I’m Jenny Stilwell, strategy adviser to founders of privately owned businesses. I’ve run companies from startup to $20M and served as CEO of a publicly listed software company, so I know the founder’s perspective first-hand.
Between $2M and $20M, growth and strategic value are on the same continuum. The decisions that help you scale are the same ones that make your business worth more, to you now and to a buyer, investor or successor later.
Yet most founders think about value too late. They assume exit is something to deal with at the end, after the growth and the hard work. By then, the business often depends too heavily on them, and their options have narrowed.
Value creates options. A business that is structurally valuable and less dependent on you gives you a real choice: to keep scaling, to step back, or to sell when the timing is right for you.
I’m a strategy adviser, so my work happens way before any deal transaction, to build the business that rewards you today and gives you leverage tomorrow.
Over three decades I’ve advised hundreds of business owners. Today I work 1:1 with a select number of founders each year, because the work is high-stakes and high-impact.
Would you like to talk about where your business is heading, and the options you would like consider and keep open?