Board governance
Charters, committee structure, independence, and the unglamorous work of making a board function as a body rather than a meeting. We sit in for a term, not a day.
Baton Rouge · Established 2009
The decisions a board only gets to make once.
We advise closely held companies and their boards through the moments that don't repeat — a founder stepping back, a sale, a split, the first outside director.
GovernanceOwnership transitionExecutive strategy
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I
Practice
Three areas, deliberately
We turn down more work than we take. These are the three things we're willing to put our name on.
Ownership transition
Succession within a family, a sale to a strategic buyer, a management buyout. We advise the owner on the shape of the transaction and what it will mean to live with afterward.
Executive strategy
Where the business is going, and what the leadership bench has to look like to get it there. Written plainly, in documents your directors will actually read.
II
Approach
We are not a large firm, and we are not trying to become one.
Most advisory work fails on delivery, not analysis. A team arrives, interviews everyone, produces a deck, and leaves the client with a binder and no changed behaviour.
The person who takes your first meeting writes the memo, and sits in the boardroom when it is discussed.
We take a small number of engagements each year and stay with them through the whole arc. That limits how much work we can accept. It is the entire point of the firm.
III
People
Who you would be working with
There is no bench behind these three. If you engage us, you get them.
Eleanor Vance
Founding partner
Twenty-two years advising boards of privately held manufacturers and distributors. Chairs two audit committees.
Marcus Thibault
Partner, transitions
Former general counsel. Has taken thirty-one owner transitions from first conversation to closing.
Priya Raman
Principal
Leads the strategy practice. Writes the annual governance review our clients circulate to their directors.
IV
Contact
Request an introduction
We take on a limited number of engagements each year, and we'd rather say no early than late. A short note about your situation is enough to start.