Luke Middendorf, CBB
Certified Business Broker. Founder of Sacramento Business Brokers and Ascentrix Advisory Group.
Luke Middendorf sold his own company in 2021, then became the business broker who brings a marketer's depth to selling other people's. He works with business owners across California who want to know what their business is worth and sell it the right way.
About
About Luke
Luke Middendorf is a Certified Business Broker (CBB) through the California Association of Business Brokers. He is the founder of Sacramento Business Brokers and Ascentrix Advisory Group, and he lives in Rocklin, California.
Luke came to brokerage from the seller's side of the table. In 2012 he founded a digital marketing agency. He grew it for nine years and sold it in 2021 through a strategic exit to another agency, working with a business broker along the way. The team transitioned well, and the experience taught him that selling a business is rarely just a transaction. For most owners it is a major decision and a change of identity, whether they are retiring, moving to something new, or exiting for harder personal reasons.
After the sale, the business broker who had represented him hired Luke to run his marketing. About six months in, Luke told him he was thinking of becoming a business broker himself, and he encouraged it. Luke earned his California real estate license, built his brokerage practice, and later earned the CBB designation.
That background shapes how he works. Most firms list a business and wait for a buyer to find it. Luke puts more into positioning and marketing a business than most attempt, from a more thorough Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) to proactive outreach to buyers who are not searching listing sites at all.
Luke holds a bachelor's degree from the University of San Diego.
Current work
What Luke Does Now
Sacramento Business Brokers
Luke founded Sacramento Business Brokers to represent owners selling their businesses across Greater Sacramento, the market where he lives and works. Each engagement starts with a Broker's Opinion of Value (BOV) and runs through marketing, buyer screening, due diligence, and closing.
Ascentrix Advisory Group
Ascentrix brings the same work to owners across California. It offers a Broker's Opinion of Value as the first step, advisory work for owners building value before a sale, and seller representation when an owner is ready.
Writing
Luke writes about valuation, exit planning, and buying and selling small businesses on LinkedIn, on Medium, and on both firms' blogs. New listings and selected articles go out to his Substack list.
An owner who wants to know what the business is worth can start with a Broker's Opinion of Value.
Credentials
Credentials and Track Record
Certified Business Broker (CBB) through the California Association of Business Brokers. The designation requires five closed California business transactions as the primary agent, at least three of them seller representations, along with California-specific coursework in brokerage, recasting and valuation, and the legal aspects of business sales.
Group Moderator, CABB Best Practice Group. Luke selects the members and leads the meetings of a small group of California business brokers from non-competing markets who meet every other week to share practices and hold each other accountable.
Volunteer mentor, SCORE Capital Corridor, advising small business owners through the SBA-supported SCORE program.
Member, California Association of Business Brokers (since 2022) and International Business Brokers Association (IBBA, since 2023).
More than 100 Broker's Opinions of Value prepared to date.
92% of the businesses Luke listed in 2025 closed.
Industries represented: manufacturing, specialty construction, education, hospitality and entertainment, dental laboratories, logistics, and home services.
Books and guides
Books and Guides
Buying a Business via an Asset Sale (Kindle, 2025).
Selling a Business: Frequently Asked Questions, a 23-page guide for owners considering a sale. It covers timing, valuation methods, preparing the business, confidentiality, asset and stock sales, finding buyers, and the transition after closing.
Press and speaking
Press and Speaking
AP News and FOX40, October 2026. Press release on the sale of a dental laboratory Luke represented, distributed through EIN Presswire.
Sacramento Business Journal, September 2026. Coverage of the same SBA-financed sale.
Roseville Area Chamber of Commerce, March 2026. Speaker, Business Bootcamp.
Quoted as a source on preparing a business plan for a lender and on exiting a franchise.
Client review
I first connected with Luke Middendorf at Sacramento Business Brokers when I was searching for a business to acquire and reached out to him for the Confidential Information Memorandum on a listing he represented. From that very first contact through closing, Luke was consistently responsive, professional, and consultative. He made what can be a stressful process feel manageable, and it was genuinely a pleasure working with him. I'd highly recommend Luke to anyone buying or selling a business.
Jonathan Wu, buyer
5.0 stars across 10 Google reviews (verified September 2026).
Contact
Contact Luke
Owners, referral partners, and other business brokers can reach Luke directly. Conversations about a possible sale are kept confidential.
Luke Middendorf, CBB. Certified Business Broker through the California Association of Business Brokers. DRE #02196801. Rocklin, California.
© 2026 Luke Middendorf