I've closed 50+ acquisitions.
I'll help you close yours.

Advice for people buying companies — from your first acquisition through entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) to a full buy-and-build roll-up. Pick a format below, bring your deal, and get direct answers from someone who does this every day.

Book a free 15-minute intro
Ian Holkey
Three ways to work with me

1 · Advisory Call — one hour

Anyone with a deal or a question

You get: direct answers on your specific situation — the deal on your desk, the structure you've been offered, the negotiation you're stuck in. Send what your NDA allows ahead of time — even a two-paragraph summary — and I'll have read it before we start.

2 · Deal Mechanics Workshop

Search funds · self-funded searchers · ETA & first-time buyers

You get: a working session on how deals actually close — quality of earnings, working capital pegs, reps & warranties, indemnification caps and baskets, escrows, earnouts and seller notes, asset vs. stock structure. Taught from the business seat, not the legal one: how each element played out on real deals, not in a textbook. I'm not a lawyer — your counsel papers the deal; I make sure you walk in understanding what you're agreeing to.

3 · AI for Programmatic M&A

Independent sponsors · PE platforms · corp dev teams

You get: my playbook for running a roll-up or buy-and-build program with AI in the loop — how a lean team sources, underwrites, runs due diligence, and integrates add-ons at a pace that used to take a department. I show you the actual workflows I use daily, then map them onto your process.

Not sure which fits? Start with the free intro — if I'm not the right person for your deal, I'll tell you on that call.

Book the intro
Why me
50+
Deals closed
10+
Years in M&A
Dozens
Industrials & blue-collar services deals
Now

Head of Corporate Development at a public company, where I built the M&A function from scratch — team, playbook, and AI-assisted deal operations — and run a high-velocity programmatic acquisition strategy.

Before that

Corporate development at a venture-backed tech company — closed its first three acquisitions and co-led a nine-figure fundraise during a major strategic pivot.

Trained as

An investment banker — 20+ closed sell-side and buy-side mandates across industrials, consumer, and tech, mostly for founder-owned businesses like the ones my clients buy.

What I've actually done
Start here
  1. Send two lines: what you're buying, and what's blocking you. That's all the prep I need.
  2. Free 15-minute intro — usually within the week. We figure out the right format, or I tell you I'm not the fit.
  3. Then you decide. No follow-up sequence, no pitch. If a first advisory hour isn't useful, it's unbilled.
Email me — takes 30 seconds
book directly: pick a time · verify me: linkedin.com/in/corpdev

Your deal stays confidential — happy to sign an NDA before you share anything. I reply within one business day, and take a limited number of engagements per quarter.