About SB Valuations
Real People, Real Credentials
SB Valuations was founded in 2013 by James "Jim" Lisi, CVA, BCA-R, who has been producing business valuations since 2003. He began his career as an industrial engineer at the University of Michigan, where he was introduced to engineering economics, the analysis used to decide, for example, whether a manufacturer should build a new plant in North Carolina or Mexico based on setup costs, operating costs, and the project's working life. An MBA at UC Irvine added further valuation coursework, followed by an operating career in manufacturing and distribution and his own small business, alongside several years with Tech Coast Angels.
During that entrepreneurial period, Jim joined American ValueMetrics as a part-time analyst, producing reports under the mentorship of Gerald Barney, a former investment banker and business broker. SB Valuations was formed in 2013, working first as an independent contractor to American ValueMetrics and later The Mentor Group, before operating under its own name starting in 2020.
James Lisi, CVA, BCA-R
Jim is known in professional circles for being direct and easy to work with, qualities that carry into every debrief, deposition, and difficult conversation a valuation can involve. He has valued more than 600 business interests and participated in the approval of over 200 state business loan guarantees as a member of the California Coastal Rural Development Corporation's Loan Committee. In 2026 he began serving on ISBA's artificial intelligence committee.
His reports have supported IRS mediation, civil litigation, employee separations, and divorce proceedings; his first expert witness testimony in court took place in 2021.
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Mr. Lisi has been published multiple times in the Santa Barbara Lawyer and Pacific Coast Business Times. Selected peer-reviewed writing includes:
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Discounts: Present Value Theory Applied. Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, January–June 2025
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Independent Variables of Business Valuation: How Utility Affects Value. ISBA Journal, Spring 2024
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Pressures to Step-up Basis Leads to Ethics Question. QuickRead, Consultants Training Institute–NACVA, December 2023
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Business Value-in-Use: Differentiating Value to the Owner from Value in Exchange. The Value Examiner, March/April 2021
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Business Valuation Terms Need Restructuring Based on Value Drivers. [pdf] Business Valuation Update, Vol. 25 No. 8, August 2019
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Built-in Gain Tax Liability: Defend Yourselves! Estate of Richmond v. Commissioner Rebutted. National Association of Estate Planners & Councils, October 2017
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Use of the Option Pricing Method Changes the Standard of Value. Does the IRS, or Anyone, Care? QuickRead, Consultants Training Institute–NACVA, June 2017
Kim Lisi
Kim is a project manager and bookkeeper working for small business and high net worth families that need administrative support.
