⸻ THE OPERATOR’S PARTNER
For owner-led Ohio Valley companies 3–7 years from a transition.
I've sat in the seat you're in — run companies, made payroll, made the calls without a team of advisors behind me. Now I work alongside owners to build the company that can run without them, so it's ready — and valued that way — when the time comes.
$20–75M revenue · 60–200 people · In person · Across the Ohio Valley
⸻ A QUESTION MOST OWNERS DON’T WANT TO ANSWER OUT LOUD
Can your company run 30 days without you?
Most owners I sit with know the honest answer, and it's the answer they wish were different. Decisions still route to them. The senior team is good, many have been there 10, 20, 25 years, but they're not yet running things on their own. The numbers work for the bank, but might not hold up in a serious buyer's diligence.
The company is built around the owner. That's exactly what made it work — and it's often what makes it sell for less than it should when the time comes.
A TYPICAL BUSINESS
$30M
Revenue, with $4M of EBITDA. Owner-led.
THE GAP
1–2 turns
What owner dependency can take off the multiple at exit.
AT STAKE
$4–8M
Of equity value — often discovered when the runway to fix it is already short.
Illustrative. Actual discounts vary by industry, buyer and deal structure.
Not planning a transition? Your lender is likely asking many of the same questions at your next renewal. How the two overlap →
⸻ WHO I AM
Matt Gillespie
Founder & Operator’s Partner
I've spent more of my career running companies than advising them. I was COO of a 110-person engineered-products manufacturer through a turnaround — including 2 a.m. forklift shifts when a shipment had to go out. Then I spent eight years as CEO of a single-family office, working beside owners across more than a dozen operating companies. I have also navigated the aftermath of sudden leadership changes more than once.
I do the work alongside you, build capability in your team, and leave when the company runs without me.
⸻ HOW WE’D WORK TOGETHER
Start small. Go further only if it’s worth it.
Every step is flat-fee and all-inclusive, and each one tells you whether the next is worth taking.
START HERE
A conversation
20–30 minutes · No cost
See whether there’s a fit. If not, a straight answer and a referral.
STEP 02
Working Visit
90 mins on-site · $2,550 flat
A one-page Snapshot of where you stand. Guaranteed, and credited toward the Audit.
STEP 03
Transition Readiness Audit
Three weeks · Flat fee
A full diagnostic across six dimensions and a written plan to close the gap.
STEP 04
Operator’s Partner Engagement
12-mo min · Flat monthly
Sustained, in-person work to close the gap — or a targeted project for one acute gap.
⸻ WHO THIS IS FOR
Built for a specific kind of owner.
Owners of operating companies in the Ohio Valley — often in defense and aerospace supply chains, public-safety equipment, aviation services, or specialty industrial manufacturing.
Owners who built something real, who care about being paid like it, and who are a few years from a transition — sale, ESOP, gift, or generational handoff.
$20–75M revenue, 60–200 people
Real operations, real payroll, real responsibility for the families who depend on the company.Three to seven years before a transition
When the work has the most leverage and the least disruption.A capable number two, or the start of one
A CFO, COO or GM who isn't the founder helps the work compound — and if that seat is empty, building it is often step one.
⸻ FROM THE INSIGHTS
Worth a read before we talk.
VALUE
What owner dependency can cost at exit, and where it comes from.
PEOPLE
Handling the hardest conversation without losing the loyalty that got you here.
HOW THIS DIFFERS
Similar structure, different finish lines.
“The best companies are the ones the owner can leave when they choose to. The best lives are the ones the company doesn't take over.”
— Matt Gillespie, Founder & Operator’s Partner
⸻ READY WHEN YOU ARE ⸻
If any of this sounds familiar, let’s talk.
A 20–30 minute call, no cost, no pitch. If there's something worth looking at, the next step is a Working Visit — ninety minutes on-site, $2,550 flat, guaranteed, and credited toward the Audit.