The wire cleared. Now what?
You bought a business. The seller's at the beach. You're holding QuickBooks files from 2014, a CRM that lives on the office manager's iPhone, and a team that's run it the same way for fifteen years. Day 91 is when AI starts to earn its keep. We install named AI employees on the stack you inherited. Each one runs a revenue loop — scoped per engagement, 30 days to live, 90-day handoff. The team you inherited runs the business. You run the next deal.
Pre-LOI? Run the audit on the target before you sign.
/ POST-CLOSE PULSE — MEDIANS ACROSS RECENT DAY-91 INSTALLS
There are 2.3 million American businesses owned by people over 65. They will sell. SaaS founders will not buy them.
Operators will. People with SBA loans, search-fund LPs, and a 90-day plan. Every one of them inherits the same duct-taped system on day 91 — a CRM on the office manager's iPhone, a foreman's clipboard, and a QuickBooks file nobody has reconciled since 2019.
The lever has changed.
For a generation, value creation in acquired SMBs came from the same moves: install QuickBooks, hire a real bookkeeper, raise prices, chase AR. Every move needed a person — usually the new owner — to do it. The owner became the system. The business stalled the day the owner stepped away.
The lever changed because the AI employees arrived. Not the keynote demos — the ones in the wild, doing the work. An AI Front Desk that answers in seven seconds. A document-chase loop. A reactivation loop that wakes the dormant base. An AR loop that never feels awkward sending the third reminder. Each one runs a revenue loop the old owner ran by hand. The cost curve runs in your favor.
The bottleneck moved upstream.
It's the install — picking the leak that costs most, choosing the right AI employee for it, wiring it into what already runs there, training the operator, governing what the loop can and can't do, and standing behind the modeled EBITDA delta. Most agencies refuse this work. McKinsey ships slides. SaaS vendors sell you their tool. Almost nobody arrives on day 91 with a roadmap.
Buy boring. Run AI. We do the part most agencies won't.
Stack audit to live install, 90 days.
Built for solo searchers, holdco operating partners, and SBA-backed first-time owners running $2M–$25M businesses post-acquisition. The math runs on your target's actual numbers — not a sector benchmark.
- 01Day 91
Stack audit on the business you just inherited
QuickBooks 2014. CRM on the office manager's iPhone. Voicemails from last night's storm. We map what's actually running, what's duct-taped, and where the EBITDA leaks fastest.
- 02Days 92–98
First install — pick the leak that costs most
AI Front Desk if calls are slipping. An AI Collections Specialist if AR sits past 70 days. An AI Reactivation Specialist if the dormant base goes untouched. One AI employee. One revenue loop. One number to move in week two. Live first, then stack the next.
- 03Days 99–120
Vendor selection memo — full Day-91 roadmap
Specific tools named. Specific contracts negotiated. Specific integration paths chosen. The 90-day install sequence with operator hours, costs, and modeled lift. Investor-ready.
- 04Day 180
Hand-off to the team you inherited
Your operations lead runs the install without us. We leave with documentation, a 90-day pulse, and an open invitation. The work lives on your stack — it keeps running whether we're on the phone or not.
Acquirers who'd rather install than interrogate.
We don't run McKinsey-style 100-day diagnostics. We arrive on day 91, audit the stack, and install the AI employees that move EBITDA. The deliverable is a working system, not a deck.
- Solo searchers running the first acquisition
$2M–$10M EBITDA target. SBA-backed. First-time operators who need a 100-day plan with someone accountable.
- Holdco operating partners
Three to twelve portfolio companies, the same install pattern over and over. We standardize the playbook across the holdco.
- ETA-backed CEO/President roles
Recent close, board pressure to show post-close progress in months one through six. We aim for visible wins by week two.
- PE-backed home services platforms
Multi-location roll-ups in HVAC, plumbing, roofing. Standardize the AI install across acquired sites.
Book the Day-91 scope call.
Twenty minutes. Honest go/no-go. I'll tell you whether the install could pencil against your specific deal economics — not a generic ROI promise.
— Nathan, founder
Reach me at startupformulas.com/get-started