Would you buy your own practice?
Not as its founder — as an outside buyer, evaluating it cold. Would you pay for what you've built, or would you walk?
A generation of founder-led architecture firms is approaching the largest ownership transition the profession has seen in decades. For most, the question was never whether they'd eventually step back. It's whether, when the moment comes, they've built something someone else actually wants to own.
Ian Smith, of the Portfolio Partnership, will walk through what separates practices that sell from practices that stall — and what to do about the gap, starting now.
In this session:
How buyers evaluate architecture practices: what makes one firm worth more than another, and why some genuinely successful practices still struggle to find a buyer.
Building a practice that can thrive without you, reducing founder dependency, developing leadership depth, and creating value that transfers.
Your succession options: management buyouts, internal succession, and strategic buyers or mergers, and how to weigh them against each other.
You'll leave with:
A buyer's perspective on your own practice
An honest read on its current readiness for succession
A clear picture of what actually drives value
A practical roadmap for strengthening the practice before you transition
This is for you if:
You're planning to step back, fully or partially, sometime in the next 3 to 10 years
You want more options when that time comes, not fewer.
You want to build something valuable, transferable, and built to outlast your involvement.