Engagements
Work with me.
Three ways to engage: a fixed-scope starter, an ongoing retainer, or a one-time project. Each one starts with a 30-minute call.
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Not sure if I'm the right fit? See Where I Fit →
Start here. Fixed timeline. Three phases. Pay as you go.
90-Day Starting Package
A scoped engagement for businesses past proof-of-concept that don't yet have financial infrastructure or a regular operating cadence. By the end, you have the tools, the rhythm, and the data to empower your decisions.
- Phase 1. Diagnose & Build (6 weeks). Map current state. Review the books, marketing data, and operating cadence. Identify gaps between what you measure and what you need to decide. Surface the obvious leaks. Build the structured monthly P&L and the measurement system underneath it.
- Phase 2. Customize & Install (3 weeks). Tune the system to your business. KPI dashboard, working-capital tools, forecasting model, monthly-review cadence. The tools become yours and stay yours.
- Phase 3. Operate & Handoff (3 weeks). We run one full monthly cycle together: first close, first review meeting, first forecast pass. I walk you through the first pass, you run the next, and I transition the workflow to your team as we go. By the end, it's yours to operate without me.
Best for: owner-operators past proof-of-concept who are flying blind on the numbers.
Ongoing
The Retainer
An ongoing relationship in two tiers. Most engagements start at Advisor; Operating Partner is the natural next step as the business grows into it. Both include a monthly performance review; they differ in how involved I am between cycles.
Regular.
Advisor Retainer
A higher-touch monthly engagement. Performance analysis, light forecasting, ad-hoc projects, and structured analysis and recommendations to inform major decisions (pricing, hiring, channel strategy). I'm in your operating rhythm without the standing weekly commitment.
Best for: operators who want a regular operating partner without a standing weekly commitment.
Inside the business.
Operating Partner Retainer
An ongoing advisor working closely alongside leadership. Monthly close review, business review, forecasting, and structured project work between cycles. Bi-weekly availability for analysis and recommendations on time-sensitive questions. Larger scopes — fundraising sprints, board cycles, M&A prep — layered as separate projects.
Best for: founders ready for an operating partner as the standing rhythm of the business.
Defined scope. Fixed fee.
One-Time Projects
Specific, scoped projects with a defined deliverable and a fixed fee. Each starts with a 30-minute call to map the scope, then a written proposal. Examples of work that fits this shape:
- Capital allocation analysis for raised funds
- Historical performance analysis with recommendations on what's working and what isn't
- Competitive and market analysis
- Sell-side prep with the financial analysis and materials to support the sale process
Best for: a specific outcome that doesn't need an ongoing relationship.
In Practice
What an engagement actually looks like.
Two illustrative walkthroughs. These describe the typical shape of the work, not specific past clients. Numbers are representative.
90-Day Starting Package
Building the financial backbone.
Illustrative scenario · representative numbers
A $6M DTC brand, profitable but flying blind. The founder makes inventory and ad-spend calls from the bank balance and the Shopify dashboard. No monthly P&L, no forecast, no clear read on which channels actually make money.
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Phase 1 · Diagnose & Build
weeks 1–6
Pull 24 months of financial and marketing data. Reconstruct a clean monthly P&L with COGS, ad spend, and OPEX broken out. Build the measurement system and data pipeline underneath it. First honest read: where margin is leaking, which channels run underwater, where cash is trapped. Deliverable: a working monthly P&L and a diagnostic memo.
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Phase 2 · Customize & Install
weeks 7–9
Tune the system to the business. KPI dashboard, working-capital model (inventory cadence vs. cash cycle), a 12-month forecast, and the monthly-review template. Deliverable: the toolset, configured and owned by the client.
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Phase 3 · Operate & Handoff
weeks 10–12
Lead the first monthly close, then the first review meeting, then the first forecast update, handing off the controls as we go. Plus a short recorded walkthrough of each tool. Deliverable: the founder runs the cadence solo.
By day 90: a monthly P&L the founder trusts, a forecast they update themselves, and a clear read on which channels and SKUs make money. The founder makes the same decisions they always did — now informed by numbers instead of gut feel.
Operating Partner Retainer
A month in the operating cadence.
Illustrative scenario · representative numbers
An $18M CPG brand scaling into retail and DTC at the same time, mid-way through raising a Series A. The founder needs CFO-level judgment in the operating rhythm and on call for the big decisions, but isn't ready for a full-time hire.
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Week 1
Monthly close and performance analysis. What happened, why, and what it means for the next 90 days.
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Week 2
Monthly review with the founder and leadership. Forward-looking decisions: channel mix, inventory commitments, hiring.
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Week 3
Project work. This month: an inventory-planning model that sizes and times purchase orders against the capital the business can actually commit, so growth decisions don't outrun working capital.
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Week 4
Forecast update, board-prep, and a capital-allocation review across inventory, ad spend, and the raise.
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Throughout
On call to provide rapid analysis when leadership needs to decide quickly: a large PO, a pricing change, a key hire.
The result: CFO-level judgment inside the operating cadence and on demand for the big calls, at a fraction of the cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
All services are advisory in nature. Clients retain full authority and responsibility for decisions and execution. Past engagement outcomes are not representative or predictive of future results.