I received a call from Gen Equity.  I cannot pass judgement on this company as I have not had dealings with them.
A note of caution though - gave $50k to a company named RSM Equico in 2008 which sounds a lot like this company.  They ended up losing a class action suit against them as they did not perform as promised.  Many of us received some amount of money back from the settlement.  
Research with other M&A firms revealed that you shouldn't have to pay money in advance to market your firm.  If your co. is truly valuable and fits within their spectrum, they will gladly take you on as a client without advancing funds.

We had the same experience.  When we expressed a need to research the company and think about the money they wanted up front, the person acted mad at us.  Well, that told us all we needed to know.

Thats sounds cost effective! Maybe if you were selling landscaping services in a crap hole tiny town. The world is a big place and technology like phones have made it just a little smaller, so people can access more clients instead of walking in face to face... oh and i think your pager is going off... HA

My original posting was unfortunately composed in haste and frustration. I had received a preliminary response from the company that upset me and I responded in anger. Had I waited another couple of days, I would have received additional communication from Generational Equity that fully addressed my concerns. I have fully resolved any complaints and misunderstandings between Generational Equity and me. I apologize for my lack of restraint and patience in my original posting.

What was the name of that second company?

See John from October 2011. Our experience was identical. Revolving door of personnel. I dealt with at least six different people from start until I pulled the plug, $35K too late. The multiple people makes it easy or them to abdicate any accountability. When I asked my assigned specialist what % of people that pay $35K actually sell their company via Gen Equity, he said he did not have that information and that it was not a meaningful statistic. The "Valuation" report was pathetic and only slightly better after I complained. Their mode of operation seems to be to do the minimal amount for the $35K of effort to get you to sign up for the long haul, at which time you are trapped. I essentially forfeited the $35K as a lesson learned. When I asked for a 50% refund, they hid behind contracts and legal talk. Absolutely no evidence of proactive customer satisfaction.

By comparison, a second M&A company found me by doing real market research and learning about my business. They did twice as much up front work at no charge than Gen Eq did for $35K. While we have opted  not to go forward with anyone, the second company will be the one I call.

Worst example of a company that I have dealt with in twenty years in business.

We were approached by this company a few years back and met with one of their reps.  At the end of our meeting, the rep wanted $35K.  We said we never part with money without doing a lot of research and references.  The rep acted upset at us.  That was when we suspected the company was not legit and are glad we did not fall for it.  Last year, we were not so smart and did fall for something at a lot less money only to find out the company used deceptive business practices and had no intention of finding a buyer for our company.  What I have learned is that a broker that requires a fee up front, is probably a scam.

your dumb

This outfit is a scam. Trust me don't waste your money. Why are they spending so much time and effort monitoring blog sites? Not to mention the money spent removing content.

No pressure? Ha! My meeting with Paul a couple days after the seminar was the biggest full court press I have ever felt in my life.  It wasn't clear that I needed to pay $35K at all after attending the seminar but that is what Paul came for.  When I told him I had to think about it, he was very offended and made me feel like I didn't trust him.  If my company is worth so much, why couldn't he let me wait and research his company a bit?  Also, if they sell my company for what they thought it was worth, the $35K is a drop in the  bucket for them.  They don't need it.  Go see other M&A firms and see what they have to offer before you take their offer.  Like they say in the seminar "one offer is no offer".

How to solicit new clients. The best way to solicit new customers is to call up and make an appointment and walk in the front door of the business and hand the gate keeper your business card. Then sit down with owner and pull out your Ipad or spread sheet and show him facts and figures as well as references from same industry business sales with owner phone numbers to call. That is how a Pro does it.

I have been called at least 5 times from this company and each time I tell them I am not interested in evaluating my companies worth at this time or selling it.   But like clock work they call up and start slinging the same crap at me. I was told the last time that I was pre registered for their local seminar and must attend. Guess what? I didnt attend. And the world did not end. My question is how many small business owners have 35K to drop in their greedy hands to give me a wild a** (donkey) guess on what my business is worth.
When the time comes I am pretty sure I will not reach out to this company to represent me based on the way they solicit their prospects and tactics they use to gain access to owners. Reminds me of the timeshare resellers scam.

In response to others who get these calls, I too have received many many of them over the last 5+ years. They call from many different numbers. Today's was from 612-568-1899, which was different from the number he left in a voicemail. That was from an area code that began with a '5'. I cannoth get them to stop calling us, but thankfully they always ask for "Jack" who was the president of our company until he passed away 10 years ago. That's a good give away for a call that's going to be Junk.

Maybe if you had received these calls endlessly for the last 5 years, you would understand how annoying it is! They have been calling my company and will Not take no for an answer. They completely disregard the rules of customer calling. They do not have a Do Not Call list, or at least not one they abide by. That is not an acceptable way to run a legitimate business. If I harrassed my potential customers for years on end, they would not be interested in doing business with us either. That's why we only call on people who have stated an interest!

I've no experience w the company but came to post simply to express my disbelief at all the morons here on this thread.  Many of you are business owners?  I guess owning a business doesn't make you any smarter than the next person.  You all seem so quick to jump on the 'scam' bandwagon.  The company calls to invite you to a free seminar.  You're all upset?  If a company wanted to inform you they were here, giving free advice that you may want, what then, is an acceptable approach?  You hate junk mail, you don't commercials on tv anymore thanks to a dvr, you tell the guy who comes knocking to buzz off.  Out society had evolved into people being to scared and ignorant for their own good.  It started because people were originally just too ignorant for their own good.  Too many people got scammed and now the country thinks all forms of marketing are evil scams and need to be reported to the DA.  Not only that, but you bash these employees for going to work and putting food on their table.  You call them idiots and losers, but what about those who we as taxpayers pay for, those who won't get jobs and will forever live on government assistance?  I just wanted to say if anyone here posted a negative response and DIDN'T actually attend a meeting or purchase a service, then YOU are the idiot.  Learn to think for yourself.  You ask the most moronic people for their opinions and feel better because your in familiar company.  It's not cause you're all right that the company is a scam, it's because you're all morons.  Thanks ;)

Well I answered the phone and agreed to attend a seminar. After an 11 hour seminar they wanted me to pay them $35,000 up front to sell my business. I was shocked. What a waste of time.

We are impressed with their services so far.  Not finished with things but it seems to be going well and we are getting our moneys worth.  Maybe others with good results can speak up.

Going Monday, I'll respond back and let you know my thoughts. There are other companies out there to list with if you don't like them.

I'd like to know if you decided to go with the company to sell your business, and if sol, are you satisfied with their performance and services.

he called me too about a time sensitive matter, after reading these messages i never called him back !

Your sales calls are the lowest, scumbag, bait-and-switch tactics I could imagine.  If there was any way I could get you jerks to stop calling me, I would.  Here's what you do people when you get the too-good-to-be-true "urgent opportunity" call from these scumbags:  When they call, act interested and sign up to go to their "important seminar at an airport hotel near you" free of charge, then don't go.  Then when they call you back to yell at you (which they will!), tell them to stop calling you.  They will stop for about 6 months, then the next idiot salesman that they get in their revolving door of staff will see your name in their list, and start the whole process over again.  I have done this at least 3 times and they don't get the message.  See "Glengarry Glen Ross" or "Pushing Tin".  That's what these guys aspire to be.

This sounds like an obvious plug from someone with ties to the company.

have you used them.. what was the resulot

Two questions will tell you if it's a scam.  How many clients does GW EQUITY- Generational Equity sign up per year? How many does GW EQUITY - Generational Equity sell per year?

We only work with private companies, most of the time there will be no comments from them on the web.

I work at Generational Equity as a Senior Business Advisor. Everyone complaining on this website is stating that they do not like our calling process. How else would you know that we are holding a meeting in your area? Most owners are so nose-to-the-grindstone they have absolutely no clue the value of their own business. If you had that much money tied into a stock, wouldn't you look at it every day? This meeting is 100% non-transactional and, as you can see, the owners that have attended wrote that they found it useful. We thrive on a no-pressure approach to inform business owners, why else would we be #1 in North America for the past 7 years. Do you think people would possibly sign up with us if the meetings we call about came with bad information? I respectfully challenge any business owner reading this to get the vital information we have, I can absolutely, 100% assure you it will be one of the best days you have ever spent on your business. For all the others, come get some free catered food at a nice hotel and leave at 9:00AM with the binder we give you if you feel like there is a single thing at that moment that you could be doing better for your business. We have no armed guards or ropes...

So I'm sitting in the seminar as well and reviewing the web as I'm sitting here and I dont see any pots from happy customers other than the one they showed at lunch time.  I do agree tht I would spend about 35k to prepare all the docs, just need some evidence from others who took the plunge.  I agree that their sales approach is unsavory, although I'm on the fence about the value of their service.  Anybody else?

Chris Eubanks same MO as all the other Generational Equity staff 512-900-7835
then Lisa Doyle 954-634-5104 they are both very slick.

Craig Marchetti called and asked to call him back at 954-634-5093.  Said it was urgen, a huge, time sensitive opportunity to us and needs to speak by COB.  Listen up Craig Marchetti...we are on to your scam.

I would seriously like to hear from the person who spent the 35K or anyone else with actual dealings with the company. I too went to the seminar and the follow up meeting. Seems very fishy!  I do believe all of what they said but they dont even give a ball park as to what you bussiness is worth.
R Colano rcolano@rivcoproducts.com.

Was very informative though!