The Seller-First Deal Process

Most deal processes are designed around the buyer's calendar. Due diligence dates. Closing targets. Quarterly IRR deadlines.

There's a better way, and it starts with a different question: what does the seller actually need?

Speed when it helps, patience when it matters

Some owners need certainty fast. They've decided, their family knows, and dragging it out only creates risk. Others need time — to tell long-tenured employees, to evaluate real estate, to quietly prepare a successor.

A seller-first process meets the owner where they are. Not where the LP agreement says the deal should close.

What frank dealings actually look like

Frank dealings means the LOI looks like the purchase agreement. No quiet retrade. No new issues that mysteriously surface during confirmatory diligence. No aggressive working capital adjustments pulled out of thin air on the day of closing.

It means saying "no" early and clearly when a deal doesn't work — instead of letting it wander through a process that burns the seller's time, money, and trust.

We built Thesis around this because we watched too many good owners get run through a process that felt more like a negotiation ambush than a partnership forming.