Field guide
The 100-day handover playbook.
For searchers and operating partners. What to do before closing and in the first 100 days, so the founder's know-how is still there when they leave.
Before closing
Name the key people
Score each one with the scorecard. Usually it's one or two, rarely more than three.
Write the handover into the deal
Agree the founder's time and tie part of the transition plan to knowledge transfer.
Tell the team early
Explain what will be captured, why, and what won't. Fear grows in silence.
Days 1–30
Map what the founder knows
One long conversation about customers, suppliers, technical work, operations, finance and people.
Connect where the work happens
Email, WhatsApp, calls, drives and the ERP. Read-only, with consent.
Get first answers in week one
Let the founder correct them. That's when they start to collaborate.
Days 31–60
Ask a little every day
Three short questions each morning beat a two-day workshop.
Let the team ask first
Route questions to the knowledge base before they reach the founder.
Track coverage by area
If you can't see it, you can't manage it.
Days 61–100
Close the biggest gaps
Spend the founder's time on the areas with the lowest coverage.
Shorten the founder's calendar
Move from daily availability to weekly, then on call.
Report to the board
Coverage, open gaps and the risk that remains.
Week one
Three questions to ask the founder.
Which customers would leave if you did?
Tells you where the relationships sit, and who to introduce to the new team first.
What do you decide that nobody else can?
Prices, exceptions, credit, hiring. These decisions are where the hidden rules live.
What breaks when you're on holiday?
The fastest way to find the work that only one person can do.
Grab the baton.
Want to run this playbook with software doing the heavy lifting? Thirty minutes to plan it.
Pick a time that suits you. 30 minutes on video.