Research for owners, investors and operators
Evidence-led perspectives for owners, investors and operators.
Owner succession: the highest price is not the whole deal
For an owner-managed business, completion changes more than the shareholder register. Customers, employees, suppliers and management experience the consequences of the buyer's operating plan. A credible buyer should therefore be able to explain Day One, the founder transition and the first hundred days before legal completion.
Our implication: underwrite continuity as carefully as price.
Private equity: underwrite the operating case before signing
When returns depend more heavily on operational improvement, the value-creation plan cannot begin as a list of ideas after close. Sustainable earnings, cash conversion, management capacity, technology liabilities and the cost of change belong in the investment case.
Our implication: Day One and the first management-owned value map should emerge from diligence, not follow it.
AI: the workflow is the unit of transformation
A model can perform well while the business outcome does not move. Decision rights, data access, controls, incentives and workflow design determine whether AI changes cycle time, capacity, conversion, cost, quality or risk.
Our implication: measure the workflow before and after, not the number of pilots.
M&A: Day One starts before completion
Integration and separation compress years of operating change into months. Customers, systems, people, data, suppliers and controls cannot wait for the transaction team to finish before the operating plan begins.
Our implication: integration, separation and TSA exit should be designed as operating workstreams before Day One.
Evidence standard
We separate observed facts, its own interpretation, its methodology and verified North Axiom outcomes. External evidence keeps its original source and date so that a finding from one study is not silently presented as a universal truth.