File 001
Founder-led design agency · $1.4M · Team of 11 · Six months
The breakTwo founders, married, running the agency together. From outside, that reads as redundancy — two decision-makers, two sets of judgement, twice the coverage. The business had two founders. It did not have two independent…
The founderFounder A moved from client approval point and commercial escalation to strategic client relationships, business development, and commercial decisions above a defined threshold. Founder B moved…
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File 002
Founder-led digital services company · $4.7M revenue · $1.1M EBITDA · 24 employees · Twelve months
The breakRevenue was strong and profit was healthy. The company was also, in the specific sense that matters to a buyer, not transferable. The founder personally held the key client relationships, pricing authority, hiring decisions,…
The founderWent from fifty hours a week holding the company together to twenty-two hours a week directing it — and from being the reason the business worked…
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File 003
Premium clinic and aesthetics business · $1.8M · Team of 14 · Two locations · Seven months
The breakRevenue looked healthy and the founder wanted $2.5M. But the business could not answer a more basic question first: which parts of it were actually making money.
The founderStopped estimating which services were profitable and started knowing. Growth decisions moved from instinct to evidence.
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File 004
Luxury hospitality and private villa operator · $3.4M · 22 properties · Team of 18 plus vendors · Eight months
The breakThe business sold an experience. Behind it, too much of that experience lived in one person's head. A single senior operations manager knew which villa used which supplier, which owner held which preferences, which…
The founderStopped underwriting service quality personally and started underwriting the system that produced it.
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File 005
Premium property management company · $2.1M · 85 properties · Team of 9 · Nine months
The breakSales were working. Properties were being added. Revenue was climbing. Operational complexity was climbing faster. Every new property brought vendors, owners, maintenance, inspections, client communications, billing, emergencies and compliance obligations. The founder's instinct was…
The founderStopped hiring reactively against the last crisis and started hiring against a model. The next headcount decision had a threshold attached to it rather than a…
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File 006
Founder-led creative and professional services firm · $1.2M · Team of 12 · Six months
The breakNothing was failing. That was the problem. Demand was strong, revenue was healthy, the team was capable. And almost every decision of consequence still arrived at the founder's desk — client approvals, pricing exceptions,…
The founderMoved from operator to executive. Still in strategy, key relationships and genuine judgement calls — no longer the approval step on work the team was always…
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