WHAT I BUILD

Pre-Close Diagnostic

A 4-6 week sign-to-close diagnostic for PE sponsors and platform CEO.

For PE sponsors 60-90 days from close on a healthcare platform where no one has tested whether it has the capabilities to execute the thesis.

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What’s actually going on

The deal is moving toward close. The thesis is approved, the capital is committed, the LOI is signed. What isn’t clear is whether the platform’s operating layer can execute the thesis post-close. The CEO might be new to the seat. The 100-day plan is a slide more than a system. The board pack the sponsor will see in month one doesn’t yet exist.

You don’t want to find out post-close that the operating layer needs six months of build before any growth initiative can move. You need a clear-eyed read now on what’s underneath, what the first 100 days have to install, and whether the CEO has what they need to run the build.

How I help

I run a 4-6 week pre-close diagnostic with two parallel workstreams.

The first is sponsor-facing: an operational readiness assessment that tells you what’s in place inside the platform, what’s missing, and what the post-close infrastructure investment needs to be. The output is a memo the deal team can read in twenty minutes and the IC will sign off on.

The second is CEO-facing: an embedded diagnostic with the leadership team that produces a scoped 100-day plan and a build recommendation for the operating layer the platform needs. The CEO walks into close with the post-close plan already designed.

By close, the deal team knows what it’s buying operationally and the CEO has a 100-day plan ready to run.

How we’d actually work

Four to six weeks, sign-to-close window. Embedded on-site or remote depending on deal geography. Interviews and working sessions with the CEO, leadership team, and any operating partners or board members the sponsor designates. Parallel sponsor touchpoints throughout for visibility and steering.

Output is two deliverables: the operational readiness assessment for the sponsor and the scoped 100-day plan for the CEO. Both delivered before close. The diagnostic ends with a clear scoping recommendation for what comes next, and whether I’m the right person to do the post-close build. If I’m not, I’ll tell you and point you somewhere useful.

When this tends to be the right call

A few moments where this work shows up:

• Close is weeks away and no one has confirmed the platform can execute the thesis.

• The CEO is new to the seat or it’s their first PE-backed role, and the 100-day plan needs to be built with someone who’s done it before.

• The platform has strong commercial fundamentals but the diligence didn’t go deep on the operating model, decision rights, or planning cadence.

• The thesis depends on operational changes (cost reduction, integration capability, growth infrastructure) and the deal team wants a build recommendation in hand before close.

• The sponsor wants a credible post-close plan they can present to the IC and the board.

• The founder is staying as CEO post-close and needs an operating layer that lets them step out of decisions they used to hold in their head.

Let’s talk

Tell me about the deal, the close date, and where you need confidence before signing. The first conversation is brief and scoped to fit.

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