We start with a diagnostic. The recommendation comes later, once we understand what we're actually looking at: the ownership dynamics, the governance gaps, the family relationships that shape every decision whether they're acknowledged or not. That clarity is the foundation everything else is built on.
Our work spans the full range of what family enterprises face. But it always begins in the same place: an honest assessment of where things actually stand.
Preparing the next generation, and preparing the current one to let go.
ReadThe architecture that lets a family enterprise hold together over decades.
ReadContested transitions, partner disputes, and the conversations no one will start.
ReadBuilding the capacity to lead what they'll inherit.
ReadTranslating wealth into purpose without losing the family in the process.
ReadEvery Aven engagement begins with the Family Enterprise Quotient, a clear-eyed diagnostic that measures the structure that holds the enterprise together, the trust among the people who lead it, and the alignment required to drive growth.
Most family enterprises are well advised. There's a CPA, a lawyer, a banker, a wealth manager, each good at what they do. But the questions that surface around ownership, succession, and the next generation aren't accounting questions or legal questions. They're about alignment, judgment, and relationships, and they sit in the space between everyone's expertise.
So they wait. The next generation waits to find out what's expected of them. Two partners wait for a disagreement to resolve itself. A founder waits for the right moment to step back. These are human problems that happen to live inside a business, and they don't get better on their own.
Aven Advisors was founded by two executives who arrived, independently, at the same conviction: that alignment and governance are not secondary to the business of a family enterprise. They are the business.
Matt is an entrepreneur and CFO, working inside and alongside family enterprises. Josh is a founder, executive recruiter, and coach. They have worked together for over twenty years.
A CPA who sees the ownership tension in the numbers. A wealth manager watching an estate plan and a family dynamic drift out of alignment. A friend or counselor who knows the family behind the business.
Start a conversationIf you've reached the edge of what your current advisors can do, that's usually the right moment to talk.
Start a conversation