Senior operator judgment for founder‑led companies.
I founded a company, ran it as CEO, and sold it in early 2024. Before that, I was an executive at several venture-backed startups. Now I work with a small number of founders on the decisions I had to make myself — what to build, how to price and sell it, how to structure the company, and how to build the team.
What you're actually buying
Counsel — someone to think the hard problems through with, and to help you make the call. I've been in that chair, and I've made most of these calls before.
Most of it is judgment work: you describe the decision, I've usually seen some version of it, and we get to a real answer in the call instead of over the next three weeks. Sometimes it's more hands-on than that, depending on what's in front of you.
Strategy and direction
The "what should I do here" calls. Where the company goes next, what to stop doing, what the actual priority is when everything is urgent.
Capitalization and cap table
Entity structure, equity splits, option pool sizing, what you're giving away and what it costs you later.
Team, board, and advisors
Who to hire and when, how to structure the first real management layer, who belongs on a board and who does not.
Product and go-to-market
Positioning, pricing, what to build, what customers are telling you versus what you want to hear.
Finance and accounting
How the books should be run, who should run them, what reporting you need before you need it.
I still do this myself
I'm not a career advisor and I'm not retired. I own and operate businesses today — real estate development, private lending, and a couple of early-stage companies I've put my own money into. Personal guarantees, real capital, decisions that turn out wrong sometimes. This month, not in 2019.
I also still work close to the product — close enough that I haven't lost the thread on how software gets built.
A lot of advisory work is memory. Some of mine is too. But I'm still making these calls myself, with my own money behind them, which is a different thing from remembering how they went.
Who this is for
Founder-led companies, roughly 1 to 15 people, generally under $5M in revenue, where the founder is the CEO and is making genuinely consequential calls for the first time.
Industry mostly doesn't matter. These decisions repeat across companies, and I've seen a lot of them repeat.
Who this isn't for
- You need execution muscle. Hire it. I'm not going to be the person doing the work.
- You want a permanent fractional CFO or COO. That's a real need and a real service; it isn't this one.
- You’re in genuine crisis and need a turnaround. Different skill, and you need someone full-time.
- You need someone to raise money for you. I don't raise capital. I'll point you at people who do it for a living, and I don't take a fee for it.
How it works
A fixed monthly fee covering a set number of hours. Additional hours only by agreement, at a rate set in advance. Never a surprise invoice.
Month to month, and it doesn't auto-renew. No annual contract.
I'll give you the number on our first call, once I understand what you need.
Interested?
I take on a few engagements at a time, which means I say no a lot — usually because the fit isn't right, not because the company isn't good. Tell me what you're working on and what decision is in front of you.