Posts from John Wyatt and Paul Wyatt of Wyatt Sparks, Columbus, Ohio, on fractional executive seats, business valuations, and the questions mid-market leaders bring to the first conversation.
Browse by topic: All posts · The Math You Haven't Done · AI Is a Lever, Not a Religion · Vision to Execution · People Make the System Work · Built to Hold
Pricing, hiring, AI and ownership each pull on the others. Put every growth lever on one page with one owner and decide the order before you fund any of them.
John Wyatt · October 22, 2026
Referrals that only run through the founder put a ceiling on a firm. Keep the referrals, and build the system that brings them in without you in the room.
John Wyatt · October 22, 2026
AI speeds up whatever process it gets, messy ones included. Before you automate a step of the close, make sure your team does it the same way twice.
John Wyatt · October 22, 2026
Owners are told to hand off the day-to-day. Keep running the business, share the vision with a partner who maps it, and walk it together.
John Wyatt · October 20, 2026
When the two people running a company argue about strategy every week, the fight is often about who decides. Say the roles out loud, and again as people grow.
John Wyatt · October 20, 2026
Teams that hold AI to a growth measure report strong returns far more often than those counting savings alone. Pick the number before you pick the tool.
John Wyatt · October 19, 2026
PE-backed CMOs stay about three years on average. Build the growth plan, the measurement and the forecast so the company keeps them when the seat turns over.
John Wyatt · October 19, 2026
Most change plans stop at the announcement. Whether a decision turns into work depends on whether your managers trust leadership to follow through.
John Wyatt · October 19, 2026
When a large company sells a division, the buyer gets the business and little of what ran it. List the gaps and who fills them before you sign.
John Wyatt · October 19, 2026
Most new CEOs have never run a company before. Their first job is a plan built forward from the facts, with a number they will stand behind.
John Wyatt · October 16, 2026
Most AI training teaches what the tool can do. The gap mid-market teams feel is knowing when its answer is wrong. Train on real work.
John Wyatt · October 16, 2026
CEOs now rank AI with cybersecurity as their top risk. Going all in and staying out are the same mistake. Here is how to test before you fund.
John Wyatt · October 16, 2026
More CEOs plan to use fractional leaders. Hire one for judgment already earned at the size you are heading toward, not for the salary discount.
John Wyatt · October 13, 2026
Trust AI finance output as directional and verify the numbers before anything goes out. If a report needs a full check every run, fix the data underneath.
John Wyatt · October 13, 2026
Deal headlines lead with size. Owners watch why the deal was done, what it cost and when the buyer can run it. A Columbus example for private owners.
John Wyatt · October 13, 2026
Before you hire a vendor to build AI inside your company, decide who keeps it when they go.
John Wyatt · October 9, 2026
If your company has an AI plan that lives in its own deck, with its own budget line and its own owner, you have a second strategy. Second strategies drift.
John Wyatt · October 9, 2026