Not to run a process, but to determine if one is worth running.

OUR THESIS

Most M&A advisory is built for a specific kind of company — one with a defined set of buyers, financials that support a clear path to scale, and a growth story that buyers can quickly recognize. That model works well but only when the path to value is already obvious.Many emerging-growth companies don’t follow that path. They have built something real — revenue, customers, strategic assets — yet are no longer on a clear path forward, stuck between early traction and scale. Pivots fail to restart momentum. Market conditions shift. Capital tightens. And what once looked like a straightforward growth story no longer fits neatly.Traditional advisory models struggle in this environment, not because these companies lack value, but because their value does not fit cleanly into existing buyer frameworks. As a result, they are often overlooked, mischaracterized, or taken to market with narratives that fail to resonate, leading to missed opportunities or suboptimal outcomes.In these moments, the central question is not how to run a process, but whether a credible acquisition thesis exists, and if so, how it must be constructed to align with the way buyers actually evaluate opportunities.Thesist was built to answer that question.

OUR SERVICES

01 | FOR FOUNDERS

THESIST SIGNAL

A focused engagement to determine whether there is real, defensible transaction value and where it exists.Often engaged directly by founders, or introduced by investors, board members, and advisors when the path forward is no longer clear.We break down your asset base independent of your original market thesis, identify where those assets solve genuine problems for strategic buyers, and determine whether a viable transaction pathway exists.Outcome: A defensible acquisition thesis and a defined path forward, or the conviction to stop and move on. No process. No false hope.Flat Fee: $10,000

02 | FOR BUYERS

THESIST SCOUT

A thesis-led acquisition design and target identification engagement.Most acquisition strategies begin with a target profile.Thesist begins by breaking that objective into its underlying components. We deconstruct the strategic gap into the specific capabilities, assets, and outcomes required, then map where those elements actually exist across the market.This often reveals value distributed across multiple companies, non-obvious targets, or subscale assets that would not surface through traditional sourcingOutcome: A curated, tested set of acquisition opportunities aligned to your mandate before broad outreach or diligence begins.Fee Structure: Monthly retainer scoped by mandate

WHO WE WORK WITH

Founders

We've been in your shoes.You've built something real — real customers, real traction, real assets — but the path forward has gotten murky. Growth has stalled, pivots aren't landing, capital has gone quiet. We work with you before any process begins, because that's when the most important thinking happens and because we've faced this exact decision ourselves.

Buyers

The right tuck-in asset is rarely on a list.The assets that fit your strategic gap precisely — the ones that fill a capability, a market, or a customer relationship you can't build faster than you can buy — are usually not running a process. They're founder-led, under the radar, and holding value that a database screen may never surface. We identify them by starting with your thesis, not a search query.

OUR LEADERSHIP

PAUL LEAMON

FOUNDER | PRINCIPAL

Paul Leamon brings nearly three decades of experience across strategy consulting, middle-market investment banking, entrepreneurship, and corporate innovation.He began his career advising on mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, and growth initiatives, operating at the intersection of strategic positioning and transaction execution. He later spent 16 years as a founder and operator, raising capital, scaling businesses, managing investor relationships, and navigating the decisions that determine whether companies scale independently, pivot, or pursue liquidity.In subsequent roles, Paul worked closely with corporate innovation teams and growth-stage operators evaluating expansion, adjacency strategy, and acquisition opportunities. This work provided direct insight into how strategic gaps are defined, how tuck-in logic is evaluated, and how acquisition theses are constructed within larger organizations.More recently, he has advised and invested in emerging-growth companies across multiple sectors, working within startup ecosystems and commercialization environments where early product–market fit must evolve into durable strategic value. This experience has shaped his understanding of how assets are built, misaligned, and ultimately repositioned at critical inflection points.He holds a BS in public policy from Indiana University and an MBA in finance and strategy from Northwestern University.

The most important M&A conversation happens before anyone runs a process.

If you're not sure whether a transaction is worth pursuing, or what you'd even be pursuing, that's exactly where we start. No commitment, no process, no pitch. Just the thinking that should happen first.

All inquiries are confidential.