Being an entrepreneur has always been a part of Scott Bushkie. “I was the kid with the lemonade stand, always loved sales as I was always competitive in sports and sales has an easy way to ‘keep score’ in business,” he said.
At the age of 24, Bushkie went to work for another M&A firm and saw, like most firms around the country, their close rate was only around 20%-30%. “It just seemed odd to me that 25% was the norm, and that meant that 75% or so clients did not sell their business,” he said. “It was their life’s work, and it just didn’t seem right.”
Bushkie thought there had to be a better way. This led to the creation of Cornerstone Business Services, a boutique investment bank serving the lower middle market of mergers & acquisitions.
“We can bring the same services a $100 million enterprise value client would expect down to a $10 million enterprise value client,” said Bushkie.
Over the last three years, Cornerstone has seen significant growth, both in revenue – recognized as the 13th fastest growing company in Northeast Wisconsin in 2024 by Insight Publishing – and in building out its team and infrastructure. Under Bushkie’s leadership, the firm built out its leadership team and its CAPex program with a goal to be the largest trusted advisor alliance in the U.S. Cornerstone currently has over 3,000 firms and is on target to get to over 50,000 firms in the next two to three years.
Even though the firm is only a team of 20, it is one of the largest lower middle market investment banks/M&A firms in the Midwest. Bushkie was the founder of the Wisconsin Chapter of MBBI (Midwest Business Broker & Intermediary Association), which is now a 140-member chapter, the chair of the IBBA, which is now around 3,000 members, and the chair of the M&A Source, one of the largest M&A Associations focused on the lower middle market.
Bushkie has earned his CBI and M&AMI designations, created the Cornerstone International Alliance, and authored the book “Finish Strong: Sell Your Business on Your Terms.”
“I have always loved helping people and solving complex problems,” said Bushkie. “Our mission is to create positive life-changing events for all the lives we touch, and when we can sell a business for someone who worked so hard for so many years and now have their money work for them, it is an amazing feeling.”