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The SMB Cohort

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The analyst publication built for people
who act on the SMB market.

Marketing execs, bankers and CEPAs, boomerpreneurs planning their exit, PE and search fund operators and the journalists covering all of it.

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Newsletters

Foundation

Issue 001 - Why I Think I Have Something to Say

Sep 2, 2026

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12 min read

Issue 001 - Why I Think I Have Something to Say

In 2009, I named The Accidental Entrepreneur and built the go-to-market that made HP #1. Here is the cohort I am naming now.

Brian Burch
Brian Burch

Foundation

Issue 002 - SMB Before The Great Recession

Sep 2, 2026

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9 min read

Issue 002 - SMB Before The Great Recession

Before you can measure what the Econoquake unleashed, you have to know what it interrupted — the state of US small business in 2007.

Brian Burch
Brian Burch

Foundation

Issue 003 - The Great Undercount and the Birth of the SMB Cohort Formation Index

Sep 2, 2026

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13 min read

Issue 003 - The Great Undercount and the Birth of the SMB Cohort Formation Index

Census data misses the true scale of SMB cohort formation. The first release of the SMB Cohort Formation Index, 2006-2014.

Brian Burch
Brian Burch

Foundation

Issue 004 - Necessity Was The Mother of Retention

Sep 2, 2026

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10 min read

Issue 004 - Necessity Was The Mother of Retention

Recession-born startups survived 27 points more and created 64 points more jobs. The reason is not what I argued in 2009.

Brian Burch
Brian Burch

Weekly Issue

Issue 005 - Three Cohorts, One Thesis

Oct 6, 2026

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13 min read

Issue 005 - Three Cohorts, One Thesis

Three enter the conversation and two emerge. The Artificial Entrepreneur will absorb The Airborne Entrepreneur

Brian Burch
Brian Burch

Weekly Issue

Issue 006 - The Accidental Entrepreneur Meets The Silver Tsunami

Oct 13, 2026

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10 min read

Issue 006 - The Accidental Entrepreneur Meets The Silver Tsunami

Some of the cohort I named in 2009 are now heading for the exit. What you should know about the event affecting The Accidental Entrepreneurs.

Brian Burch
Brian Burch

COMING SOON
Issue 007
There Is No NAICS Code for Artificial Intelligence
October 20, 2026 6:30a ET

The SMB Cohort

Expert SMB analysis for marketers, investors, businesspeople and journalists


The SMB Cohort is independent research and commentary. Analysis draws on primary research, public and licensed data sources, and the author’s professional experience and judgment; while rigorously developed, it can be wrong. Nothing published here is investment, financial, legal, tax, or other professional advice, and nothing should be acted on without independent verification from other sources. Brian D. Burch and The SMB Cohort accept no liability for outcomes resulting from reliance on this content.

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