Founder Hour · consumer brands $5M–$75M

One hour. An honest conversation. A clear next move.

You bring the situation. We pressure-test the decision in front of you, name what has been postponed, and leave with a move you can make this week.

$500

60-minute video call with Chris Wichert, who built Koio, fixed the math when the old growth playbook stopped working, and sold the business after 200+ buyer conversations.

Daniel Shim, Founder & CEO, ONDO: “Chris helped me look past top-line growth and understand what was actually driving profit in the business.”

What founders bring

The call works when there is one real decision on the table and enough context to argue with.

Growth is moving while cash feels tight

Revenue is up, inventory is heavier, contribution margin is thin, or paid media is hiding the fact that growth is adding too little cash.

The same decisions keep landing back on you

Your team has titles, meetings, and reports. Ownership is still blurry, priorities drift, and the founder keeps becoming the tie-breaker.

A capital or exit path is getting real

You are considering debt, a raise, a buyer conversation, or another year of grinding, and you need to know what the business can actually support.

What you leave with

The hour has a tight arc: 00–10 where the business sits today; 10–35 find the real constraint; 35–55 choose the next two moves; 55–60 decide what happens next.

A plain-English diagnosis

The actual constraint named clearly, with the symptoms separated from the thing that is holding back cash, growth, focus, or buyer readiness.

Two moves for the next seven days

The actions to take this week, who should own them, what to stop, and what can wait until the business has more signal.

A follow-up path that fits the problem

Run it yourself, use the DTC Operator Diagnostic, scope Founder Advisory, or bring me in deeper. The hour ends with a recommendation you can act on.

Who should skip it

A paid hour should have a job: one decision, one tension, one outcome you are willing to act on.

You want a general founder catch-up

Use the free tools first if the question is still fuzzy. The hour gets better once there is a specific call to pressure-test.

You need bookkeeping cleanup

Your accountant should own the books. Founder Hour is for interpreting what the numbers mean for pricing, spend, cash, hiring, and capital.

The founder will sit out

Put the person making the call in the room. The value is in pressure-testing judgment live, with the tradeoffs visible.

Try before you book

Free tools that give you a first read before you spend the hour. Use them to sharpen the question you bring.

Free tool

Unit Economics Calculator

A simple way to pressure-test contribution margin, payback, and whether growth is actually helping.

Open the calculator
Free tool

Next Move Finder

Not sure whether to restructure, raise, sell, pivot, or keep going? Answer 12 questions and get the path to pressure-test first.

Find your next move
>>> next step

Ready to pressure-test
the decision in front of you?

Bring the decision, the numbers you trust, and the context behind them. We use the hour to get to the move.