"Every successful acquisition preserves the business, protects jobs, and gives someone the chance to build wealth through ownership. New Majority Capital doesn't take it lightly. I don't take it lightly. And professionally, this has been the joy of my life thus far." - Lance Gause
Lance Gause is many things — an Atlanta native, University of Georgia alum, Founder and Managing Director of Artemis Financial Consultants, and a 20-year veteran of wealth management, alternative investments, and commercial finance. But ask him how he'd describe himself first and foremost, and the answer is simple: passionate about economic mobility.
That passion is what led him to New Majority Capital, and what keeps him showing up for bETA fellows week after week.
How Lance Found NMC
Lance's path to NMC started, like many of the fellows he now advises, with a life transition. After leaving a corporate role, he found himself searching for a business to acquire and coming up short.
Then a LinkedIn post stopped him in his tracks. Allegra Stennett had written about the Silver Tsunami and the historic opportunity it represented, and the access gap that stood between that opportunity and the entrepreneurs who deserved to benefit from it.
"There was a post about how many people who typically had not had access to these types of opportunities would now — if there was only an engine," Lance recalls. The next day, NMC posted a Business Advisor role. He reached out immediately.
The rest, as he puts it, has been a great journey.
Why Ownership Changes Everything
Lance came to NMC thinking about acquisition the way many first-timers do, as a way to replace corporate income with cash flow. His perspective has since shifted considerably.
"At first, all I could think about was: you're buying a cash flow business. Maybe it replaces your corporate income. But now I see it as something a lot more impactful. You're not only going to change the lives of your family, but you will impact the lives of the employees that work for you."
That ripple effect is what drives him. "We're looking to ultimately change the wealth gaps. The best way is not just through our own families — sure, it's a great start. But how are we impacting the communities that we live in and that we serve, so that they too can realize some of these same dreams?"
Alternative Financing: Not Every Deal Fits the Box
At Artemis Financial Consultants, Lance built his reputation on alternative financing and strong business credit profiles, expertise that translates directly to his work advising bETA fellows.
"One of the biggest misconceptions about ETA is that everything is going to fit into a perfectly round box, where everybody's getting a standard SBA loan. That's certainly the hope for many deals, but it's not always the reality."
Lance emphasizes three structures he considers essential in almost every deal: seller notes, earnouts (which he prefers to frame as consulting agreements that keep the prior owner invested in the outcome) and a working knowledge of local CDFIs and impact funds for creative capital stacking.
He's seen both approaches work in practice. In one deal, what started as 10% seller financing ended up at 60% because the seller believed in the valuation and taking on more ownership gave them greater upside while hedging risk for the buyer. In another, a New York cohort fellow stacked NMC funds, a private equity provider, personally raised capital, and SBA financing, resulting in a remarkably small equity injection and a business that's thriving today.
The Biggest Success Stories Aren't the Biggest Transactions
Ask Lance what he's most proud of, and he doesn't point to a deal size or a closing date.
"The biggest success stories I've seen actually aren't the biggest transactions. It's the shift in mindset. That is probably more important than anything."
Over 10 weeks, he watches fellows move from "this is completely impossible" to "this is now highly viable." He remembers one fellow who initially questioned whether they even belonged in the acquisition space, and went on to acquire a business.
What drives those shifts? Two things, in Lance's experience: direct FaceTime with NMC's founders, who make a point of reaching out to fellows in their specific industries and creating real connections; and exposure to alumni who have already closed deals.
"We took a couple of fellows on a site visit during the Houston cohort. You could see the lights turning on. People thought this wasn't viable, and then they met someone just like them, who had been diligent about the process and succeeded. It created a catalyst."
What Lance Looks for in a bETA Fellow
After multiple cohorts, Lance has a clear picture of what separates fellows who close deals from those who don't.
"You have to have a genuine why, and that why needs to be impactful enough to sustain you when things get extraordinarily hard. Because it's going to get hard."
Beyond that, he looks for resilience, pliability, and above all, proactive momentum. The fellows who stand out aren't the ones who say "buying a business sounds great, tell me more." They're the ones who have already read the books, listened to the podcasts, done the research, and just need the right support to close.
"They don't just have an idea that buying a business would be something great for them. They've actually done some proactive work trying to move towards it."
