Guardrailing: Authentically Guide Your Natural Products Company from Spark to Sale

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Sold!

Do you yearn to profitably grow (and eventually sell) your company? Are you spinning your wheels with your business or business idea yet know there’s an easier path to your ultimate success? Or are you an investor with a portfolio company with exciting potential, yet they aren’t quite hitting their stride?

Introducing Guardrailing, a nontraditional method for creatively and authentically guiding your vision, team, and company from concept to successful exit.

Author Michael Bush draws from his experience as a consultant, strategic planning expert, and former CEO of Ganeden, a prominent player in the probiotics industry, to share his simple strategy for aligning your business with the values and spirit of the wellness revolution— to help you reach your ultimate destination while fostering a new era of conscious leadership.

This book is your go-to playbook for unlocking your true potential in the rapidly evolving world of business, helping you to:

• DISCOVER simple principles for effective planning, decision-making, and team building
• CLARIFY your values and goals as you set off toward your Destination
• INSPIRE your teams, investors, and customers to join you on this exciting journey
• DISCERN between Good decisions and those that do not have the best interest of all stakeholders (and we are ultimately all stakeholders)
• EVALUATE your current business plan and instantly see how to make adjustments for success

Michael Bush co-founded GrowthWays Partners, providing strategic advisory services to entrepreneurs, founders, investors, management teams, and related stakeholders. He is passionate about optimizing the enterprise value of companies in the natural products industry while ensuring that the value they build provides benefits far beyond the financial. With a career spanning over 25 years, Michael has led venture-backed businesses in the natural products, healthcare, and bioinformatics industries. Notably, as the president and CEO of probiotic innovator Ganeden, he expanded the market of the company's patented ingredient to over 65 countries and more than 1,000 SKUS. His tenure culminated in the successful 2017 merger with Kerry, Inc. Michael has raised hundreds of millions in growth capital and participated in dozens of M&A transactions, including successful exits worth almost half a billion dollars. He speaks frequently at industry events, including BevNet, Natural Products Expo, and Supply Side. He's an investor and board member for several for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and holds degrees in Biomedical Technology and Business Administration. Michael lives in San Francisco and is a devoted husband and father of three fabulous daughters. He enjoys his time off playing the guitar and traveling. As a certified meditation instructor, Michael is dedicated to a path of personal growth and helping others find ways to integrate mindfulness into their lives.