Executive Coaching ·
Founder & CEO Diligence ·
Company Building
We give investors and boards an independent answer on whether they have the right leader, and help that leader grow.
Two practices, kept apart. We do not evaluate a leader we are coaching or have coached in the past year. How →
For PE, growth investors and family offices
An answer on your CEO from someone with no stake in it.
You are about to back, extend or change the leader of a company you own.
For private and venture-backed boards
A divided board, brought to a decision it can defend.
The board has a decision to make about its CEO and the room does not agree, or the company is stuck.
For founders, CEOs, and leaders after an exit
See what the people around you already see.
The job has outgrown the way you have been doing it, or you are working out what comes next.
For outside and general counsel
Outside help on a leader, set up the way counsel needs it.
Your client needs an independent read on a leader, or a leader’s conduct needs to change with a clear record.
We give investors and boards an independent read each time the job changes, and coach the leader in between.
Entry, a new appointment, a contract renewal or a succession.CEO Diligence
The first 100 days, as the CEO builds the team and the plan.The Baseline, then coaching
Results stall, a round takes longer than planned, an add-on closes or the hold runs long.Mid-Hold Review or Business Health Check
Twelve to eighteen months before a planned sale.Pre-Exit Review
Each checkpoint ends in a decision: back the leader with evidence, support them with coaching, or change the leader and start the cycle again.
Most of the people you would normally ask about a leader have a stake in the answer: the seller, the banker, the search firm, the team, the investors who backed them. Their views matter, but none of them is independent. Our independence is written into every engagement letter: no stake in any company we evaluate, and a fee that does not depend on what we find.
Diligence works for the people who back a leader. Coaching works for the leader. We do not evaluate a leader we are coaching or have coached in the past year.
Leadership, Underwritten reads one leadership decision from the news every two weeks, the way a diligence team would. Free, for the board members and investors who judge leaders, and for the executives who want to see how they are judged. Our one-page tests are included.
Chris Gannett has spent more than 20 years in senior operating roles, including CMO of CORE Media Group, the public company behind American Idol, through its $509 million sale to Apollo. He has hired more than 10 senior leaders, made the call to replace 5, and supervises every engagement personally.
A venture-backed company weighing a CEO transition. Two candidates, seven weeks, and a recommendation the board accepted in full.
See a sample engagement →“Working with Chris grew me as a founder, advisory board member, friend, and product leader. Our work together also resulted in our $500K seed raise, some key hires, and the signing of our first strategic partner.”
We take a limited number of engagements each quarter. Counsel is welcome on the first call.
We do not evaluate a company we hold a position in. See the companies we will not evaluate.
