How I work — four phases, defined deliverables, no improvisation.
Each phase has a specific diagnostic purpose, a defined scope, and deliverables you can act on — whether or not we continue together.
Bottleneck Score, Dependency Map Map, 9-Box Cross-Matrix, Decision Architecture Audit, Information Flow Assessment.
Customer Commitment Map, Founder's Decision Map, Decision Authority Framework, Decision Filter Card.
Management OS, meeting cadence architecture, escalation protocols, information flow design.
Ongoing advisory: monthly sessions, 30-day and 90-day check-ins, Owner development programs for key leaders.
Diagnose — The Bottleneck Assessment
Where are decisions actually being made right now? Where should they be made? What's causing the gap? And — the question that separates this diagnostic from everything else — who on your team has the potential to close it?
I run the diagnostic across five lenses: the Dependency Map behavioral assessment, the Decision Architecture Audit, the Information Flow Assessment, the Management System Snapshot, and the 9-Box People Assessment. The output is a Bottleneck Score /25 and a Cross-Matrix that distinguishes system problems from capability gaps — the most important distinction in the engagement.
- Bottleneck Diagnostic Report (20–30 pages)
- Dependency Map Team Map
- Decision Architecture Map with Founder Dependency Index
- People Development Map — 9-Box Grid with development plans
- Founder Debrief Deck (14-slide readout)
- 90-Day Priority List — seven specific actions
Engagement Structure
Most early-stage advisory relationships work the same way: a board member or a former founder takes advisor shares and shows up when called. The problem isn't the cost. It's the accountability. An advisor vesting over four years has no defined deliverables, no deadline, and no particular urgency to solve your problem in the next 90 days versus the next 12 months.
What I deliver in Phase 1 is categorically different: a specific diagnostic, a Bottleneck Score, a Cross-Matrix, a Decision Architecture Map, and a 90-day priority list — all within six weeks. Not advice. A structured answer to a structural problem, with deliverables you own regardless of whether we continue.
Equity-based engagements are available for the right fit. If cash conservation is the constraint — particularly at Series A — I can structure the engagement with an equity component negotiated as part of the proposal. The diagnostic rigor and deliverables are identical. Series A engagements are scoped to where you are — same rigor, calibrated to your team size and the leverage points that matter at this stage.
The conversation starts with a 30-minute discovery call. If the fit isn't right, you'll know it by the end of the call — and so will I.
Define — The Customer Commitment & Founder's Decision Map
Phase 1 tells me where decisions break down and who has the capacity to own them. It doesn't give your team a standard to decide against. You are still the only person who knows what good looks like — and that is exactly the problem.
In Phase 2 I externalize your phantom standard. The Customer Commitment names the experience your company creates and makes the trade-offs explicit. The Founder's Decision Map identifies where your presence creates competitive value and where it doesn't. Together, they convert your intuitive judgment into something an Owner-level team can actually use without calling you.
- Customer Commitment — the operating principle that replaces founder intuition
- Founder's Decision Map — differentiated, commoditized, and strategic investment zones
- Decision Authority Framework — who decides what, under what conditions
- Decision Filter Card — three questions any team member can apply without calling you
Design — The Management System
The architecture exists on paper. In Phase 3 I build it into the operating rhythm of your company — the forums, cadences, and escalation protocols that allow the business to run the Customer Commitment independently of you.
Most early-stage companies' management system is functionally the founder's calendar. Phase 3 replaces that with a designed system: defined forums for different decision types, information flows that distribute context, and escalation paths with clear triggers — rather than routing everything upward by default.
Develop — People & Capability
The system is designed. In Phase 4 I develop the people who operate it — 90-day Owner development programs for Box 1/2/3 direct reports, calibrated to the Phase 2 Customer Commitment and the Phase 1 Cross-Matrix findings.
Ongoing advisory includes monthly sessions, 30-day and 90-day check-ins, and active support through the organizational transitions Phase 1–3 create. The goal is a company that operates independently — not one that requires continued management from me.
The distinctions that matter.
Not coaching. The work is organizational design, not behavioral modification. The fix is structural, not personal. If the architecture is broken, behavior change alone won't scale.
Not an operating system installation. EOS, Traction, and similar frameworks install a generic operating system. I build the specific architecture your company needs based on what the diagnostic finds.
Not fractional COO work. Fractional operators provide execution support. I build the infrastructure that makes execution independent of any individual — including me.
Not ongoing dependency. Every phase is designed to produce something you own and can operate without me. The engagement ends when the architecture works — not when the contract expires.
Start with a 30-minute conversation.
No pitch. No obligation. We'll cover where your team currently falls on the Dependency Map and whether Phase 1 is the right next step. I work with . .