Retainer + Monthly Fee + Equity. 12+ Months. Real Skin in the Game on Both Sides.

The problem this solves

Most tech-enabled service business owners fall into a specific gap. Their business is real. It generates $1M-$5M in revenue. It's profitable. It has customers who stay. But it's not YET the kind of business a sophisticated buyer pays premium multiples for.

Sell it today and you'll get a fair price — 2-3x SDE, standard broker process, average outcome.

Sell it in 18-24 months, with the right work done in between, and you'll get 4-6x EBITDA from a strategic buyer who sees the business you SHOULD have built.

The gap between those two numbers is often $500K to $2M+ of exit value that most owners leave on the table because they don't know what to fix — and traditional consultants either charge premium retainers with no exit accountability, or don't have the operator experience to actually do the work.

How consulting for equity works

1. Discovery + gap assessment (2-3 weeks). We start with your business as it exists today. Revenue composition, customer concentration, contract structure, financial hygiene, owner dependency, technical documentation, buyer-relevant metrics. Output: a specific gap list with dollar-impact estimates for closing each gap.
2. Term sheet + engagement scope (1-2 weeks). Based on the gap assessment, we agree on: (a) engagement retainer set at kickoff, (b) monthly fee for ongoing work, and (c) equity percentage (typically 10-20%) — all three sized to your business's revenue and EBITDA. Term sheet also includes vesting schedule, deliverables, exit alignment, and a clean unwinding clause if either party wants to end early.
3. Execution (12-24 months). We do the work together. I bring operator experience, buyer-side context, and 30+ years of technology executive perspective. You bring the domain expertise, team relationships, and day-to-day execution capacity. Weekly working sessions, monthly deliverable milestones, quarterly buyer-readiness reviews.
4. Exit or extend (Month 12+). At the end of the engagement, retainer + monthly fee obligations conclude and three paths are possible:
   • Path A — you sell to Wolfspire Solutions directly at the higher multiple we've built to
   • Path B — you sell to another buyer (broker, strategic, PE) at the higher multiple, and Wolfspire's equity converts to cash at that transaction
   • Path C — you choose NOT to sell, keep operating at the higher-value shape we've built, and buy out Wolfspire's equity over a defined period

What we work on together

Every engagement is different, but the recurring work areas include:

• Revenue restructuring — separating recurring from project revenue, restructuring contracts to reduce cancellation risk, formalizing informal recurring streams into documented MRR
• Customer concentration reduction — active diversification, cross-selling to reduce top-customer share, sometimes even walking away from customers who won't diversify
• Owner dependency reduction — moving decisions off the owner's desk, transferring top-10 client relationships to the team, hiring or promoting a GM if needed
• Financial hygiene — clean books close in 7 days or less, documented add-back schedule, defensible tax posture, buyer-ready P&L presentation
• Buyer-relevant metrics — NRR, GRR, gross margin trend, CAC payback, Rule of 40 tracking, monthly executive dashboard
• Contract and IP documentation — MSA reviews, IP assignment cleanups, employee agreements, non-competes where appropriate
• Strategic narrative — the 5-year growth story a CIM will tell, backed by evidence a buyer's diligence team can verify

Who consulting for equity is right for

The best fit for consulting for equity is a founder who:

• Owns a tech-enabled service business with $1M-$5M revenue and $250K+ EBITDA
• Is 18-36 months away from wanting to sell (not tomorrow, not "someday")
• Has already built something REAL — real customers, real revenue, real team
• Knows there are gaps between what the business IS and what a buyer would pay premium for
• Has cash flow to support an engagement retainer + ongoing monthly fee (both sized to your revenue and EBITDA) AND is willing to grant 10-20% equity for the exit-value upside
• Is coachable — willing to have hard conversations about what needs to change

It is NOT a fit for owners who can't sustain the retainer commitment, who are already in an active sale process, or who aren't willing to change the shape of the business they've built. Owners who want lower-cost, shorter-scope work are better served by our Tier 1 Diagnostic ($2,500 · 2 weeks), Tier 2 Sprint ($7.5K-$12K · 4 weeks), or Tier 3 Engagement ($15K-$25K · 6-12 weeks) — all flat-fee.

Common questions

How much equity do you take, and what's the fee structure?

Three components: (1) an engagement retainer set at kickoff, (2) a monthly fee for ongoing advisory work, and (3) equity (typically 10-20%). Retainer and monthly fee are scaled to your business's revenue and EBITDA — larger businesses with more complex gap-closing work carry higher fees than smaller ones. All three numbers get agreed upfront in the term sheet before either side commits. Nothing hidden, nothing renegotiated mid-stream unless BOTH sides want to expand scope.

What about the tax implications of granting equity?

Structured properly, the equity grant is not a taxable event to you or Wolfspire Solutions. We use standard mechanisms (usually a profit interest or non-vested equity that vests over the engagement). Your CPA and attorney will be part of the term sheet review.

What if I change my mind mid-engagement?

Clean unwinding clause in every term sheet. Wolfspire Solutions can withdraw with 60 days notice; you can terminate with 60 days notice. Retainer + monthly fee obligations end at termination. Equity vested up to that point stays with Wolfspire per the vesting schedule; unvested equity reverts to you.

How is this different from hiring a fractional CFO or COO?

Fractional executives charge retainer + monthly fees with NO downstream accountability for your exit outcome — you pay every month regardless of whether the work actually moves your valuation. Consulting for equity ALSO includes a retainer + monthly fee (fair compensation for ongoing focused work), but adds equity — meaning Wolfspire Solutions has direct financial motivation to actually LAND the higher exit multiple, not just to stay engaged. Also, fractional executives usually don't have M&A + operator + buyer perspective all in one person.

How is this different from private equity?

PE takes majority ownership, replaces leadership, and runs the business on their timeline. Consulting for equity is a minority stake with no operational control — you remain CEO, keep your team, and make the strategic decisions. I'm an advisor and gap-closer, not a boss.

Does Wolfspire ever end up acquiring the client?

Sometimes. If the fit is right at Month 18-24, direct acquisition can be a clean exit path. But it's not the goal — the goal is your best possible exit, whether that's to Wolfspire Solutions, a strategic buyer, PE, or a competitor.

Where can I learn more before booking a call?

Start with the free Sale-Ready Scorecard — it's the same diagnostic I use to gap-assess prospective consulting-for-equity engagements. If your score suggests there's real work to do and you're the right founder profile, a briefing call is the next step.