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Founders move fast and lead alone. I help you bring the company with you.

Twenty years in tech — product, ops, and the messy middle. Ten of them in executive seats, including the ones I wasn’t ready for.

Still operating, not advising from the sidelines. You bring the real problem, the one you’ve been circling for a month. We work it until there’s a decision and a date.

The work

Most of what we do falls into three piles.

Usually it’s one of these. Sometimes it’s all three.

  • Too many bets, not enough focus

    A capable team building fast in five directions. Which bet gets the time, how it’s positioned, and what it should cost.

  • The plateau you keep hitting

    Growth, overload, stall, repeat. Where the constraint actually sits, including the systems underneath, and what changes so this December doesn’t look like the last one.

  • The gap between you and your team

    You’re three decisions ahead and they’re still working on the first. Getting your reasoning down to the people doing the work, and what they’re seeing back up to you.

Who I work with

People running real companies, with real revenue and real consequences.

  • Carrying a decision you can’t put to your board yet.
  • Second-time operator in a first-time seat.
  • Wants argument, not agreement.

Who this isn’t for

If you’re pre-revenue and looking for direction, this won’t be worth the money. If you want a curriculum, a certification, or a framework with an acronym, I don’t have one.

And if the decision is already made and you’re looking for company, that’s a cheaper service than this one.

The engagement

Two ways to work together.

The single day

One full day · in person or remote

$5,000

We get into the weeds of the business: the numbers, the team, the systems, the things you’ve stopped looking at. You leave knowing what to do next and in what order.

A way to work together once before committing to anything longer. If one day is all you need, that’s a good outcome.

The standing engagement

90 minutes · every week

$5,000 / mo

You set the agenda the day before; I come having read it. Within a day you get a short written record of what we decided. Between calls, you can reach me.

Three months minimum, billed monthly. The problems worth bringing don’t resolve in a few weeks.

Portrait of Jaymes Downer
“Jaymes has a unique ability to walk into complete chaos and create clarity.”
Solo founder

Still circling it?

You describe the problem, and we take 30 minutes on it. No pitch. If it isn’t a fit I’ll say so, and you’ll still leave with something.

Notes

I write occasionally.

Short pieces, published when there’s something worth saying. Written from the middle of it, not from the other side.

Read on LinkedIn