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Consolidated Safety Systems (CSS) was a government contractor that consulted in a variety of areas, serving government and private sector institutions. CSS was co-founded by Jolanda Janczewiski and Dennis Lauchner. The two had grown the company for over 30 years to a large and well-respected name in the government contracting business. The company became employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which had scheduled payouts to the two owners. Dennis has received his payout and had a minimal interest in the business. Jolanda's payouts started in 2017. She recognized that the ESOP had created some issues, including servicing the debt associated with the buyout, creating inequities among legacy employees and new hires, which led her to consider whether the ESOP should continue. Jolanda had become increasingly concerned about the expense of the ESOP, which was only expected to increase more in the future. This might be the time to reverse the ESOP if it looked like it had become too burdensome to CSS both in dollars and in potential dissatisfaction among new employees who did not benefit as much as legacy employees. To reverse the ESOP would involve buying back stock from employees, and to do this, while there were many qualitative considerations, Jolanda also needed to know CSS's value in order to make a fully informed decision. The decision to ESOP or not was complex, with strong pros and cons on both sides of the question.

greeNEWit is an energy audit company in Columbia, Maryland. The firm's three founders financed their start-up through loans from friends and family and an aggressive use of credit cards. Now the business is established, showing an exponential growth in revenues in a short time. Founder Josh Notes believes there is a billion dollar market available for the tak-ing in the area of smart grid integration. greeNEWit has been able to obtain limited bank financing but may need more to move into nationwide smart grid integration. Possibilities include additional bank loans, angel investors or venture capital, an equity partner, or perhaps generating additional revenues. A good estimate of firm value is needed in order to correctly price the share value. Josh needs to investigate all sources of financing before choosing the right next step for the firm.

American Solar was a small Virginia start up, providing firms with solar thermal energy though new roofing installations. The firm's owners, John Archibald and Kathryn McGeehan, wanted to sell their solar thermal roofing as cost effective systems, not dependent on tax credits to make them economical as was the case with solar photovoltaic electric (PV electric) generation. Kathryn and John competed for a small niche in an already niche market and were working to prove that their system could stand alone as an energy efficient, cost effective heating system. They were battling the high upfront cost of a solar roof and working to sell the long term energy efficiency that solar thermal roofs provided. Kathryn and John knew that a hotel chain-Hannover Inns-was going out asking for bids from roofing companies to replace their roofs. If they could land this contract, it would be their largest commercial contract to date. They wanted to prepare a quote for replacing the roofs along with a presentation, based on cost savings, that could help take their firm to a higher sales level.

Technology Plus was a Virginia IT firm, servicing information technology systems for businesses and government. The firm had grown through acquisition, expanding its technology solution capabilities, areas of expertise, vendor relationships and client bases. In early 2010, the firm was at a crossroads - how far and how fast to expand, how to incorporate prior acquisitions into current operations, and how to obtain financing for continued high growth, whether organic (financed through current earnings), or through additional acquisitions. Decisions about the future of the firm were complicated because the three owners were unable to agree. CEO Ethan Brennan wanted to continue to grow the firm, but was hampered by the inability of his partners to agree on future financing. Founder Gary Hesse was unwilling to put his personal assets at greater risk and vetoed any risky expansions that might require additional collateral. Ethan found his position frustrating enough to consider bankruptcy, selling his portion of the firm, or selling the entire firm.