This week, we look at how family-enterprise leaders can identify “artifacts,” or objects and stories that convey meaning, to transmit the firm’s values across generations.

We also have advice for startup founders on how to find funders who share their company’s vision.

From framed dollar bills to inspiring stories

One critical aspect of ensuring the success of any family enterprise is the transmission of core values from generation to generation. But according to Kellogg’s Matt Allen, a clinical professor and executive director of the Ward Center for Family Enterprises, facilitating that continuity can be tough without a defined legacy of the company’s values, especially as those values are likely to evolve from generation to generation.

“Anytime you have a generational transition in a business, you’ve got different viewpoints on what each feels is important,” says Allen. “Developing a legacy that both grounds the company in the past and provides a clear direction for the future can be tricky.”

So Allen recommends that leaders use artifacts—verbal, physical, relational, and emotional messages—to help define and transmit the company’s legacy. These can be stories from the company’s history, locales like its first production facility or store location, or objects like a framed dollar bill from a company’s first transaction.

When deciding on what these artifacts could be for your family enterprise, look for emotional connection to the firm’s values, Allen advises. It also helps to be specific enough that it speaks to the family’s history but broad enough that it gives nonfamily employees a guide.

“We don’t want to use artifacts that are so specific that they hold you back, that they keep the next generation from moving forward, or become uninspiring,” Allen says.

Read more in Kellogg Insight.

Find your angels

Leaders looking to scale startup businesses often have to raise money to realize that growth. Finding the right investors—who can offer more than just cash but can be genuine partners in the company’s vision—can be tricky. Kellogg entrepreneurship professor and serial investor Jeffrey Eschbach has some advice for making the most of your relationships with angels.

Start by laying the groundwork, from detailing your goals and updating your social media to preparing executive summaries and really crunching the numbers on what you will realistically need to succeed.

“You do have to do a little bit of calculating,” Eschbach says. “When a founder merely requests funding to extend their operating runway for another 12 months, I worry that they aren’t focused on clear results. I want to know what they plan to achieve—additional revenue targets, improved tech, new partnerships—by spending my investment dollars.”

Eschbach recommends leaning into your existing networks to find potential investors—or advice and introductions from other successful founders. Once you have identified potential investors, it’s critical to keep nurturing the relationships based as much on the angels’ expertise as on their ability to provide funding.

“There’s a saying in the funding world, ‘If you want money, ask for feedback. If you want feedback, ask for money,’” he says.

When building those relationships, it helps to have a clear picture of the funders’ investing history, their approach to mentorship, and their financial expectations for the investor relationship from timelines to returns.

“Even though you’ll work hard, angel investors need to mentally assume the money’s gone,” Eschbach says. “With startups, there may never even be an exit, and they have to be 100 percent comfortable with that.”

Read more in Kellogg Insight.