprietary value-creating playbook developed from our time driving results at a number of companies. KBS is a long-term approach to building a strong foundation, empowering and developing people, and driving growth by delivering for customers. We have a proven track record of delivering meaningful results. There are four key pillars to KBS:

1. Operating system: Set a clear strategy and rigorously measure performance
2. People: Attract, develop, and engage world-class talent
3. Operational Excellence: Improve efficiency to invest in growth
4. Growth: Build core and enter attractive adjacencies

Build with Kanbrick alumni will become members of the Kanbrick Community, an intimate group of CEOs and business leaders who we admire, have worked with, and continue to learn from. The Kanbrick Community will also have continued access to exclusive events and content.

We are also members of several business organizations and have benefited tremendously from their accessible networks and high-level sharing of best practices. However, as leaders and operators we know that in order to effect change, you need to have a tangible plan based on your unique business needs. Build with Kanbrick was designed with this mindset.

Whereas traditional business accelerators support startups, the Build with Kanbrick program is uniquely focused on supporting midsize businesses to help position them for growth. As part of the immersive three-month program, we want to work together to identify key areas that drive your organization’s long-term value.

The program is currently set up as weekly Zoom calls to allow for efficiency and enables CEOs from all over the country, with very busy schedules, to participate. We do have in person connect opportunities during the year for our BWK alumni and broader Kanbrick Community.

To make the most of our time together, and for the Kanbrick team to bring thoughtful ideas and recommendations for your business, it is important for us to have a good understanding of strategy, leadership, and the overall business. We sign NDAs and the information is shared confidentially with our team alone, this is not shared with other members of the cohort.

We are looking for great businesses and motivated founders and CEOs who are interested in partnering to grow long term. While we welcome all interested companies to apply, businesses that meet the following criteria will be the ideal candidates:

• Headquartered in North America
• Family- or Founder-owned
• Revenue of $50 to $500 million and EBIT of $5 to $50 million

If you have questions about whether your company would be a good candidate, please reach out to us here.

You will hear back from us within a week of applications closing for a given cohort.

If you know of a company that would be a great fit for the Build with Kanbrick program, please reach out or invite them to fill out the application to be considered for the program.

Tracy Britt Cool and Brian Humphrey are Co-Founders of Kanbrick, an investment partnership focused on buying, building, and growing great companies for the long term. Kanbrick owns Thirty-One Gifts, a provider of bags, gifts, and home décor, and makes 1-2 acquisitions per year.

Prior to co-founding Kanbrick, Britt Cool spent 10 years at Berkshire Hathaway, including 5 years as Financial Assistant to the Chairman and 5 years as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway-owned Pampered Chef. Britt Cool has also served as Chairman of four Berkshire Hathaway companies and on the boards of several public companies. Humphrey began his career as an investor and served as Chief Financial Officer of Pampered Chef. Together, Britt Cool and Humphrey turned around Pampered Chef after a decade of decline, doubling earnings and meaningfully growing sales.

No, there is no investment component to the Build with Kanbrick program. The primary goal of the program is to build strong relationships and add long-term value.

Kanbrick is an investment firm focused on buying, building, and growing great companies for the long term, with a focus on privately-held midmarket businesses in the consumer, industrial, and business services sectors.

We love meeting founders, owners, and CEOs whenever given the chance, and the Build with Kanbrick program ensures that we regularly meet interesting leaders and build meaningful relationships. We also enjoy learning about new industries and the program allows us to see how aspects of our Kanbrick Business System apply to different business models and industries. Lastly, Kanbrick is guided by our purpose of empowering people and organizations to reach their full potential and the program is an extension of our approach to building a strong foundation, empowering people, and driving growth.

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