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Operators wanted. Advisors, less so.

Three equity partners run Foes day to day. A bench of delivery partners extends the firm into capabilities the three of us don't hold. Both grow the same way — one person at a time, when an engagement demands something we can't already do.

01

The job is this: own a function inside someone else's business and answer for their results.

This is the wrong firm for you if any of these is true:

  • You want a scope that stays fixed when the diagnosis changes.
  • You have recommended more transformations than you have run.
  • You need a title on a client's org chart to have authority.
  • You would rather keep a client comfortable than tell them what the data says.
  • You want the deliverable to be the deck.
02

Every engagement runs the same arc. So does every seat.

Whatever pillar you sit in, the arc is the same.

  1. 01

    Frame — You diagnose before you prescribe.

    4–8 weeks

    The Five-Lens Operating Assessment is the first thing you do inside a new client, and you do it in their systems, not against a template. You leave the phase with a prioritized roadmap that has your reasoning in it.

  2. 02

    Implement — You build what you recommended.

    3–12 months

    Execution against the roadmap, in the client's stack, alongside the client's team. Documented as you go, because the point is that they can run it after you.

  3. 03

    Operate — You stay long enough to be wrong in public.

    ongoing

    Embedded fractional leadership and ongoing performance management. This is where a bad call in Frame comes back with your name still on it.

03

The firm publishes eight convictions. Here is what five of them cost you.

Numbering follows the thesis, so the three that are missing are missing on purpose.

  • 01Accountability

    If the client's business doesn't grow, you haven't done your job. Activity, hours and effort are inputs, and nobody here is evaluated on inputs.

  • 02Proximity

    The deliverable is not a deck. You will be in their systems, their standups and their numbers, and you will be the one who fixes it when it breaks.

  • 05Sustainability

    We build systems the client can run without us. If your value depends on them still needing you next quarter, this model works against you.

  • 06Candor

    An embedded partner who avoids the difficult conversation to preserve comfort is failing the client. You will have to say the expensive thing to the person paying for it, early, and in the room.

  • 07Restraint

    Deprioritization is as valuable as prioritization. Every engagement produces a clear view of what we recommend against, and your name goes on that list too.

The next move.

Have you run it, or only recommended it?

Tell us what you'd want to own — we read every note. Worth doing whether or not a seat is open today.

hello@foes.co