Company Spotlight: Headwaters MB

Ivy Exec recently interviewed Phil Seefried, Co-founder, and CEO of Headwaters MB, a Denver-based independent, middle market investment banking firm.

Headwaters MB is consistently ranked one of the top investment banks across many publications, including Ivy Exec’s own “2016 Best Investment Banks to Work For.”

• Inspiration For Headwaters MB

After working at Credit Suisse, Seefried became CFO of a startup telecom company in Denver. He was tasked with hiring investment banks to help raise money for the firm – which was his first experience as a customer with an investment bank. “We entered the market for a big capital raise targeting $1 billion,” shared Seefried, “but we were only able to raise half, and decided not to move forward.” The banks, in Seefried’s opinion, only did an “ok” job. He walked away from the experience feeling that they had not advocated for him and his business to the degree he had hoped for.

This experience led him to found Headwaters MB. Seefried wanted to create an investment bank that was an unapologetic advocate for the private business owner. He shares that “(customers) are taking giant risks…their life’s work is in the investment bank’s hands.” However, most banks prioritize larger clients and don’t make it a priority to help smaller-sized or family-owned businesses.

• What Areas Does Headwaters MB Focus On?

“We wanted to take the culture of advocacy and see how we could improve upon the service experience for the small business owner,” said Seefried. The firm’s sweet spot includes companies whose enterprise value are between $25-125MM. This area is, in Seefried’s opinion, the “last broken information market left in the financial service market.” It’s not possible to access financial information on these companies online and there is no centralized place to gain information. He found that most investment banks that focus on this price range don’t have the necessary distribution capabilities to find what he calls “the outlier result” for their clients.

• How Does Headwaters MB Differentiate Itself?

Seefried wanted to bring scale and information management to this market segment, creating a clear competitive advantage in serving client goals. Headwaters combines all of its relationship reach, deal history, and specific expertise to create an internal platform that empowers the bankers and ultimately benefits the business owner.

“We haven’t seen other players evolve their business models……companies aren’t adapting to the realities of this fragmented and opaque market” shared Seefried, “We think of ourselves as a player in the information exchange business, and use that in our pursuit of creating a culture of transparency and advocacy.”

When a Headwaters’ banker originates an opportunity, it is instantly shared with everyone at the company. They then assemble the best team for that specific opportunity in a very open and client-centric way. Everyone at the firm is free to contribute their expertise. Later, when it is time for the deal to go to market, a similar process occurs in which all 45+MD’s across the country participate in the calling effort, directing interest back to the team leader. This process increases response rates and shortens time-to-market, reducing deal risk.

• What Makes Headwaters MB A Top Company To Work For?

It is Seefried’s strongly-held belief that in today’s service economy, the bond between employee and company (or the inverse) is broken. The world has evolved to a point where every employee is a free agent at any moment. “You need to create a platform that naturally attracts and retains talent,” said Seefried, “and provide something they can’t find anywhere else.” To achieve this, Headwaters MB strives to make their business one that supports employees not only monetarily, but also culturally. In our rankings, these were two areas in particular where Headwaters MB stood out from the rest.

“We’re a team. We work hard and are always striving to achieve extraordinary results for our clients, but we’re also like a family,” said a Managing Director at Headwaters MB, “we look out for each other and are constantly working to empower each other and make our team better.”

• What Traits Does Headwaters MB Look For When Recruiting Talent?

The perfect person for Headwaters MB is an entrepreneurial, high producing investment banker in one of two common situations. First is the banker at a small boutique that is no longer competitive in today’s market. Second is a banker who doesn’t want to work at another large firm where they have the same negative things (like reorganizations, company scandals, etc.) happen around them, leaving them with a feeling of loss of control. These people want to work with others in a politics-free environment, willing to help and to be helped. Said one current employee in our rankings, “Ego and sense-of-entitlement folks need not apply.”