Doug Tatum is the Chairman of Newport, LLC, a business advisory firm helping middle-market companies grow and exit. He is also a member of the teaching faculty at the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. Before his current roles, Doug was the Chairman and CEO of Tatum LLC, a national professional services firm he helped grow to over 1,000 professionals across 30 offices before its acquisition by Spherion in 2010. He is also the author of No Man’s Land: Where Growing Companies Fail, a critically acclaimed book that has won four national Best Business Book awards.

Many founders hit a critical stage where their business grows beyond their personal control, leaving them struggling to scale without burning out. How can entrepreneurs transition from hands-on involvement to building a company that runs and grows by itself?

As an expert in business growth, capital markets, and entrepreneurship, Doug Tatum has spent his career scaling and transitioning out of businesses. He shifted away from his company’s daily operations by empowering a strong team of experienced leaders and focusing on the company’s big-picture strategy. Doug emphasizes recognizing key inflection points, investing in infrastructure, and carving out regular thinking time to stay focused on what matters most and avoid burnout.

In this episode of Growth + Exit, Susan Kearney interviews Doug Tatum, Chairman of Newport, LLC, about how he scaled and exited his first company. Doug talks about overcoming leadership hurdles, working with private equity, and balancing risk.