Richard Brooks

My thoughts on business, value, and how AI is changing both.

Thirty years running businesses. Now I help you run yours. Along the way I've invested in companies and worked inside others as a fractional CMO, and I teach AI, sales and key account management at Cranfield. Two books so far. More about me.

Latest essay

5 November 2026 · 10 min readNew

Family misfortunes: six family business pitfalls to avoid

Six blind spots family businesses are prone to, from the Dunning-Kruger effect and nepotism to the handover that never happens and the gap between what the family thinks the firm is worth and what a buyer will pay. A Q&A with what the research says and the questions that help spot each one.

Figure 1

The dip that never happens at home

An illustration of shape, not data. Someone tested in other firms and markets usually meets a dip, the point where they find out what they didn't know. Inside one family firm, that dip can be skipped entirely.

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