Work with me

Every business has mess somewhere. Usually the founder half knows where. My job is to find it, name it plainly, and leave you with a plan you'll actually use. I don't take operating roles and I don't offer advisory before I know what you and your business need.

The Deep Dive

A half day or a full day in your business one on one with you. Brand, customer, product, P&L, team, marketing and where you're trying to get to — we cover it all, because the root of the problem is rarely where you think it is. You send me a pre-filled information pack (I provide the guidance) a week before. I arrive already knowing roughly what I think; the day is for testing it and getting you to the point where we both see the same thing.

You leave with the mess named, three things to start Monday, and a written plan within the week. The plan is yours whether or not we work together again.

Who it's for: founders of consumer and brand-led businesses, usually somewhere between $1m and $20m, at a moment of change — growth, a reset, a raise, a sale, or a founder who's tired.

Priced as a project, scoped to the day. Get in touch and I'll send you the detail.

The Sounding Board

Not every problem needs a day. Sometimes you know what's wrong and want someone who's been there to pressure-test the call before you make it.

Sixty minutes, on a call or across a table. You bring the decision — a hire, a price change, a range cut, an agency you're about to sign, a raise you're not sure about. I bring questions, an opinion, and whatever I've seen go right or wrong in the same spot. You leave with a clearer view and a short note from me the next morning.

For founders who've already found the mess and want a second pair of eyes on the way out of it.

Fixed price. Book one, or a few across a quarter.

After the Deep Dive, one of three things can happen

  1. Advisory. Monthly. I stay close to the plan. We test, measure and change course together.

  2. Capital. When I believe in it enough to put money in, I'll say so. That happens through Wednesday Ventures. Time and money, or just time — every deal is its own shape.

  3. Execution. The plan says build a brand, a site, a campaign. I hand you to the right people — often Oliver Grace, the agency I founded, sometimes someone else — and stay close.

Working with me vs working with Oliver Grace

I founded Oliver Grace and still send work there, so the question comes up. The short version: Oliver Grace is the agency you hire; I'm who you call. Oliver Grace delivers an asset: a brand, a website, a campaign (and in my opinion are often the best there is at the best price). I deliver a decision: what to build, whether it's worth it, in what order. Oliver Grace starts with a brief. I start with a Deep Dive and help you write the brief, because the brief is usually the thing that's wrong.

What I don't do

  • Permanent seats. I come in to set things up and get them moving, then hand over to the person who runs them day to day. Every role I take has that handover built in.

  • Businesses that need bums on seats more than they need direction.

  • Advice you won't act on. Whether it's a day or sixty minutes, if nothing changes afterwards, I'm expensive.