Proof, not promises

Situation

Before advising anyone, our founder bought a struggling $10M building-products business, paper-run and stalled, and took it over as owner and CEO. This is the operator proof behind the method: not a client engagement, an entire company owned and turned around.

What we did

Vertically integrated the business with in-house manufacturing and countertop fabrication, built an enterprise operating system of KPIs and daily huddles, digitized field operations, and deployed production AI computer vision on the floor. The same disciplined method applied to every function at once.

Results

• Scaled $10M to $40M+ in revenue (4x) and roughly 10x production volume on the same footprint
• First-time installation quality lifted from 35% to 65% by digitizing field operations
• 90%+ enterprise-builder retention sustained across the full 11-year tenure

What made it stick

The KPI operating system ran the company in daily huddles for over a decade. This is the operating model Synaptic now installs for clients.

Situation

An energy company was earning revenue that was not consistently billed. The required evidence was fragmented across billing, market-settlement, customer, and operating systems, while an internal technology effort had remained stalled for approximately three years.

What we did

Ivan took ownership of the operating problem, established governed data and reconciliation logic, designed exception workflows, and connected analytics to accountable recovery actions instead of treating reporting as the finish line.

Results

• $800,000 in previously unbilled revenue recovered
• A stalled multi-year reporting effort replaced by an operating management capability
• Visibility established across fragmented billing, operating, and financial data

What made it stick

The management layer preserved source-to-result traceability and made exceptions visible for continued operational and financial action.

Situation

A field-services operation depended on two vendor applications without usable APIs. Work from carriers and third-party administrators carried different deadlines and documentation rules, leaving leadership without one reliable operating view.

What we did

Ivan built governed browser-based acquisition, source-precedence and reconciliation rules, effective-dated service-level logic, exception prioritization, role-specific dashboards, and human-authorized workflow automation.

Results

• Four offices unified on one operational view
• Workflows governed across 26 carriers and 14 third-party administrators
• Twenty-two role-specific dashboards replaced fragmented manual reporting

What made it stick

Governed rules, validation controls, audit trails, and exception workflows created a controlled foundation for AI-assisted analysis and action.

Situation

Energy acquisitions required financial, customer, operating, and technology workstreams to move from investment assumptions to stable post-close performance.

What we did

Ivan co-led integration work across acquisitions ranging from $20M to $1B, translating deal assumptions into governance, workstream ownership, operating controls, and post-close performance review.

Results

• IRR and EBITDA targets met across the documented integration portfolio
• Synergies captured ahead of schedule
• Reusable integration playbooks and governance strengthened subsequent work

What made it stick

The repeatable integration method connected diligence assumptions, named owners, milestones, financial controls, and operating evidence.