Stopping the Founder-Exit Revenue Vacuum
Replacing founders with growth leaders who protect and grow your investment
We help investors who own founder-led companies install a new "face of the business" on a clear timeline.
Goal: no 6 to 12 month dip, no broken relationships, no confusion about who leads the business next.
Outcome: a credible successor in role, a real succession plan, and a higher revenue run-rate within the first year.
The Problem
Founder exits usually create a revenue vacuum
When investors acquire founder-led companies, the departing founder almost always leaves a 6 to 12 month revenue vacuum.
Key relationships, pricing logic and "how we win deals" still live in the founder's head.
Customers hesitate, staff stall, and new projects slip because no one is clearly the new commercial leader.
The average founder-led acquisition bleeds 1 to 3 M in EBITDA in the first year after the founder leaves, unless there is a real succession plan.
The Numbers Behind the Risk
What happens without a structured succession plan
12
months
Average time to a permanent new leader
$1-3M
EBITDA loss
Typical bleed in first year
Nearly a full year where revenue, margins and culture are in limbo.
During that period, investors typically see:
Key accounts going quiet or shopping competitors
Your most valuable customer relationships become vulnerable without the founder's personal touch
Pipeline delays as decisions get escalated or deferred
Deal velocity slows dramatically when there's no clear commercial authority
Leadership drift because no one clearly owns growth
The team loses direction and momentum without a recognized leader driving the business forward
Our benchmarks:
Average time to permanent new leader: 4.7 months.
Average revenue change in year one: plus 16 percent vs pre-exit run-rate.
Our Offer In One Line
We remove the revenue vacuum and add new growth
We remove that vacuum and typically add 12 to 18 percent new revenue in the first year by installing the right new leader on your timeline.
We design and run the full succession:
Map
Map the founder's relationships, deals and tribal knowledge
Define
Define the successor profile tied to revenue and retention targets
Search
Run a targeted search and selection process
Orchestrate
Orchestrate a 90 day handover so the new leader is accepted as the natural successor
You get stability plus upside, instead of disruption and drift.
How It Works (Process)
A simple four stage succession system
01 Founder Revenue and Relationship Map (Weeks 1 to 3)
  • Capture key customer relationships, commercial logic and unwritten rules.
  • Identify top 20 accounts and at-risk revenue.
02 Successor Scorecard and Role Design (Weeks 2 to 4)
  • Define what success means in 12 to 24 months (revenue, retention, growth).
  • Turn that into a concrete role profile and scorecard.
03 Targeted Search and Shortlist (Weeks 4 to 10)
  • Approach leaders who have already stepped into founder shoes and grown similar businesses.
  • Deliver a tight shortlist of 4 to 7 successors you would be comfortable backing.
04 Selection and 90 Day Succession Sprint (Weeks 10 to 20)
  • Support interviews, referencing and offer.
  • Co-build a 90 day plan for client handovers, internal communications and early wins.
Case Study
Industrial services roll-up: replacing the founder, growing revenue
Last quarter we placed a new CEO into a founder-led industrial services roll-up 83 days after close.
The founder was still the main point of contact for the top 15 customers and personally priced most major bids.
We:
  • Mapped key relationships and open opportunities
  • Defined a successor profile focused on multi-site industrial clients
  • Delivered a shortlist and supported the transition plan
Result:
Plus 11.3 M annualized revenue run-rate
in the first 9 months post appointment
Zero loss of top 10 customers
during the handover period
Why It Is Easy And Safe To Say Yes
Designed to be low risk for investors
Aligned incentives
Success-based fees tied to installing the right leader.
Strong guarantees
Long replacement guarantee on each leadership hire.
Speed with discipline
Average 4.7 months from mandate to permanent new leader in seat.
Measured impact
Typical plus 16 percent revenue uplift in the first year vs pre-exit run-rate.
First step:
We start with one founder-led business in your portfolio.
You get a short succession risk brief and a draft successor profile you can use with your board or IC.
"If there is even one company where the founder's exit is on the horizon, we will show you exactly how we would prevent a revenue vacuum and turn it into a growth moment."