Come on Fish... Climb!

You’ve probably heard the old saying: “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it’s stupid.”

We’ve seen this play out in business more times than we can count.

Some founders are visionaries, market whisperers, dealmakers — but try to stick them in the daily grind of operations and it’s like asking a fish to tackle rock climbing. Not only is it exhausting, it’s misaligned with how they’re wired.

Let's face it, when you are running a company you play a lot of different roles. And when you’re spending your days swimming upstream in a tree, no amount of good advice is going to save you.

We used to be the consultants in the room — spotting inefficiencies, offering strategy, handing over neat playbooks. Some founders took the ball and ran. Others looked at us with tired eyes and said, “That’s great. Can you just do it?”

Eventually, we listened.

Helping founders build systems, prep for investment, and find leverage will always be meaningful work. But over time, it became clear: advice wasn’t enough. What many founders needed wasn’t another plan. They needed a partner who could operate — who could build the structure, bring in the people, and drive the execution.

That was the shift.

Now, we look for businesses with strong fundamentals and untapped potential — not perfect ones, just real ones. And we roll up our sleeves. We fix what’s broken. We scale what’s working. We implement what used to be sitting in a pretty slide deck.

We’re not perfect. No acquirer is. But we’ve been in the weeds. We’ve seen what happens when a company runs on charisma and caffeine. And we know the difference between a business with potential, and a business with a plan to reach it.

Our role has evolved, but the mission hasn’t: help founders create real freedom — whether that means scaling with support or stepping into their next chapter.

P.S.

If your inbox feels more like a war zone than a workspace, there’s probably a better way to run the business. No silver bullets, no magic wands — just a practical, repeatable path to building a company that doesn’t need you to carry it every day.

Thanks for reading — and do well.