Community Bank Value™ Playbook
By: Kurt Knutson
Language: en-us
Categories: Business, Management, Investing
Community Bank Value™ Playbook is a strategic series for community bank CEOs responsible for the future direction of their institution—focused on value drivers, timing, leverage, and optionality, so you can lead critical conversations with clarity long before anyone asks the question out loud.
Episodes
Why Smart Bank CEOs Stay Stuck: The 3 Beliefs That Destroy Value
Jan 10, 2026If you’ve ever said:
“We’re not for sale.”“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”“The market will do what it does.”…you probably thought you were taking a clear strategic position.
In reality, those phrases are escape hatches. They shut down conversations your board needs to have — and they quietly undermine readiness, leverage, and fiduciary responsibility.
In this episode, Kurt breaks down the three beliefs that keep smart, experienced community bank CEOs stuck — and shows you what to say instead so you can lead with clarity without...
Duration: 00:08:32The Question You Can’t Answer
Jan 09, 2026At some point, every community bank CEO gets asked a question that stops them cold:
“Should we be thinking about our strategic options?”
It might come from a board member.
A shareholder.
A spouse.
Or from your own internal voice late at night.
And if you don’t have a framework — you deflect.
You reach for phrases like:
“Multiples aren’t there.”
“We’re not for sale.”
“We’ll figure it out when the time comes.”
They end the conversation… but the question doesn’t go away.
<... Duration: 00:07:09Cash vs. Stock: How Deal Structure Controls Your Influence After Closing
Jan 08, 2026Every community bank CEO wants to protect their people — and their legacy. But very few understand the single structural decision that determines how much influence they’ll have after closing:
Cash… or stock.
Most CEOs assume this is a tax discussion. It’s not.
Deal structure determines whether you have voice after closing — or whether you’re watching from the outside.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt breaks down the three deal structures, the real trade-off between certainty and influence, and why the “be...
Duration: 00:08:19What You Can (and Can’t) Protect When Selling Your Bank
Jan 07, 2026Every community bank CEO who starts thinking strategically hits the same wall:
How do I protect what we’ve built?
Not the price.
Not the structure.
The culture. The people. The trust you spent decades earning.
And for most CEOs, the hardest part is this:
You can’t talk to anyone about it — not your board, not your team, not even your spouse.
So you carry it alone.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson breaks down what you can pro...
Duration: 00:09:39Protecting Your Legacy: What Truly Carries Forward
Jan 06, 2026There’s a question community bank CEOs carry more than they admit — and it rarely gets asked directly:
What happens to our people? Our customers? Our community… if something changes?
Underneath that is something deeper:
A fear that one decision — even the right one — could undo decades of goodwill you never wanted credit for, but always felt responsible to protect.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson names the emotional weight CEOs carry, explains the hard truth about what contracts can and cannot protect, and reframes...
Duration: 00:07:43The Advisor Team: The 3 Experts Every Bank CEO Needs
Jan 05, 2026You get the call.
A strategic buyer wants a conversation.
Now what?
Who do you call first — legal counsel, an investment banker, your accountant, your board… or do you try to handle it yourself?
Most CEOs think they have a plan.
But as Mike Tyson put it: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson explains why the banks that maintain leverage don’t build their advisor teams after interest shows up — they bui...
Duration: 00:08:47The Talent Paradox: Why Your Best People Create Both Value and Risk
Jan 04, 2026Many community bank CEOs carry a quiet fear:
“If we start building succession, documenting systems, and developing leadership independence… our best people will assume we’re selling — and they’ll leave.”
But the paradox is this:
The very dependency you’re trying to “protect” is exactly what kills value — and actually puts your people at greater risk.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson breaks down what buyers really see when a bank depends on one or two key people, why leadership independenc...
Duration: 00:09:23How to Respond to an Unsolicited Offer (Without Losing Control)
Jan 03, 2026Strategic conversations rarely start in the boardroom.
They start at conferences. Over lunch. Through “deal-maker” introductions.
And by the time a CEO realizes what’s happening, control is already gone.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson explains why uncoordinated strategic conversations destroy value — and how boards protect shareholders by establishing a clear governance framework before unsolicited interest arrives.
This isn’t about deciding to sell.
It’s about fiduciary responsibility and controlling the conversation — so the bank doesn’t get controlled by it.
What Yo...
Duration: 00:08:05Bank Valuation Myths: Why Multiples Mislead CEOs
Jan 02, 2026Most community bank CEOs have never sold a bank. So when valuation comes up, they default to the question everyone asks:
“What multiples are banks getting right now?”
Here’s the problem: multiples are a terrible way to understand value.
They’re backward-looking, distorted by capital policy, and tell you almost nothing about what your bank is actually worth.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson explains how buyers really value banks — and why CEOs who rely on multiples quietly lose leverage.
This is...
Duration: 00:05:34The Golden Window: The 18-Month Cycle That Creates—or Kills—Leverage
Jan 01, 2026Timing doesn’t just affect leverage.
It can cost — or save — shareholders seven figures without changing a single deal term.
In this episode, Kurt Knutson introduces the Golden Window — a specific, measurable 18-month cycle where regulatory timing and core contract structure align to dramatically increase leverage.
This episode builds directly on the Strategic Window and shows how tactical timing decisions quietly determine outcomes long before any strategic conversation begins.
What You’ll Learn
What the Golden Window is — and why it’s different from... Duration: 00:05:36The Strategic Window: Why Timing Determines Your Valuation
Dec 31, 2025There are moments in every community bank’s lifecycle when the CEO has maximum control, maximum leverage, and maximum optionality.
Kurt Knutson calls this the Strategic Window.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt explains how timing — not just performance — determines leverage, and how understanding where you are in the Strategic Window changes how you lead, whether you ever sell or not.
This is not about urgency or transactions.
It’s about recognizing when your leverage is strongest so you can make better...
The 8 Value Drivers Every Community Bank CEO Must Understand
Dec 30, 2025Most community bank CEOs think about value the same way everyone else does: call report metrics, peer comparisons, ROA, and efficiency ratios.
Strategic buyers don’t.
In this episode of the Community Bank Value™ Playbook, Kurt Knutson breaks down the eight value drivers buyers actually use to evaluate a bank — and why understanding them changes how you lead, whether you ever sell or not.
You’ll learn the difference between:
Baseline value that gets you into the conversationStrategic differentiators that create premiums and leverage... Duration: 00:08:46How Buyers Really Evaluate Your Bank (Not What You Think)
Dec 30, 2025Most CEOs assume value is about what they’ve built.
Strategic buyers care about what they can become because of it.
In this episode, Kurt Knutson explains how strategic value is actually created — why the right combination of banks can turn “two plus two into five,” and how understanding this perspective changes how you think about your own institution.
Using real-world experience from both sides of the table, this episode shows how strategic fit, not size or headline metrics, drives exceptional outcomes.
What You’ll Learn
Why... Duration: 00:07:57The Leverage Matrix: Understanding Your Bank’s True Strategic Position
Dec 29, 2025Most community bank CEOs believe they’re in control — until a strategic question lands unexpectedly.
In this episode, Kurt Knutson introduces The Leverage Matrix, a practical framework that helps CEOs understand where real control comes from — and where it quietly erodes.
This episode sets the foundation for the entire series.
What This Episode Covers
Why leverage isn’t about size, price, or intentHow preparedness changes the power dynamicThe difference between operational control and strategic controlWhy clarity — not avoidance — creates optionalityThis conversation isn’t about selling your bank.
It’...
Would You Know What to Say?
Dec 28, 2025If your board asked tomorrow, “Should we be thinking about our strategic options?” — would you know how to answer?
Most community bank CEOs can run the bank.
Very few feel prepared for the strategic conversation that matters most — the one nobody talks about openly.
In this trailer, Kurt Knutson introduces Community Bank Value™ Playbook and explains who the show is for, what it is — and just as importantly, what it isn’t.
This series isn’t about selling your bank.
It’s about understanding your strategic position so you can lead wi...
Duration: 00:01:39