The Startup Fee

A CEO raised price 30% and told his customer that leaving would cost more than staying. It worked as a negotiating line because it was an honest description of the cost to serve.

The Propensity to Pay

Roughly 200 businesses crossed my desk between 2023 and 2026. Two lines in the financials decided more of those looks than any management presentation: gross margin, and whether the revenue has to be won again every year.

The Only Number on the Wall

A pharmaceutical packaging plant in crisis had a wall of charts, a daily standup in the aisle, and schedule attainment at the top of the board. The number that got it back into service had been stripped out of its own OEE as uncontrollable.

The 2am Parts Run

My father was a machinist. When the line went down, a kid rode along to drop off the part. The plant is gone now, 675 jobs with it, but the question I learned in that truck is still on the list every time I walk a plant.

The Keystone on First Shift

The first week in my first plant as GM taught me where the real authority sits in an operation. I have used the same read on every plant since.

Admiring the Problem

I interviewed the author of the book on speed in March 2025. His data says 95% of companies stall and two thirds of those never get back to growth. The stall is a decision, and somebody is always making it. Inside a hold, that somebody had better be the sponsor.

The Dead Zone

Between the LOI and the closing table sit 90 days that belong to nobody. Almost half the deals that fail there never officially die. They just stop moving.

The Call Sheet

Tom Brady played the 28-3 comeback off one laminated page, about 120 calls sorted by situation with the Falcons' tendencies printed beside them. I still get told a customer service desk has too many variables for standard work.

The Second Signature

She never attended a meeting. She never sent an email. She read every draft, and the deal was never going to close until she was ready to sign.

The Man Who Already Owned It

The GM had run the company for 9 years while the owner fished. Both of them knew it. Only one of them had thought about what that meant for a sale.

The Machine Nobody Budgeted For

EBITDA has no line for the 22-year-old press that makes 40% of the parts. Owner earnings do. The gap between those two numbers has ended more deals than fraud ever will.

The Margin the Tariff Ate

The Supreme Court erased the biggest tariff regime in modern history, $142B may flow back to the companies that paid it, and most small manufacturers still cannot tell you what their landed costs will be next quarter. Buyers and sellers are both underwriting the fog of war