MBO Ventures helps founders and business owners design smarter exit and ownership strategies using Employee Stock Ownership Plans. We combine ESOP advisory expertise with an investment banking mindset to help you unlock liquidity, reduce taxes, and retain control on your terms.
ESOPs are flexible tools that can support partial liquidity, full exits, generational transfers, or long-term ownership transitions. Rather than forcing a single outcome, MBO Ventures helps owners design exit strategies that align with their financial goals, control preferences, and long-term plans.
Our advisory approach combines deep ESOP expertise with an investment banking mindset. Valuation, financing structure, and deal dynamics are considered from the start, not bolted on later. We help owners make informed decisions that reflect real-world economics, not just technical compliance.
Our team brings firsthand experience as founders, executives, and operators who have built and scaled businesses. We understand the personal and operational weight behind ownership and exit decisions — and advise with practicality and empathy through complex transitions.
In The Cannabis ESOP Architect, MBO Ventures Managing Partner Darren Gleeman breaks down the strategy behind every successful cannabis ESOP to date — including how to structure ownership, maximize valuation, and eliminate federal and state income taxes entirely.
Drawing on his experience leading the first fully ESOP-owned cannabis company, Darren explains exactly how this powerful structure works, why it's legal, and how operators can use it to make IRC 280E irrelevant.
Read the cannabis playbookSection 280E made irrelevant. Federal and state income taxes — eliminated.
Owner exits with retained governance and engineering culture.
Succession structures for owner-led builders and trades.
Set-aside-aware ESOP design for federal contractors.
Founder transition strategies for relationship-led firms.
Liquidity for asset-heavy operators preserving driver continuity.
MBO understood we wanted a transition that didn't break the company we'd spent thirty years building.
The 280E conversation was the one no one would have with us. Darren walked us through it in two meetings. The math was actually defensible.
We talked to three banks and an ESOP advisor before MBO. They were the only ones who showed up with both halves of the deal.
For cannabis operators: make 280E irrelevant. For everyone else: defer the gain, design the succession, and walk out with the structure your team can actually own.