Growth Advisory & Exit Planning for Founder-Led IT Services Firms
Maximize the true potential of your business.
We are For Founders. By Founders.
We help founder-led IT services companies with $10–50M in revenue accelerate growth, maximize enterprise value, and create exit optionality.
The Exit Number quiz shows you the exit value you need to achieve the life you want post-exit. It takes under 5 minutes.
What Our Clients Say
“These guys are the next level business consultants helping me as a founder improve the value of our business by helping us structure things we've never really touched.”
“I don't think we would get there without y'all's help. I just don't have time to be sitting still for a day, week, or month and creating this stuff. With all the increased attention from your team — I think people are stepping up and really pushing themselves that maybe they wouldn't otherwise.”
“I've been impressed with each phase. What you guys are doing is exactly what we needed — exceeding expectations. On an NPS framework, I would say 9-10/10.”
“The presentation where you all were able to provide benchmarks — utilization, size of deals, client retention, those kind of things — those were all very helpful to see. You've come to know our business by digging into the numbers… I have a lot of respect for you and Tim.”
Introduction
Let's accelerate your journey to success - here's how:
We combine deep experience, proven frameworks, and a dedication to transparency to help you build a legacy and reach your business milestones — faster, stronger, and smarter.
- 1
Deploy the Founders Compass™
Our proprietary Founders Compass™ baselines your enterprise value, creates execution discipline, and tracks the key financial, sales, and investor metrics that build accountability.
- 2
Accelerate the Sales Engine
Sharpening your unique value proposition, documenting sales playbooks and best practices, interviewing your sales team to build ideal sales-hire profiles, and installing the training and reporting discipline that makes growth repeatable.
- 3
Scale the Delivery Engine
Mapping delivery end to end — standardized client onboarding, capacity and utilization planning, and quality control — so margins hold and the work scales without the founder in every engagement.
- 4
Enhance Your AI Strategy
A practical AI roadmap prioritized by return — saving time across sales, delivery, and the back office while creating defensible IP that buyers value.
- 5
Access the Founders Network
Recommendations for trusted advisors in long-term compensation, wealth management, investment banking, private equity, accounting, legal, and tax.
The Problem We Help You Solve
40-60% of a founder's business wealth is created at exit, but most founders only focus on growth and operations today.
Know and Grow Your Equity Value Like an Investor
We show you what your business is worth through an investor's lens, then run the highest-impact moves to grow that number before you exit.
The Exit Multiple Gap
Your Preparation in the Next 3–5 Years Creates Very Different Exits — Which Trajectory Are You On?
Schedule a Free Advisor Call(+ gain access to our Free Value Assessment)The work you do between now and your exit determines which multiple a buyer pays.
Clean financials, resilient management, systematic growth — buyers compete for firms like this.
A solid business with average risk. Most prepared sellers land here.
Founder-dependent, concentrated, unprepared for diligence — value is negotiated away.
Benchmarks and multiple ranges vary with market trends and sub-sector dynamics.
Investor Metrics — IT Services
Your Value Drivers Predict Your Future Growth and Value — Do You Know Where You Stand?
Schedule a Free Advisor Call(+ gain access to our Free Value Assessment)| Value Driver | Metric | High Risk4–7x EBITDA | Average8–10x EBITDA | Premium11–13x+ EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Predictability | EBITDA margin | <10% | 10–30% | >30% |
| Growth Potential | Revenue growth (3-yr CAGR) | <10% | 10–30% | >30% |
| Recurring Revenue | Recurring % of total revenue | <20% | 20–50% | 50–100% |
| Customer Satisfaction | Client retention (annual logo rate) | <80% | 80–90% | >90% |
| Business Resiliency | Top-3 client revenue concentration | >50% | 20–50% | <20% |
| Market Differentiation | Unique value proposition & IP | Low | Medium | Excellent |
These are examples of metrics we help you track in the Founders Compass. Benchmarks and multiple ranges vary with market trends and sub-sector dynamics.
The Opportunity
Where Are You Today — and Where Could You Get To?
Adjust the sliders to visualize your current and target enterprise value. Value compounds as both EBITDA and your multiple grow.
Total Value Lift — Today → Exit
From EBITDA growth
From multiple expansion
Today
In 24 Months
At Exit
The Founders Advocate Framework
Our journey starts with four questions.
Schedule a Free Advisor Call(+ gain access to our Free Value Assessment)Four answers inform
Your Value Creation Plan
WHY?
Clarify your motivation
What does success look like for you — personally and financially?
WHAT?
Understand your valuation
What is your business worth today, and how does it compare to industry benchmarks?
HOW?
Close the gap
Which initiatives, if executed, would increase your value the most?
WHEN?
Own your timeline
What is your target exit date? What does the quarter-by-quarter roadmap look like?
The Value Creation Journey
From first workshop to premium exit.
A structured engagement turns your answers into enterprise value — in three phases.
Phase 1
Value Creation Plan
Months 1–3
Phase 2
Execution Sprints
90-day cycles, repeated
Phase 3
Go-to-Market
6–12 months pre-exit
Phase 1
Value Creation Plan
Months 1–3
We evaluate the firm the way a buyer would, then create a baseline value assessment and a prioritized roadmap ranked by impact on your enterprise valuation.
- 1
Shareholder aspiration interviews
- 2
Onsite strategy workshop
- 3
Due-diligence simulation
- 4
Value Creation Plan
Phase 2
Execution Sprints
90-day cycles, repeated
Focused quarterly sprints to make measurable progress — starting with the sales engine. This includes biweekly check-ins, hands-on implementation, and a live dashboard that tracks enterprise value as it moves.
Sales Engine
Fixing bottlenecks in your sales process, identifying and addressing training gaps, and focusing your GTM strategy.
Sales Engine
Fixing bottlenecks in your sales process, identifying and addressing training gaps, and focusing your GTM strategy.
Core bodies of work
Unique value proposition development, documented sales playbooks and best practices, sales-team interviews that produce ideal sales-hire profiles, sales training recommendations, and pipeline and sales reporting best practices.
What it looks like
A documented sales motion — UVP, playbook, hiring profile, and a weekly pipeline review — so growth no longer depends on the founder closing every deal.
Delivery Engine
Mapping and accelerating delivery — quality, capacity planning, and margins that hold at scale.
Delivery Engine
Mapping and accelerating delivery — quality, capacity planning, and margins that hold at scale.
Core bodies of work
End-to-end delivery process mapping, standardized client onboarding, capacity and utilization planning, quality control and escalation paths, and margin visibility by engagement.
What it looks like
Delivery that runs on documented process rather than heroics — predictable onboarding, utilization you can plan against, and gross margins that hold as headcount grows.
AI Strategy & Execution
Pragmatic AI strategies that demonstrably improve gross margin and EBITDA - through increased efficiency, saved time, and service quality.
AI Strategy & Execution
Pragmatic AI strategies that demonstrably improve gross margin and EBITDA - through increased efficiency, saved time, and service quality.
Core bodies of work
An AI opportunity audit across sales, delivery, and the back office, use cases prioritized by return, implementation support, and governance that keeps client data safe.
What it looks like
A prioritized AI roadmap to increase the value of your offerings and ability to deliver, in a way that's measurable and repeatable.
Founders Compass
Drive leadership accountability and execution with our proprietary metric-driven management platform.
Founders Compass
Drive leadership accountability and execution with our proprietary metric-driven management platform.
Core bodies of work
Monthly tracking of enterprise value alongside the key financial, sales, and investor metrics that drive it, plus 90-day sprint initiatives with owners and check-ins that build accountability.
What it looks like
Dynamic view of your enterprise value, the metrics moving it, and a live 90-day sprint board that keeps every initiative owned and on schedule.
The Founders Network
Trusted connections to PE firms, investment banks, wealth managers, accounting firms, and legal and tax advice.
The Founders Network
Trusted connections to PE firms, investment banks, wealth managers, accounting firms, and legal and tax advice.
Core bodies of work
Learn the most important Curated introductions across the exit ecosystem — long-term compensation advisors, wealth managers, investment banks, PE firms, accounting firms, and legal and tax specialists.
What it looks like
The right specialist at the right moment — wealth planning before a transaction is on the table, and the banker shortlist when you're ready to go to market.
Phase 3
Go-to-Market
6–12 months pre-exit
When you're ready: introductions to bankers and your M&A team, guidance preparing the data room, audit and QoE support, and identifying the PE and strategic acquirers worth engaging.
The Value Creation Plan (first 3 months) carries a 100% satisfaction guarantee - or we'll give your money back.
For Founders. By Founders.
We've walked this road. Now our focus is helping you.
Tim Wise
Founder, Founders Advocate
Founders Advocate was created to help visionary founders create extraordinary growth, achieve liquidity, and create lasting impact. We are not bankers or M&A advisors incentivized to transact quickly. Your success is our success.
About Tim Wise
Tim Wise is a founder, entrepreneur, and business leader with more than 30 years of experience helping companies grow, maximize enterprise value, and achieve successful exits. Tim co-founded and grew Advocate, a leading IT services company, as Co-CEO for two decades. He exited to private equity and then to Accenture in 2022, where he led over $700M of acquisitions.
2026-27 President of YPO Southern 7 Region (600+ CEO members)
Board Chair for University of South Carolina's Entrepreneurship Center
Board member and advisor to tech-driven organizations, Boy Scouts, and PE funds on growth strategy
JD from the University of South Carolina; executive certifications from Stanford University and the National Association of Corporate Directors
Tim is known for his integrity, focus on results, and passion for serving founders — grounded in trust, positivity, and relationships that foster both business and personal growth.
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Book a free advisor call to talk through your goals — or start by working backwards from the life you want to the number your exit needs to hit.
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