Founder & CEO Diligence ·
Company Building
Independent diligence on the person a business depends on.
For private equity sponsors, investors,
family offices and boards.
A sponsor buying a company and a board replacing a CEO are making the same bet. Both pay specialists to read the documents, the numbers and the market. Neither pays one to read the person. That is the one you cannot diversify away from.
Four people telling you the same thing may be one person’s view, repeated four times. Co-investors, bankers, managers and family each have a stake in the outcome, and each is already in the file.
A fund with thirty positions can absorb one wrong read on a leader. A family office with six holdings, or a board with one CEO seat, cannot.
One method, two ways in. Which one you need depends on the decision in front of you: whether to back the person a deal depends on, or who runs a business you already own.
The same method on a deal clock. A company where the leader is the reason it works, or a team that arrives with the asset and has to carry the plan.
Three documents, one evidence base. Written to hold up if the decision is challenged.
Fixed scope · fixed fee · your deal calendar
Scope, timeline & fee →A defined candidate set, measured against a standard built from the next eighteen months. It informs the decision. It does not make it.
Three documents, one evidence base. Written to hold up if the decision is challenged.
Fixed scope · fixed fee · six weeks
Scope, timeline & fee →The method: count the roots, not the voices. A voice is who told you. A root is where their view came from. Four voices growing off one root are one source, not four confirmations, and separating the two is most of the job. The full method →
Where it does not fit. We turn down search, requests to confirm a yes already decided, and diligence that cannot change the decision. The method has to be able to disappoint whoever commissions it.
Chris Gannett has built and led teams behind a $130 million P&L at Sony Music, a $40 million P&L as a GM at MediaMath, and growth or turnarounds at four other companies. He has hired more than 10 senior leaders, made the call to replace 5, and runs every structured behavioral session himself. His inspiration for Founder & CEO Diligence came from his experience as CMO of CORE Media Group through its $509 million sale to Apollo.
He works with a small team of operating partners and an advisory board drawn from technology, media, sports and brand-driven companies, and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Yale Ventures. He is a former Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, and is certified by the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute and Leadership Circle Profile.
“From corporate development, to product development, to commercial development, Chris navigates all altitudes to drive the strategy. He is a consummate professional, a strategic thinker, gregarious, inquisitive, and someone I’d like to work with again.”
“Chris is a gifted operator with a rare combination of creativity, a forte for management, and an exceptional vision for the future. In a very short time, he guided our department through a highly successful restructuring while providing stellar stakeholder management and a calming authority.”
“Working with Chris is an absolute privilege. His deep insight, expertise, and judgement around the challenges of entrepreneurial and executive activities make for an incredible combination.”
We take a limited number of engagements each quarter. Your counsel is welcome on the first call.
We do not evaluate a company we hold a position in. See where our capital is committed.
