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Business mediation · co-founders, family businesses, exits

Move the business forward without blowing up the people in it.

Fifteen minutes, free. Ask me the hard ones:

Tap one to text it to me.

Co-founder splits, family handoffs, one owner buying out another. On paper they're legal and financial. In the room, there's a business on the line and a relationship underneath it. I'm the neutral for both of you.

Which situation is yours?

One neutral for every owner at the table. Booking commits you to nothing.

4.9 stars · 250+ Google reviews · St. Paul, over Zoom nationwide

Two business owners talking over documents at a kitchen table
One neutral · both owners
“His approach made the entire process feel fair and constructive.”
Rose O. · Google review · January 2025

250+ reviews. 4.9 stars. Read them yourself.

Flat-fee

no hourly billing surprises

1–3

sessions for most matters

Confidential

protected under Minnesota law

Business Mediation Services

Which situation is yours?

Co-founders splitting up. A family handing down the company. An owner planning an exit. Each has its own page — what it costs, how it works, and what a realistic outcome looks like. If yours is more than one of these, start with the closest fit.

For startups & co-owners

Co-Founder Mediation

Buyouts, deadlock, a 50/50 that's stopped working. Equity on the table, IP that's blurry, roles that stopped making sense months ago. We structure the split — or the reset — so it ends in a signed agreement instead of a lawsuit.

Sounds like: "We want different things now." · "We can't agree on what it's worth."
See Co-Founder Mediation →
For family businesses

Family Business Mediation

Succession, buy-outs, sibling disputes, parent-child transitions. Who owns it, who runs it, and what "fair" means when one kid's in the business and two aren't — so both the company and the Thanksgiving table survive.

Sounds like: "Dad won't let go." · "Why does my brother get the same shares?"
See Family Business Mediation →
For owners planning an exit

Business Exit Mediation

The smartest time to call. Before anything's on fire, we get the owner, the spouse, the kids, and the partners rowing the same way — so when your exit planner and M&A advisor go to work, the people are already aligned.

Pairs with your exit planner / CEPA
See Business Exit Mediation →
The shift already underway

A $10 trillion handoff is happening. Most of it will get messy.

Baby boomers own roughly 2.3 million U.S. businesses, and about 10,000 of them turn 65 every day. Most have no written plan for the transition — and when it finally arrives, the math is rarely what breaks the deal. The people are.

$10T

in business value set to change hands this decade as boomers retire.

Exit Planning Institute / industry est.
~70%

of family businesses don't survive the handoff to the next generation.

Family-business succession research
~80%

of those failures trace to conflict and communication — not money.

Succession failure analyses
Why a mediator

Everyone in the room has a side. I don't.

The M&A advisor has a deal to close. The attorney and the CPA each represent someone. The financial planner is close to one principal. All essential — all, by design, on a side. The seat nobody fills is the impartial one: the person whose only job is keeping the humans from torching the transaction.

It's not character. It's chemistry.

When people dig in, their brains are doing exactly what brains do under threat — protecting them. Change the chemistry in the room, and people who couldn't agree on the coffee order start building the deal together.

Founder and successor in conversation at a workshop table
Meet your mediator

The hardest conversation in the room, held steady.

Ryan McLaughlin has earned 4.9 stars across 250+ Google reviews sitting with people in conversations they were certain would end badly. That's the track record you can go read for yourself. In the hardest week of your professional life, you don't need a referee keeping score. You need someone who can keep the conversation from going sideways and get everyone to a decision that still holds three quarters from now.

What Ryan does isn't contract disputes or insurance claims. It's business conflict where the relationship — not just the transaction — is what broke down. Where the documents technically say one thing and everyone in the room knows that's not the whole story.

Conflict neuroscienceMFAFacilitative · Restorative · Transformative
Why mediation — not litigation, not arbitration

Why mediate a business dispute instead of suing?

01 — PRIVATE

Confidential by law

Minnesota Statutes §595.02 protects what's said in mediation. Nothing enters the public record.

02 — FAST

Weeks, not years

Contested litigation commonly runs 18–36 months. Most mediations resolve in one to three sessions.

03 — FLAT-FEE

A fraction of the cost

Contested business litigation is routinely estimated at six figures. Mediation is a flat fee — $1,995 per person — quoted before anything starts.

04 — YOURS

You control the outcome

In arbitration, a stranger decides. In mediation, you reach your own agreement. That's why it holds.

For exit planners, M&A advisors, CPAs & attorneys

I don't compete with you. I keep your deal alive.

You built the plan. Then the founder's son stops returning calls, or two partners stop speaking, and the timeline slips. That's where I come in — the neutral you bring in to clear the human logjam so your work can close.

  • ✓ Protect the relationship — and your engagement
  • ✓ Keep stalled deals from dying on emotion
  • ✓ A neutral your client trusts to be fair
  • ✓ No legal, tax, valuation, or financial advice — that stays yours

4.9 stars across 250+ reviews — now for the business you built.

Real talk, evidence-based methods, zero stuffiness — whether it's a divorce or the company you spent thirty years on.

★★★★★ · Google Review

"I was a ball of nerves before our virtual mediation session. Ryan's calmness, casual approach, insights, observations, and cohesiveness throughout the session helped us get through alot of very difficult topics to the point of an agreement."

— David H.
★★★★★ · Google Review

"Ryan was incredibly thoughtful and took time to truly listen to both our perspectives. His approach made the entire process feel fair and constructive."

— Rose Ostenson
★★★★★ · Google Review

"Ryan was calm, clear, and professional. He made it easy for us to discuss then sort through our issues. He walked us through all of the necessary paperwork. I left our mediation session feeling heard and at ease."

— Jessica Hunter
Read the reviews
Good questions

The things people ask first.

Is this legal advice or therapy?

Neither. We provide mediation only — a neutral, structured space to reach decisions. Keep your attorney, CPA, and advisors; we work alongside them.

Do you replace my exit planner or lawyer?

Never. We're the neutral who keeps the people aligned so their work lands — the missing seat, not a substitute.

Virtual or in person?

Both. Virtual by default — it works and saves the drive — with in-person available for Minnesota matters when it helps.

What does it cost?

A flat fee of $1,995 per person, quoted at the free consultation — no hourly meter running while people find their words.

Is it confidential?

Yes. Mediation is a confidential, off-the-record space designed for candor — protected in Minnesota under Statutes §595.02.

We're not in Minnesota.

Virtual mediation works nationwide for many business matters. Mention it at the consult and we'll confirm fit.

The longer it sits, the more it costs — in dollars and in relationships.

Book a free, no-pressure 15-minute call. We'll tell you straight whether mediation is the right move.

Call (763) 316-8323
Call Which situation? →