CAPITAL ARCHITECTUREGetting the structure right before the raise begins.
Independent - Finite - Paid for judgement, not processTHE PROBLEM
When capital is in motion, nobody is paid to slow down.
Founders are invested, personally and financially. Investors are managing time, optics, and opportunity cost. Advisors are paid to keep things moving.
The structural work, getting the capital architecture right before commitments are made rarely gets done. That's where the cost creeps in quietly.
"Stopping early is not a bad outcome. Quite often it's the best one."
FOUNDERS
Invested financially and personally. Motivated to proceed regardless of structural readiness.
INVESTORS
Managing time, optics, and opportunity cost. The deal that stalls is a problem — not the structure beneath it.
ADVISORS
Paid to keep things moving. Rarely incentivised to identify the reasons a raise should be paused or restructured.
MLN CO
The one party paid to look clearly at the structure — and tell you whether it's right before capital is committed.
Capital Architecture is the work that happens before a raise, not during it.
WHAT WE DO It's the difference between going to market with a structure investors can say yes to and spending six months learning why they can't.
We define the right capital type, quantum, and sequence. We resolve the structural constraints that surface in due diligence before they cost you a deal. We build the institutional narrative capital providers need to act with confidence.
The output is institutional-grade. The engagement is finite. The answer may be go, restructure, or stop and all three are valid outcomes you pay us to find.
CORE ENGAGEMENT
The 90-Day Capital Architecture Sprint.
Our core engagement is a structured, three-phase sprint. Each phase produces a defined set of deliverables. Every engagement ends with a clear point: go, restructure, or stop. All three outcomes have value.
PHASE ONE A full structural audit of the business. We identify the capital gap, governance issues, equity misalignment, and the three constraints that must be resolved before going to market.
- Diagnostic Report
- Capital Gap Assessment
- Structural Constraint Summary
- Phase Gate Bounce PaperDiagnostic
PHASE TWO Architecture
We design the optimal capital structure. Debt/equity split, governance recommendations, growth pathway modelling, and the institutional narrative capital providers need in order to act.
- Capital Architecture Memo
- 3× Growth Pathway Model
- Investor Teaser (2-page)
- Phase Gate Bounce PaperPHASE THREE The capital raise sequence. Investor targeting, approach strategy, the full capital raise narrative, and the activation pathway document that maps exactly how the raise proceeds.
- Capital Narrative Deck
- Investor Targeting Map
- Activation Pathway Document
- Weekly Update MemosActivation
BEFORE THE SPRINTRapid structured assessment before any commitment is made.
Before a 90-Day Sprint begins, we conduct a first-pass diagnostic of any prospective situation. The purpose is simple: establish quickly and cheaply whether the situation warrants a full engagement and what the shape of that engagement should be.
If the situation is right, we proceed. If it isn't, you know early and the cost is a fraction of what a misaligned raise would waste.
CAPITAL GAP ASSESSMENT
Identifies the true capital need versus the stated ask. Flags structural mismatches early.
BUSINESS QUALITY SCORE
Revenue quality, margin resilience, customer concentration, and operational risk assessed against our own criteria and at times sector specialists.
RAISE VIABILITY SUMMARY
A qualitative verdict: proceed, restructure first, or decline with clear rationale attached.
INVESTOR FIT MATRIX
Maps the deal to likely capital sources our Network and EIS funds, Family Offices, debt.
WHO WE WORK WITH Two kinds of clients. One shared need:
clarity before commitment.
Private Investors & Family Offices
Looking at complex, non-public situations where the cost of getting it wrong outweighs the cost of slowing down. You want independent judgment from someone not incentivised to keep the deal moving.
Owner-Operators & Business Owners
At inflection points — capital raises, exits, ownership changes, partnership structures. You need someone to design the architecture before you go to market, not explain why it didn't work after.
HOW WE PRICEJudgement has a cost. Mistakes cost more.
The fee structure is designed to keep incentives aligned. We are paid for the quality of the thinking — not the outcome the client hoped for when they came in.
SPRINT FEES
Fixed and agreed upfront. Paid for the work, regardless of the conclusion. You pay even if the answer is "don't proceed."
RETAINERS
Retainers buy structured thinking, not hours. No timesheets, no padding, no incentive to extend the engagement.
SUCCESS FEES
Apply only where outcomes are genuinely enabled by the work. Not a default a recognition of value created.
EARLY STOPS
If the work stops early, you keep the insight. The thinking produced to that point has value and stays with you.