Invisible Capital
Buy the Book
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop.org | Walmart
Product Details
Publisher: Guiding Lens Publishing
Release Date: October 20, 2026
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook
ISBN: HC: 978-9915-44-380-5; PB: 978-9915-44-395-9; EB: 978-9915-44-381-2
Trim: 5.5 x 8.5
Page Count: 294
What Sustains Enterprising Families Across Generations
René Sonneveld
What makes some enterprising families brittle while others endure across generations?
Every family enterprise carries two balance sheets: one written in numbers, and another in trust. The first measures what the family owns. The second reveals what holds the family together when ownership is no longer enough.
In Invisible Capital, René Sonneveld turns the focus from what pulls family businesses apart to what makes them resilient across generations. Trust, culture, reputation, relationships, learning, and purpose are hidden forms of capital that build over time, are neglected at great cost, and prove decisive in moments of transition.
Drawing on decades of work with enterprise families across continents, Sonneveld brings these forces to life through real stories, guided reflections, and a practical Power Audit. Invisible Capital offers families a way to see, measure, and strengthen the wealth that cannot be counted but shapes everything that follows.
About the Author
René Sonneveld is a former international executive, family governance specialist, and ICF Master Certified Coach. He advises and coaches enterprise families on legacy, succession, governance, and continuity. He is the author of the Amazon bestselling and award-winning The Elephant in the Family Room, and Vice Chairman of the International Coaching Federation’s Global Board of Coaching Education. He teaches at American University, NC State, and Rutgers.
Visit the author’s website at renesonneveld.com
Reviews
“A guidebook that should be intrinsic to any family business and those contemplating intergenerational business pursuits.” —Midwest Book Review
“An expert framework for revitalizing family businesses and ensuring their longevity.” —Kirkus Reviews
“René Sonneveld’s latest book, Invisible Capital, reflects his decades of work with family businesses around the world. Insightful, sensitive, and practical, René’s work is a gift to families seeking to ensure that their family and their family business interests can be multigenerational forces for good—for the family and for all stakeholders. I will be sharing Invisible Capital both with colleagues in the advisory world and business families I work with, and I am positive all will find the book an inspiration.” —Philip Marcovici, author of The Destructive Power of Family Wealth and The Transformative Power of Family Wealth, founding advisor to the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
“Few books have felt this personal to me. After my grandfather—the founder of our family business—died, I watched our family discover how much of the business’s governance, memory, relationships, and shared purpose had lived in him. When the business was later sold, that loss became even clearer. René Sonneveld gives language to what I wish we had understood then: The true wealth that determines whether a family business endures is often invisible. That insight now shapes my own work preserving institutional knowledge across generations. Invisible Capital is an important guide to stewardship, continuity, and what families must deliberately carry forward.” —Nicholas Cafritz, founder and CEO of Dynasty
“René Sonneveld has sat at enough kitchen tables and boardroom tables to know how rarely the two are as separate as they may appear. What he calls ‘invisible capital’ is older and more demanding than anything today’s public-company frameworks were built to measure. In this book, René Sonneveld offers the reader the patience to stay in a conversation when the ledger has nothing left to say.” —Anna A. Tavis, PhD, chair, Human Capital Management, New York University
“How to move a family enterprise successfully beyond the third or fourth generation has long been an elusive challenge. The subject has been addressed repeatedly through structures, schemes, protocols, and other mechanisms. Sonneveld reminds us that it is much broader and requires a careful humanistic approach: one that actively engages with human emotions. Sonneveld provides an excellent and detailed road map, enriched by numerous examples and invaluable tools, to help families approach the challenge with a long-term perspective. A must-read for family enterprises of any size.” —Carlos Andrés Mattsson, chairman, CAMCO
“As a third-generation member of my family business, I have lived firsthand the reality that our long-term success is anchored in far more than just financial assets. René Sonneveld masterfully articulates what many of us in multigenerational families intuitively understand but struggle to define: the invisible capital that truly determines whether a legacy thrives or fades. This book is a rare find; it blends deep, hard-won wisdom with actionable, human-centered guidance. It is an essential read for any family looking to navigate the complexities of succession and change while staying united by a common mission.” —Isabelle Chaquiriand, dean, Faculty of Business Sciences, Universidad Católica del Uruguay; director of BTG Pactual Uruguay
“René says it clearly: ‘You cannot tend what you cannot name.’ I have heard and read others making the effort to name invisible capital. Here René eloquently names it, and names its components and thus makes the intangible, tangible, very tangible. I am left with the feeling that I understand the assets and liabilities of a business family, and any family, far better.” —James “Jimmy” Stewart, founding partner of Corvalier Trust Company
“Invisible Capital speaks to enterprising families, offering a clear and insightful road map for building the trust, culture, relationships, governance, reputation, and shared purpose that sustain family enterprises across generations. For professional advisors, it is an exceptionally valuable resource as a lens for perceiving how client families address the issues that often matter most but are hardest to measure. René Sonneveld equips advisors through compelling stories, practical frameworks, reflection exercises, and the Invisible Capital Power Audit. The book gives advisors both the language and the tools to facilitate deeper conversations, uncover hidden strengths and vulnerabilities, and guide families toward greater resilience, unity, and stewardship. In that regard, Invisible Capital not only speaks to families directly but also empowers advisors to feel more confident in their ability to support client families in preserving what ultimately matters most beyond financial wealth.” —Joseph Kellogg, WE Family Offices, Miami
“Invisible Capital puts into words something I have learned over a lifetime in business: The most valuable things we pass to the next generation may be the things that never appear on a balance sheet. Money and assets can be inherited, but trust, character, reputation, relationships, and a sense of purpose must be built and nurtured. René Sonneveld has given a name to this hidden wealth and, more importantly, shown us why it matters. For anyone who has spent a lifetime building a business and hopes to see both the family and the enterprise endure, this is an enlightening and important book.” —Wayne J. Hilmer, founder of Omni International Jet Trading
“The most meaningful legacy is not simply what we leave to the next generation, but what we develop within them. In Invisible Capital, René Sonneveld offers a compelling and deeply human exploration of the trust, purpose, relationships, and stewardship that prepare people not merely to inherit a legacy but to carry it forward. This is a powerful invitation to build a legacy that is not simply preserved but lived, questioned, renewed, and made meaningful for generations to come.” —Michelle Thompson, EdD, assistant dean, Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine
“René puts into words the opportunities and challenges facing family businesses today. The reflection questions, field guides, and Power Audit provide a practical way to turn insights into action. The stories and guidance he shares in this book will be valuable to anyone working in a family business dynamic.” —Emily Schreiber, chief commercial officer, Schreiber Foods International, Inc.
“Invisible Capital is a must-read for any family with the strategic intent to realize the long-lasting strength of unity from generation to generation, maintaining wealth by transmitting values and purpose to those who follow. Emotional capital is the safe place in which a family can communicate openly and freely without being judged. More than an effective tool for communicating, it is a family dynamic that can be passed from generation to generation, and in practice it is worth more than financial or asset wealth, for it fosters a mature, strategic, and objective design of the business of family as well as the family business. René shares insights into the highest form of wealth preservation. Very difficult to put into words. A tour de force.” —John Lung, managing director, senior wealth planner Latin America, JC Consultants Limited
“Invisible Capital is a powerful, inspirational book. René’s extensive cross-border and multicultural experience is the foundation that lets him deep dive into genuinely complex issues—and come back up with clarity the reader can actually hold on to. The reader is never left holding a theory; they’re handed something usable.” —Helmer Arizmendy, partner, Southeast
“Having experienced René’s guidance with my family, I know his work begins where many families hesitate to look: at difficult conversations, truths left unspoken, and deeply rooted patterns we struggle to see, accept, and transform. His first book, The Elephant in the Family Room, helped me recognize those unspoken forces within my family; Invisible Capital takes that understanding further, giving powerful language and clarity to what sustains a family across generations. With wisdom, sensitivity, and humanity, René shows us that our greatest wealth lives not only in what we own but in trust, identity, purpose, and the courage to face what is difficult together. More than a guide to preserving an enterprise, this book is an invitation to transcend inherited patterns and build something better for those who follow.” —Beatriz Carolina Díaz Fernández
“It’s rare to meet someone with such powerful and revealing insights into family governance. Most models are ticking finance boxes without a one-hundred-year view. Invisible Capital offers a really helpful, practical, and easy-to-understand road map for those courageous enough to go on the journey. It’s so easy to get this journey wrong. René’s model is a thought-provoking and practical guide to assist families in future success.” —Mitchel Martin Weber