Process

How I decide whether to work with a business

My process starts before there is a proposal. I meet potential clients through conferences, professional introductions, and occasionally by seeking out companies that are unusually well positioned to realize growth.

It is a little like dating: both sides need enough curiosity, trust, and evidence to decide whether the relationship is worth pursuing.

From first signal to shared upside

The relationship starts with curiosity, then narrows through evidence, fit, trust, and a proposal that gives both sides a reason to keep building.

Signal

Intro, conference, or outreach

Fit

Can my skills multiply value?

Trust

Several meetings, real candor

Proposal

How I help, how I’m paid

Shared upside

The deal works if the business wins

Like dating, each step asks the same question in a more serious way: is there enough mutual value to keep going?

How it unfolds

The work begins with fit

There is no canned engagement. The shape of the relationship comes from repeated conversations, pressure-testing assumptions, and deciding whether a small investment of capital and operating focus can become a multiplier.

Introductions create the first signal

Conferences, trusted professional introductions, and direct outreach all serve the same purpose: surfacing founders and businesses where a thoughtful operating partner may matter.

I look for the multiplier

I evaluate whether my skills are useful in the specific company: where growth is constrained, whether capital can be used efficiently, and whether operating discipline could unlock disproportionate value.

Both parties have to see value

A potential portfolio client relationship only works when the founder and I both recognize the opportunity. The fit has to be strategic, practical, and personal enough to sustain real work.

The proposal follows the learning

After several meetings, I work toward a proposal that defines where I can help, what success should look like, and how I should be fairly compensated for the value at stake.

Every engagement remains iterative

The process is unique to each business. The best relationships improve through the same loop as the company itself: observe, decide, act, learn, and adjust.

What I’m testing for

The right match has tension and trust

The company is ready for leverage

I am most useful when a business has real market potential, enough traction to learn from, and a growth constraint that can be changed with focused operating work and disciplined capital.

The relationship can withstand iteration

The best collaborations require candor. We need to be able to disagree, refine the plan, and keep learning together as the facts change. That is why the early process is intentionally conversational.

Start with a conversation

If the business is interesting and the timing is right, the first step is simply to talk through where growth is constrained and whether I might be useful.

Book a free call