For most growing companies, bringing in senior help feels like a big, risky bet.
On one side, there's the full-time executive hire. It takes months to find the right person, the cost is significant, and if it doesn't work out, unwinding it is painful for everyone. On the other side, there's the traditional consulting engagement, often a long contract with a large price tag and a deliverable that can end up sitting in a shared drive.
Neither is a great fit for a company that needs senior judgment now but isn't sure exactly what shape the help should take. That's why we've built our engagements around a different approach: the 90-day pilot.
Why 90 days works
Ninety days is long enough to make a real difference and short enough to keep everyone focused.
In 90 days, a senior operator can understand your business, diagnose what's really going on, build or fix the systems that matter most, and start developing your people. You'll see actual results, not just a plan.
It's also short enough that the commitment is manageable. If the fit isn't right, you've learned something useful without locking into a long contract. If it is right, you have evidence to make a confident decision about what comes next.
No long-term lock-in. Just a focused window to prove the value.
What a good pilot looks like
Not all short engagements are created equal. A pilot that works has a few key features.
A clear scope. Before the pilot starts, both sides agree on the specific problem being solved and what success looks like at day 90. Not "help with operations," but "install a weekly leadership cadence and a monthly metrics review that the team can run without outside help."
A named person. You should know exactly who you're working with from day one. Not a rotating team or a junior consultant learning on your dime, but a senior operator with real experience in the area you need.
A fast start. Momentum matters. A good pilot starts within a couple of weeks of agreement, not months later after a lengthy onboarding process.
Visible progress. You shouldn't have to wait until day 90 to see what's happening. Regular check-ins and clear milestones let you track progress and adjust along the way.
A real decision at the end. At day 90, you sit down together and decide. Continue, adjust, expand, or conclude. Each is a legitimate outcome.
The three phases
Most of our pilots follow a similar rhythm.
Days 1 to 30: Understand. The operator learns the business, meets the team, reviews what exists, and identifies the highest-leverage problems. By the end of the first month, you'll have a clear, honest picture of what's working, what isn't, and what to tackle first.
Days 31 to 60: Build. This is where the work happens. New systems, clearer roles, better processes, stronger habits. The operator works alongside your team, not in isolation, so the changes take root.
Days 61 to 90: Transfer. The focus shifts to making sure the work sticks. Your team takes on more ownership. The operator coaches rather than leads. By day 90, the goal is a team that can run what was built, with or without ongoing support.
Who it's right for
The 90-day pilot works especially well for companies that:
- Need senior expertise in an area like finance, operations, marketing, HR, sales, strategy, or technology, but aren't ready for a full-time executive.
- Have a specific problem that's slowing growth and want it addressed quickly.
- Have been burned by long consulting engagements that didn't deliver.
- Want to test a working relationship before making a bigger commitment.
It's less suited to situations that need a permanent, full-time leader from day one. We'll tell you honestly if that's the case.
Low risk, real results
The point of a pilot isn't to make a small commitment for its own sake. It's to make a smart one. You get senior help quickly, you see real results, and you make your next decision based on evidence rather than a sales pitch.
That's the way we'd want to be treated if we were in your seat. So it's the way we work.
Ready to try it?
Every engagement starts with a conversation about what you need. From there, we'll scope a pilot, introduce you to the right person on our bench, and get started fast. Start the conversation or explore how we work with clients.
