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Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves in Three Generations?

Wayne Rivers
By Wayne Rivers
8 minutes
Last updated April 16, 2025

Researcher James Grubman wrote in the periodical Globe Law and Business about a cliché we have all heard: “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” He analyzes the academic pursuits which attempted to quantify this phenomenon and has some interesting observations. Is it true? Do successful entrepreneurial enterprises really rise and fall so predictably over a lifespan of just three generations?

Please tune in this week as Wayne discusses Grubman’s article and reveals why the cliché may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Wayne also notes that Grubman may be the first writer outside of Performance Construction Advisors to note the overwhelming myopia of the financial and academic presses on OWNERSHIP succession to the exclusion of all other succession considerations. Do Grubman’s finding strike you as accurate? Please share your reactions with us at wrivers@performanceconstruction.com

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