Our Story
I (Jack) was born into an entrepreneurial family, and I knew I would follow suit. My career began as a software engineer, which eventually lead to professional services delivery. After a tenure at a large public software company, I founded Techwood Consulting, a digital marketing agency, with my business partner and prior manager, Jimmy Park. Jimmy and I would co-run Techwood for eight years, and I would eventually acquire the majority of company shares, with Jimmy taking an exit (the irony being we remain the closest of friends, and truly enjoyed this time together building Techwood).

The early years of Techwood were intense. There was a lot of learning in areas of hiring, training, company financials, scale, sales - you name it, we had to learn to do it. Fate and faith would eventually bring me to Chad Crowe, and from here, our growth would really take off.

Chad lead us to become a values-driven organization, establishing processes and core values that enabled our employees to be fully successful while finding purpose at work. The changes were immediate and fairly astounding. We were able to find employees who were a better fit with our values and retained them longer, and we grew aggressively as a result. The next four years at Techwood, before we eventually sold the company, were the least stressful, the most enjoyable, and the most profitable.
Because of the company’s success, we were able to formally share equity with all employees, creating a profit share via a stock sale of owner equity. The sale facilitated a desired dilution for owners, an upside for tenured employees in the form of hefty equity designations, and an additional ownership compensation option now included in every employee’s comp package. Today, all employees are owners of Techwood stock, and all receive active distribution of company profits.

What we didn’t realize at the time was that ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) were commonly only utilized for elder business owners who were ready to retire and needed to transfer ownership of the business. What we’ve learned now is:
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ESOPs provide on average 33% higher wages for employees, and households of employees that work in an ESOP report a 92% higher net worth due to stock ownership.

The sale of a company to an ESOPs outpaces every other equity scenario for privately held companies.

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ESOPs only represent 10% of the small-to-mid market exits.

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Unfortunately, not all companies can support the proper culture nor meet the financial requirements to be eligible for this preferred option as they currently exist.

 

This is why we started Legacy Press Ventures. Our mission is to maximize the benefits of capitalism and business ownership based on a fundamental belief that employees are the most valuable asset of a company, and that company financial performance accelerates when wealth is shared with employees.

Legacy Press Ventures can 
be summarized by
Who We Help : Frustrated business owners who feel stuck but have a great company and employees who have potential to lead.
What We Do: Create a business structure that rewards and encourages ethical hardworking individuals. 
Why We Do This: To free business owners to pursue greater passions and to enable them to reward, equip, and spur their employees on to an equally passionate life.