results-based advisory · five clients at a time

We only take clients we're confident we can make money for. And we get paid when you do.

candor first is a results-based advisory for founders and small business operators — run by people who have actually built, scaled, and sold companies. No hourly billing. No decks that sit in a drawer. Our fees come out of the profit we create for you.

Apply for an engagement Grade your business free

Every client is interviewed. Most applicants are declined.

the model

Profit or it cost you almost nothing

Traditional consultants get paid whether you win or lose. We think that's backwards, so we flipped it.

Engagements start with a commitment fee — sized to your business, credited 100% against future fees. It exists to cover our hard costs and to make sure you have skin in the game too. From there, our compensation is a pre-agreed share of the incremental profit our work creates, measured against your baseline, over a defined window, with the math written into the contract before we start.

If we deliver, the commitment fee effectively cost you nothing — it was an advance on results. If we don't deliver, it's the only thing you'll ever pay us. That is the whole model. We can afford to work this way because we're selective about the problems we take on.
how it works

Three steps, one filter

01

Apply

Tell us about your business and the problem that's costing you money — acquisition costs, pricing, retention, margins. Ten minutes, no fluff.

02

Interview

We talk. We look at your numbers. If we're not confident we can drive a specific dollar outcome, we'll tell you straight and point you somewhere useful. That's the candor part.

03

Engage

Defined metric, documented baseline, agreed measurement window — then we work alongside you until the result is on your P&L. Not a report. A result.

why listen to us

Built, scaled, exited — repeatedly

Our advice comes from operating, not theory. The founder's record over 17 years:

4companies launched — three of them while working a full-time job
100%reached profitability, all bootstrapped with minimal cash
6–7 figuresrevenue within three years, every relevant company
2 exitsone company acquired, one intentional exit; a third equity sale in negotiation
straight talk

Who this is for — and who it isn't

good fit

  • You run a startup or small business with a measurable problem — customer acquisition cost, pricing, retention, margin — and you'll actually implement what we agree on.
  • You're pre-launch and want a brutal, honest read on whether your idea is feasible before you sink your savings into it.

bad fit

  • You want a cheerleader, a certificate, or a 60-page strategy deck. We tell you what we see. That's the name of the firm.
  • You want to outsource the work entirely. We work with operators, not instead of them.

Not sure you'd clear the interview?

Run your business through our free grader — the same rubric we use to screen applicants. Blunt by design.

Grade my business
apply

Tell us what's costing you money

Every application is read by a human who has run companies. If we decline, we'll tell you why.