Ron Smith

Ron Smith is the founder of Cordis House, an independent publisher of books for and about the people who hold up the world. He is also the founder of Cordis Group LLC, a family-business advisory practice, and Cordis Global LLC, the independent media and intellectual-property company that Cordis House publishes under.

He grew up in his family's HVAC business, learning the trades the way most trade-family kids do, by waiting for the truck, then by riding in it. For 15 years he has advised owners of family-run companies through the moments that decide whether a business outlives its founder: growth, succession, and the handing down of craft and capital across generations.

In 2026 he published his first book, Hands Like Daddy's (Cordis Studio), a picture book for the children of trade-business families, now open for pre-order. He is the editor of The Family Business Reader (Cordis Press, 2026) and writes the founding letters of The Cordis Letters from the editorial office. He is a contributor to Fast Company and Forbes, and Editor-in-Chief of the Cordis Institute. He also writes at his Substack.