Day: October 22, 2025

• Goldman Sachs published a new 25-page guide for founders generating life-changing wealth.
• Among the report’s primary takeaways: Plan early to structure deals and capital considerations.
• Goldnan partner Kerry Blum says founders “only get one first sale”—so it’s critical to get it right.

Dealmaking is heating up again, and founders eyeing an IPO or sale are facing a new kind of challenge: what to do with the sudden wealth that follows.

A new 25-page report published by Goldman’s private wealth and investment banking professionals lays out the decisions founders need to prepare for once they cash out. It outlines six steps that company leaders should take: be clear about your business’s future, consider tax structures, set up a family and estate plan, organize liquidity, factor in existing loans and liabilities, protect your assets and family, and develop a philanthropic strategy.

The message is especially important for founders right now: mergers were up this past quarter, and the IPO market was regaining steam before the government shutdown. But the bank didn’t generate the report because of the hot merger market; instead, its findings are meant to be educational for founders anytime, Kerry Blum — global head of the firm’s equity structuring group, which helps some of the world’s wealthiest business people structure their portfolios — told Business Insider.

The report — “Beyond the Build: A Wealth Planning Guide for a Business Exit or IPO” — walks readers through how to structure a deal, manage new liquidity, and prepare the next generation for a sudden influx of wealth.

“When I look at the work that we do with founders and entrepreneurs, we really have to think about the entire life cycle” across the corporate and personal lenses, said Blum, a Goldman partner.

Here’s a look at four of their top takeaways.

Start planning early

Founders should consider “personal planning” — how they’ll handle their newfound assets — around the time they begin diligence on potential acquirers or even before. Why? “The timeline of a delay could be derailed entirely by delays stemming from personal planning objectives missed in the early stages,” the bank warns.

Founders should be upfront about their goals — including the selling price and ongoing ownership structures — and should be deliberate in selecting the right exit plan. A merger? A private sale? Sales and public offerings can convert years of illiquid equity into cash, the report says, suggesting that the sudden liquidity landslide can be overwhelming without support.

Each path comes with its own tax considerations, as well as the level of control, cash, and future influence the founder will maintain. “I’ve seen entrepreneurs who very much want to maintain a sense of control as part of the exit,” Blum said, adding: “I’ve seen entrepreneurs who have decided that maybe in their next phase they want to pass off some of the operational elements.”

Get the right team together

Assembling a strong team well before a transaction closes can help crystallize such decisions, the bank says. At Goldman, “in many cases, it will be that the banking team is well engaged with the client, and they think there’s an opportunity for the client to benefit from the expertise that we can offer on the wealth management side. And so they will introduce a two-way dialogue,” Blum said.

To that end, Goldman urged, do not delay in appointing these trusted advisors. CEOs need to bring together not just their C-suite counterparts, but also personal advisors, including wealth managers and trust officers. The questions this team can help you answer are manifold: Should you sell to a strategic or a financial sponsor? Is a public offering really the right route?

“We try to make sure founders carefully evaluate how their day-to-day would be different and the type of scrutiny they’d face if taking their company public, compared with selling to a sponsor or strategic buyer,” Alekhya Uppalapti — a managing director in the investment bank’s global technology, media, and telecommunications group — says in the report.

Tackle tax and estate planning

The report’s most technical section delves into different kinds of business structures that founders should consider: an S-corporation doesn’t pay federal taxes at the corporate level, whereas a C-corporation pays taxes on its profits.

Navigating the thicket of this jargon can be confusing, so the firm suggests using an estate planning attorney to “align” immediate-term goals around tax efficiency with long-term needs like setting up a professional trustee to protect newfound wealth. Trusts such as grantor-retained annuity trusts or charitable lead trusts can help transfer wealth and reduce tax exposure.

Blum said tailoring those choices to each client’s objectives is one of the most complex steps in the process. “That is certainly one where understanding the individual’s goals and objectives,” she said, “whether it’s regional or generational wealth planning, philanthropy, et cetera, is incredibly important. And matching that with the jurisdictional considerations is key to getting it right.”

Beyond that, entrepreneurs should consider organizing a will, a revocable or living trust, a healthcare proxy, and guidance for end-of-life medical instructions, the bank added.

Prepare yourself for the new realities of wealth

It is not only the founder’s life that changes after a major sale or IPO, the report suggests, but also the lives of family members. Goldman’s guide devotes an entire section to preparing the next generation.

“Regularly scheduled family meetings, which can be facilitated with the support of your financial advisor, can help effectively convey lessons on the responsibilities of wealth and philanthropy,” it says. Blum said Goldman brings clients together in small forums where they can share insights and experiences, a think tank of sorts for those about to step into a new way of life.

Privacy is also a consideration. “Different types of transactions bring different levels of visibility,” Blum added. The report recommends consulting your financial advisor about a wide range of topics, including physical and digital security protocols, as well as private aviation.

• Virginia Giuffre said she was afraid to name some of her abusers in her memoir.
• Some of the men threatened to ruin her financially with litigation, Giuffre wrote in her book.
• She feared a person she identified as a “former Prime Minister” would hurt her if she named him.

In a memoir written before her suicide, Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre wrote she was afraid to name some of the men she was sexually trafficked to.

Some of those men, she wrote, threatened to ruin her financially by keeping her tied up in court.

“There are other men whom I was trafficked to who have threatened me in another way: by asserting that they will use litigation to bankrupt me,” she wrote.

“Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” written with the journalist Amy Wallace and published Tuesday by Knopf, details Giuffre’s years in Epstein’s orbit.

According to Giuffre, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sexually abused her and trafficked her to “scores of wealthy, powerful people” in the early 2000s, when she was a teenager.

While Giuffre’s book names some of those people — like Prince Andrew — the identities of others are not made clear.

Giuffre said she was particularly frightened of a man she called “the former Prime Minister,” who she believed “will seek to hurt me if I say his name here.”

“He repeatedly choked me until I lost consciousness and took pleasure in seeing me in fear for my life,” Giuffre wrote of the former head of state. “Horrifically, the Prime Minister laughed when he hurt me and got more aroused when I begged him to stop.”

Giuffre also said she was terrified of one man whom she saw having a sexual encounter with Epstein.

“I have the same fears about another man whom I was forced to have sex with many times — a man whom I also saw having sexual contact with Epstein himself,” she wrote. “I would love to identify him here. But this man is very wealthy and very powerful, and I fear that he, too, might engage me in expensive, life-ruining litigation.”

Giuffre, who died in April, said some of the men who sexually abused her issued threats to her lawyers.

“One of those men’s names has come up repeatedly in various court filings, and in response, he has told my lawyers that if I talk about him publicly, he will employ his vast resources to keep me in court for the rest of my life,” she wrote in the book. “While I have named him in sworn depositions and identified him to the FBI, I fear that if I do so again here, my family will bear the emotional and financial brunt of that decision.”

Giuffre was among the most prominent Epstein accusers who publicly told her story, speaking out against the wealthy and well-connected financier.

She received settlements from Epstein and Prince Andrew in civil lawsuits, and filed a defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell that spilled much of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation into open view.

Giuffre had several high-powered lawyers on her side, including David Boies and Sigrid McCawley of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Florida-based attorney Brad Edwards, and former federal judge Paul Cassell.

Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trafficking girls to him for sex.

In her book, Giuffre wrote she was trafficked to “a gubernatorial candidate who was soon to win election in a Western state and a former US senator,” and that she had sex with a billionaire while his pregnant wife slept in an adjoining room, among others.

Giuffre previously named individuals fitting some of those descriptions in court documents, but they are not all named in her book.

• Erin Harkless Moore leads investments at Pivotal Ventures, focusing on social progress.
• Moore values work-life balance, exercise, and aligning personal values with professional work.
• Working with Melinda French Gates has taught her to invest in and nurture her relationships.

I became the managing director of investments for Pivotal Ventures in August 2020 after more than a decade of working in finance and investing at Cambridge Associates, Goldman Sachs, and Summit Rock Advisors.

As part of Melinda French Gates‘ company focused on accelerating social progress, my work centers on getting more resources and capital to those who need it most, especially women.

I start my day by setting goals and catching up on the news

I’m up between 5:30 and 6 a.m. I take a few quiet moments to reflect, review my calendar, set goals, and plan what I need to accomplish. I exercise three to four times a week.

I usually have about an hour to myself before my two kids get up, so I read the news, catch up on the headlines of the day, and go through my inbox.

I’m subscribed to way too many newsletters — tech and venture investment news and mailing lists from prominent fund managers — just to get a sense of the macro environment. I tee up a bunch of emails so when I do get to the office, I can schedule or fire those off and head straight into meetings.

When my kids and spouse get up, we have breakfast together, and I hear about what they’re looking forward to in their day. I walk them to school, which gives me a nice bridge from morning into work mode.

No two days are the same, but they typically involve meetings

I travel a lot for work, so I don’t always spend time in D.C., but I typically arrive at the office around 9 a.m. and take the first 30 minutes to get my coffee, check in with my team, and feel the energy of the office.

My day often includes internal meetings with the team of over 150 people, where we might review our pipeline of deals, companies we’re tracking, fund managers in the market, and portfolio construction.

I also meet with fund managers and founders, hearing about their visions for their firms and businesses. I have a lot of conversations with peers, other investors sharing notes and intel on what they’re seeing in the market, what funds they’re tracking, and how they’re thinking about the current environment.

Melinda’s taught me a lot about the value of trusting your team and building and nurturing relationships

Melinda is busy, so we don’t get to work together every day, but she sets and is very much involved in setting the strategic frame for our work and the strategy. I really respect that she puts a lot of trust in her team. Once we’ve landed on where we want to go, she gives us a lot of trust to execute.

She wants to understand who the founders are that Pivotal is working with, what the fund managers are building, and what they’re doing. We’re updating her monthly and quarterly with insights from the portfolio and what we’re hearing and seeing. She’s really collaborative.

I’ve learned valuable leadership lessons from Melinda, particularly how much she invests in relationships. We were recently at the Upfront Summit for investors, entrepreneurs, and leading technology voices, where she spoke. Melinda carved out time to meet with some of our partners. She could’ve easily given her remarks and headed out to the next thing, but she made space and time to ask questions and get to know the fund managers deploying capital for Pivotal.

This approach strengthens our bonds, and I’ve taken something from how she shows up in the world — the importance of relationships and listening to understand what motivates people.

I wrap up my day at 5 p.m. to be present for my kids and personal relationships

I’m intentional about locking the ‘work’ and ‘home’ puzzle pieces together as best as I can. I’ve found that if you don’t do that, then you’ll look up at the end of the year and say, “Wow, I didn’t take a trip for myself, or with my family, or to go see friends.”

I try to wrap up my day by blocking my calendar from 5 p.m. for transition time to close out emails. I’ll sometimes check emails when the kids are in bed.

When traveling for work, staying connected with my children is a priority. I’m intentional about making time to call them.

Exercise and fitness are important to me

Through exercise, I built a community. I would go to Solid Core and see the same people, who would become friends.

I also like to carve out time to go for a walk. I have some very good friends from both college and other parts of life who live in D.C., so we’ll go for walks together.

Reading is also important to me. I read both fiction and nonfiction. I carve out time for that in the evenings or on the weekends when I’m traveling.

My husband and I try to host a dinner party every other month. I’m also known as the brunch captain among some of my girlfriends, as I just love food, too. It’s equal parts about the food as well as the fellowship. I get a lot of joy from being in community, so even if it means I have to plan it, I’m happy to plan.

I’m always on a journey to harmonize my values with my work

After nearly 20 years in finance and investing, I’ve been on a journey to harmonize my values with my work.

At one of my first jobs, a pretty senior person told me, “That’s great, but you can do the impact later.” That just never resonated with me.

It’s important to be authentic to yourself. If you really know what you’re good at and what you like, try to get to that overlap in the Venn diagram; that’s when you’ll accelerate and really have success and meaning in your career.

• AWS struggles to identify early stage AI startups led by solo founders or with unusual funding.
• Generative AI has sparked rapid growth of single-person startups with little or no outside funding.
• AWS plans to add a more data-based prediction model to its VC-driven approach to address this issue.

The generative AI boom has fueled the growth of single-person startups and companies operating without external funding.

For Amazon Web Services, these “solopreneurs” and bootstrapped startups have emerged as a “blind spot” in its customer discovery process, which heavily relies on connections with venture capital firms, according to an internal document obtained by Business Insider.

This has caused AWS to miss out on several high-growth startups as early customers, including SurgeAI and Base44. SurgeAI grew to $1 billion in revenue without outside funding, while Base44, once solely owned by its founder, was acquired by Wix for $80 million.

“This blind spot poses increasing risk to cloud market share,” Amazon employees warned in the internal document.

Amazon became the dominant cloud provider by working with early startups. Some of these nascent businesses grew into huge tech companies that spent heavily on compute, which drove demand for Amazon Web Services.

The rise of generative AI is messing with this successful formula. This new technology helps some startups get going with fewer employees. That means they sometimes need to raise less money. These smaller, often self-funded, businesses look from the outside like less interesting cloud customers, when in fact they may retain the ability to grow into substantial enterprises.

This is part of a broader challenge for AWS, which is seeing a “fundamental” shift in how AI startups spend on cloud computing, Business Insider previously reported.

An Amazon spokesperson said it’s “not true” that the company is missing early signals of fast-growth startups, adding that the company continues to “engage founders as early as we can, in collaboration with VCs, via programs like AWS GenAI Accelerator and AWS Activate.”

Being ‘out-hustled’

To tackle the issue, AWS intends to adjust its VC-driven discovery approach to add a more data-driven prediction model designed to spot promising startups at an earlier stage, according to the internal Amazon document obtained by Business Insider.

AWS can’t risk losing this market. A growing number of startups are run by a single employee, driven by AI’s efficiency gains. Replit’s CEO Amjad Masad previously said the era of solo software creation has arrived, saying anyone can build an app in a few hours with the right AI prompt. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicted last year that a “one-person billion-dollar company” would emerge because of AI.

David Levy, a former manager on AWS’ startup business development team, wrote in a blog post this week that AWS intentionally focused on founders early in their journeys to secure them as long-term customers. That approach accelerated AWS growth and led to roughly 70% adoption among startups backed by top-tier venture capital firms, he noted.

But that’s beginning to shift. Levy wrote that AI startups are now directing their initial spending toward GPUs, AI models, and inference tools, rather than traditional cloud compute or storage services, citing Business Insider’s earlier report. Those are areas where no single cloud provider holds dominance, creating fresh challenges for vendors such as AWS.

“AWS built an empire by chasing startups everyone else ignored,” Levy wrote. “Now they’re the ones being out-hustled by the next wave of builders.”

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