A value creation plan answers one question: how do you drive enterprise value out of a business — fast? In Episode 14 of Call to the Bullpen, Clint Overton and Ted Stann break down the 100-day plan that defines the early life of a private equity deal, and why the work that makes it succeed actually starts in due diligence.

They cover the two levers every plan pulls — top line and bottom line — and the questions behind each: customer retention, repeatable revenue, customer concentration risk, margin per customer, and expense benchmarking. Then they get into the part most plans underweight: the people. The org chart, the right people in the right seats, and why a $10M business needs a different team at $30M, $75M, and beyond.

The throughline is discipline over disruption — don't change things for the sake of change, don't take a sledgehammer to what's working, and don't insult the intelligence of the team you just acquired. Say what you'll do, do what you say, and bring everyone along.

🎙 Hosts: Clint Overton & Ted Stann
🏢 Boardroom Bullpen | Sister company: The Mercury Collective
🔗 Learn more: calltothebullpen.com & boardroombullpen.com

Emerging private equity firms, independent sponsors, and emerging VC firms are built to run lean — but that leanness leaves little capacity to operationally support the companies they back. In Episode 13 of Call to the Bullpen, Clint Overton and Ted Stann break down Operating Partner as a Service: a model that gives emerging investors on-demand access to experienced operating talent without the cost of a traditional operating partner bench.

They cover the two halves of every investment — financial capital and human capital — and the three ways an operating partner service creates value: the urgent "911 call" when an executive leaves, proactive thought partnership before a deal closes, and shared services (finance, accounting, and HR) across similar portfolio companies. You'll also hear a real example of placing an operator in under a week, why the traditional bench is so expensive, and how capital efficiency reshaped talent strategy across venture capital.

The throughline: helping PE and VC firms win, and win quicker — with faster value creation, maximum ROI, and one phone call instead of a Rolodex.

🎙 Hosts: Clint Overton & Ted Stann
🏢 Boardroom Bullpen | Sister company: The Mercury Collective
🔗 Learn more: boardroombullpen.com & themercurycollective.com

The term "fractional CFO" is everywhere on LinkedIn right now — and most of the people using it have never actually sat in the CFO seat. In Episode 12 of Call to the Bullpen, Clint Overton and Ted Stann pull no punches on what a fractional CFO actually is, why the marketplace has become so muddy, and how business owners can tell the difference between contenders and pretenders.

You'll hear the clear line between a controller (looking backward) and a CFO (marrying strategic vision to forward-looking financials), why industry experience matters for the last critical 10% of the work, and the five real-world scenarios where bringing in a fractional CFO makes sense — whether you've never had one before or your full-time CFO just walked out the door.

Topics covered:

• Why "fractional CFO" has become one of the most abused titles in business
• The Boardroom Bullpen definition (and the bar every CFO has to clear to make the roster)
• CFO vs. controller: where the real value line sits
• The 5 scenarios where a fractional CFO is the right call: intentional growth, exit/investor readiness, interim coverage, the CFO + controller model, and the CFO-in-waiting coach
• Why under-professionalized finance leadership almost always means a discount at exit
• The biggest signal you need a CFO yesterday (hint: it has to do with cash)