What to look for, how to comp them, and what to hand over first.
August: schedule the explicit trust check-in. Don't trust it to happen by accident.
Refreshes on the 1st of every month
At day 90, the visionary and integrator each grade the partnership privately, then debrief together. Most partnerships fail because nobody made space for this conversation.
Most owners are visionaries: pattern-matchers, deal-makers, comfortable in ambiguity. The business needs the opposite — someone who closes loops, runs cadence, and turns ideas into operating systems.
| Visionary energy | Integrator energy |
|---|---|
| 10 ideas per week | Kills 8, executes 2 fully |
| External — customers, deals, partnerships | Internal — team, systems, follow-through |
| Energized by new | Energized by done |
| Bored by repetition | Builds repetition into systems |
| Component | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $160-280k | Depends on revenue and complexity |
| Annual bonus | 20-40% of base | Tied to operating metrics, not just EBITDA |
| Long-term incentive | Phantom equity 1-3% | Vesting 4 years, cliff at 1 |
| Severance | 6-12 months | Protects them, protects you |