Press room
Everything for coverage, self-serve.
Covers, the author photo and the title one-sheets, all downloadable from this page without asking. For interviews and review copies, write to press@cordishouse.com.
Covers
Cover art, full resolution.
The author
Ron Smith, photographs.
Ron Smith, CM&AA, is the founder and editorial director of Cordis House and the author of Hands Like Daddy’s and Buyer-Ready. He grew up in his family’s HVAC business and has spent 15 years advising the owners of family-run businesses. He writes on family business for Forbes and Fast Company. Images are for editorial use in coverage of Ron Smith, Cordis House and its books. Credit: Cordis House.
Documents
The title one-sheets.
Hands Like Daddy’s
Title one-sheet · hardcover and paperback
Buyer-Ready
Title one-sheet · hardcover, paperback, Kindle
Announcements
From the house, dated.
Buyer-Ready: The Official Workbook.
Cordis Press · paperback $34.99, coil bound $42 direct
Buyer-Ready in hardcover and Kindle.
Cordis Press · $37.99 hardcover · $12.99 Kindle
Cordis Press publishes Buyer-Ready.
Ron Smith, CM&AA · The Off-Market Method, Book One · paperback $24.99
Hands Like Daddy’s in paperback.
Cordis Studio · $14.99
Cordis Music releases Hands Like Daddy’s, the song.
Father’s Day · Cordis Music 001
Cordis Studio publishes Hands Like Daddy’s.
Ron Smith · the first title from Cordis Studio · hardcover
Bylines and affiliations
Where the founder’s work appears.
Why founders should build a gap table before the letter of intent arrives.
By Ron Smith, CM&AA · Forbes Business Council
The preparation frontier: not every fix is worth making before you sell.
By Ron Smith, CM&AA · Forbes Business Council
The new players in middle market mergers and acquisitions.
By Ron Smith · What private equity takeover means for owner-operators
Reviews and notices of the books are listed here, dated and linked, as they appear.
The research
Working papers from the Institute.
The Cordis Institute for Lower-Middle-Market Research is the research arm of Cordis Group. It publishes citable working papers on what happens in the 12 to 24 months before a founder begins a sale process. Ron Smith is its Editor-in-Chief. Every paper is pre-reviewed by four practitioners before it is posted.
Buy before you sell: when a pre-exit acquisition is worth it, and how to tell
WP-006 · Topical Series · September 2026
The real cost of waiting to sell
WP-005 · Topical Series · September 2026 · a concentration-adjusted framework for the hold, grow or sell decision
The preparation frontier
WP-004 · Track B · July 2026 · allocating a finite preparation budget
Working paper
The deal certainty discount
WP-003 · Track B · June 2026 · close-probability and post-LOI value compression
The buyer lane preparation map
WP-002 · Track B · May 2026 · underwriting model divergence and forecastable post-LOI compression
The preparation gap in early 2026
WP-001 · Track B · April 2026 · post-LOI adjustment patterns in lower-middle-market transactions
Two research tracks run in parallel: Track A, the False Summit series, and Track B, the Misalignment Tax series. Papers carry DOIs and are listed on SSRN.
Contact
Press contact.
Interviews, review copies and anything not on this page: press@cordishouse.com. Rights: see rights & permissions.