Advisors to America's small businesses
Institutional discipline. AI leverage.

Cortlandt combines institutional M&A discipline with purpose-built AI systems to help small business owners acquire, grow, and exit businesses

Get started with Cortlandt

Our Experience and Partners

OpenAI
BBH
Brookside
Moelis
Modal
Northeastern
Stifel
OpenAI
BBH
Brookside
Moelis
Modal
Northeastern
Stifel

What We Do

M&A advisory for small businesses and the lower middle market

Buy-Side Advisory

Sourcing, outreach, and evaluation through LOI and close. We help acquirers find, qualify, and execute on the right targets

Sell-Side Advisory

Positioning, materials, and buyer outreach. We run a disciplined process to maximize value, speed, and certainty

Strategy & Growth

Market mapping, strategic planning, and exit readiness. We help owners and operators position their businesses for long-term value

Why Cortlandt

Built from the ground up to deliver better outcomes

Speed

Cortlandt combines proprietary software and data infrastructure with human judgment honed through years of institutional M&A experience to move quickly and decisively

Coverage

Cortlandt's proprietary data model of 50mm+ U.S. business signals paired with agentic AI systems provides comprehensive coverage of the small business economy

Process Discipline

Every engagement follows a clear framework, ensuring consistent execution, transparency, and accountability throughout the transaction process from kickoff through closing

Compounding

Whether building through acquisitions or preparing for a future exit, we help clients develop disciplined strategies that compound enterprise value over time

About

Why I built Cortlandt

Cortlandt was founded on a simple belief: small businesses are the backbone of the American economy.

For decades, the highest quality M&A advisory services have been reserved for large enterprises. We believe advances in software and AI create an opportunity to deliver that same level of process discipline, coverage, and execution to founders, operators, and investors building small businesses and lower middle market enterprises.

That belief ultimately led me to leave a career in institutional investment banking to build Cortlandt from the ground up - focused entirely on serving the entrepreneurs and investors powering the real economy.

Brenden Johnson

Brenden Johnson

Founder & CEO