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David Grau Sr., JD, is an award-winning author, attorney, speaker, and small business strategist with more than three decades of experience helping owners build businesses that can thrive beyond the founder. His work focuses on a challenge that defines the future of many closely held companies: how to move from founder dependence to a business model that is durable, profitable, valuable, and one-day, transferable.

David Sr. is a successful and retired business owner, and is the author of six nonfiction books for small business owners, with a special emphasis on business durability, leadership, succession planning, and internal ownership transition. His three newest books — The Founder’s Treadmill, Building With the End in Mind, and Acquiring Your Future… are designed to work together as a practical roadmap for owners who want to build a stronger business now and create more options for the future. Together, these books help readers understand how to reduce founder dependence, build enterprise value, and pursue a thoughtful business perpetuation strategy over time.

Drawing on a background in securities regulation, business taxation, and law, David Sr. has spent much of his career working at the intersection of ownership structure, continuity planning, internal equity strategies, and real-world small business operations. He has advised thousands of business owners and leadership teams on how to strengthen their companies, prepare for long-term transition, and create businesses that are not merely jobs for the founder, but enduring enterprises.

In addition to his books, David Sr. wrote a monthly column for Financial Planning magazine for six years and has authored dozens of nationally published columns and white papers on succession planning, continuity, internal ownership transition, tax strategy, and related topics. He has also delivered more than 1,000 workshops, seminars, and keynote presentations across 48 states.

David Sr. has been recognized for his contributions to the field of business perpetuation and ownership transition, including being named one of InvestmentNews’ 2017 Icons and Innovators.

Today, David Sr. focuses his writing and speaking on helping small business owners take control of the businesses they are building, lead with greater confidence, and create organizations that can serve clients, support teams, and endure well beyond the founder’s daily involvement.