The New Build · Deep Blue Path

The first 90 days price the next ten years.

Day-one decisions disguised as paperwork. The entity, the cap table, the first three hires, the first contract. Wrong now is expensive forever.

The work is to catch the structural mistake at the moment it is cheapest to catch. Day one to day ninety. Bring the build. I meet you there.

Apply Read the Contradiction Log
The roadmap

Seven stages a new build moves through. The cheapest interventions are at the front.

Foundational decisions compound in one direction. The cost of getting them right at week two is small. The cost of changing them at month twelve is in the millions. Pick the stage that fits and start there.

  1. No. 01 The Idea Has a Name Week 0 to 2
  2. No. 02 The Entity Decision Week 2 to 6
  3. No. 03 The Cap Table Week 4 to 12
  4. No. 04 The First Three Hires Month 2 to 6
  5. No. 05 The First Customer Contracts Month 4 to 9
  6. No. 06 The First Real Capital Round Month 6 to 12
  7. No. 07 Past Build, Into Operation Month 12 and beyond
01
The Idea Has a Name

The venture has a name. Maybe a domain. The first decisions feel administrative.

Week 0 to 2
Symptom

A name has been chosen. A domain bought. A Slack workspace set up. Coffee meetings have started. The first decisions feel administrative. A logo is being commissioned. Co-founder conversations are happening over dinner, not paper.

Real diagnosis

Most decisions at this stage feel low-stakes. They are not. The naming, framing, and posture chosen here will outlive most of the people on the eventual cap table. The shape committed at week two is the shape the next ten years operate inside.

Intervention

Often a single conversation. Reframe the venture before paperwork starts. The goal at this stage is to surface what the build actually is, not what the founder has been telling investors at parties.

Where are you right now?

Once the name is fixed, the entity decision arrives next.

02
The Entity Decision

A lawyer is consulted. Articles get filed.

Week 2 to 6
Symptom

A lawyer is consulted. A structure is recommended. A Delaware C-Corp because that is the default. Or an LLC because someone heard it was simpler. Or a Swiss AG because the founder is non-US and that felt right. Articles get drafted. Operating agreements get a quick look.

[ note ]

Yes, that was sarcasm. Lawyers are not the problem. The problem is asking the wrong question of the right person.

Real diagnosis

The entity choice is treated as a tax and liability question. It is also a governance question, the architecture of who decides what, when. The default lawyer answer optimizes for legal simplicity and downstream paperwork, not founder leverage. The structure that minimizes friction at filing is rarely the structure that maximizes optionality at year three.

Intervention

One conversation before filing. Tier 01. The math is small relative to the lifetime cost of the wrong structure. The right question is not which entity type the lawyer prefers. The right question is which structure preserves the founder's ability to make the next ten years of decisions without retroactive cost.

Where are you right now?

Once the entity is filed, the cap table follows.

03
The Cap Table

The split that feels fair in month one is the fight in month thirty.

Week 4 to 12
Symptom

Co-founders or early hires get equity. Vesting schedules drafted from a template. The first investors put a term sheet on the table. Numbers move. Percentages shift. A spreadsheet titled "cap table v3" gets emailed around.

Real diagnosis

The cap table is the durable architecture of who gets paid, when, and under what conditions. Most early cap tables are built around the wrong question (how much equity to give) instead of the right one (what control rights attach to that equity, and what triggers their use).

Intervention

Tier 01 sprint before the next term sheet signs. A few focused conversations on vesting, voting, drag-along, tag-along, board composition, and the difference between common and preferred. The cap table closes once. Get it closed correctly the first time.

Where are you right now?

After the cap table, the next compounding decisions are people.

04
The First Three Hires

Three is small. Their consequence is large.

Month 2 to 6
Symptom

A head of engineering. A head of sales. A head of operations. Compensation packages negotiated against market data. Titles assigned. LinkedIn updates posted. Equity grants signed.

[ note ]

The first three hires set the comp ceiling, the org chart shape, and the operating culture by example. None of this is reversible without churn the build phase cannot absorb.

Real diagnosis

The first three hires set the ceiling on compensation for everyone after, the shape of the org chart, and the operating culture by example. The titles set expectation. The equity sets precedent. The hires made fast become the hires lived with.

Intervention

Tier 01 per-decision works for one critical hire. Three senior hires inside three months is Tier 02 territory: a recurring outside read across the build phase, with each hire surfaced as part of a connected set rather than three separate decisions.

Where are you right now?

Once the team is in place, the first contracts test the structure built.

05
The First Customer Contracts

Early terms compound silently.

Month 4 to 9
Symptom

The first paying customers sign. Contract templates negotiated. Custom terms agreed. Indemnification clauses get a quick read. Payment terms feel like a small concession to close the deal. SLAs are accepted to land the logo.

Real diagnosis

Early customer contracts shape the product roadmap, the legal exposure, and the eventual valuation. Anchoring the wrong terms early creates technical and commercial debt that compounds. The first contract becomes the precedent. The precedent becomes the template. The template becomes the ceiling.

Intervention

Tier 02 Principal Circle through the build phase. The work is sequencing and pattern, not single-contract review. Which terms hold the line, which can move, and which set precedents that will be paid for two years later.

Where are you right now?

Customer revenue eventually attracts capital. The terms of that capital are the next load-bearing decision.

06
The First Real Capital Round

Board composition is the load-bearing decision.

Month 6 to 12
Symptom

A term sheet from a VC, family office, or strategic. Valuation negotiated. Board composition on the table. Pro-rata rights, anti-dilution, drag-along, tag-along, the standard pile of provisions. A timeline appears with diligence checkpoints.

Real diagnosis

This round changes the operating logic. New people in the room with different mandates. The terms in this round set the terms of every future round. Board composition is the load-bearing decision the founder underestimates because it is buried inside paperwork that looks like math.

Intervention

Tier 02 sustained, or Tier 03 Operating Partner where the board complexity warrants principal-to-principal work. The read is on what the round changes, not just on whether the valuation is fair.

Where are you right now?

After the first real round, what was a build becomes an operating company.

07
Past Build, Into Operation

Foundational decisions are now architectural.

Month 12 and beyond
Symptom

The venture is operating. Roles are filled. Customers exist. Revenue is recurring. The build phase is over. The decisions made in stages one through six have hardened into the structure people now work inside.

Real diagnosis

The entity now expresses every decision made in stages one through six. What was foundational is now architectural. Reversal is expensive. The work transitions from build to operate, with whatever was built. Most operators arriving here do not need a build conversation. They need what comes after.

Intervention

Tier 03 Operating Partner if a structural reset is needed. Otherwise the path crosses into The Drift if the issue is structural erosion under growth, or The Weight if the founder is now overloaded by what was built.

Where are you right now?

Most operators do not arrive here needing a build conversation. They arrive needing what comes after.

Stan Tscherenkow
Who you would be working with

Stan Tscherenkow.

Two decades operating across Europe, Russia, Asia, and the United States before advising on the same decisions. Full background.

23
Countries operated in
20+
Years as principal
5
Live engagements
2
Co-founding ventures
How engagements start

Five steps. You are at step one.

  1. 01 You apply

    A short application. Stan reads every one personally.

  2. 02 Direct reply within 48 hours

    Yes with a time. No with a reason. Or a redirect, if a different structure serves you better.

  3. 03 First conversation

    Sixty to ninety minutes. Tier confirmed or reassigned. Scope and fee in writing.

  4. 04 Secure payment

    A direct link. Paid before the work starts.

  5. 05 The work begins

    The conversation is the product.

Engagement structure

Three ways in. Same standard.

Tier 01

Private Engagement

from $2,500

A single focused engagement for one decision or structural question.

Duration
Single engagement, 2 to 4 conversations.
Cadence
Scheduled against the decision timeline.
Format
Video, or in person where geography allows.
Scope
Anchored to one specific question. Closes when resolved.

Right fit: founder or operator carrying one specific decision open for weeks or months. Most often The Stuck Decision or an early-stage New Build.

How this differs from a consultant Apply for Tier 01
Tier 02

Principal Circle

from $4,500 / month

A recurring outside read for operators making consequential decisions continuously.

Duration
Three-month minimum. Ongoing after.
Cadence
Two 60 to 90 minute conversations per month.
Format
Video. Optional in-person quarterly.
Scope
Whatever is on the desk. Topics shift across the engagement.

Right fit: founder or operator whose decision surface is continuous, not one-off. Common across New Build, The Weight, ongoing Drift, and recurring Cross-Border work.

How this differs from a coach Apply for Tier 02
Tier 03

Operating Partner

By application

On-site, principal-to-principal. Boards, founding teams, and ownership groups in transition.

Duration
Two to six months, scoped to the transition.
Cadence
Every two to four weeks. In person where geography allows.
Format
In the team's actual meeting. No parallel coaching.
Scope
One specific transition or decision. Closes on closure.

Right fit: multi-party decisions, governance transitions, ownership restructure. Detailed framework at /boards-and-teams.

For boards and teams Apply for Tier 03
Full engagement structure
If this is not the situation

Other rooms.

Adjacent path

The Cross-Border Move

If the build is primarily a cross-jurisdictional move and the entity is one part of that, start here.

 Adjacent path

The Stuck Decision

If the build is already in motion and one specific structural decision will not close, start here.

 For multi-party rooms

Boards and Leadership Teams

If the build involves co-founders, investors, or multi-party governance structuring, the team engagement covers it.
Questions

Direct answers.

The New Build When should advisory come into a new build?

Before the first irreversible decision. Entity type, equity structure, jurisdiction selection, and partner terms are the most expensive items to unwind later. Advisory earns its fee in the first month by preventing structural debt that would otherwise surface at the first term sheet or the first senior hire.

Jurisdiction Delaware or somewhere else?

Delaware is the default answer. The default answer is not always correct. For a non-US founder, the right answer depends on tax treaty alignment, banking access, visa posture, and what the operating company actually does. The conversation tests those variables against your specific situation rather than assuming the default.

Equity Is 50-50 a mistake?

Not inherently. It is a mistake when the split is chosen to avoid a harder conversation about roles, commitment, and future contribution. If 50-50 is the answer after testing those variables, it is the right answer. If it is the answer because the conversation did not happen, it will age badly.

Engagement Is this legal or tax work?

No. This is structural decision-making that happens before lawyers and accountants execute. The advisor names the structural question, the counsel documents the decision. Both are needed. They are different roles.

Apply for private advisory

The new build is priced at the beginning. Structure it while it is still inexpensive to structure.

Apply
Personal reply within 48 hours From $2,500 · By application