Getting the Most Out of Our Call

So you've booked time with me. Here's what I've noticed over the years.

The founders who walk away from our calls with the most value almost always do the same few things before we ever get on the phone. None of it is required. But if you're trying to make the hour count, this is what tends to work.

Get a sense of who you're talking to

Before the call, it helps to know the person on the other end of the line. The shorthand version: I started Tatango in 2007 out of a college dorm room and sold it in 2025. Eighteen years. Most of the lessons came the hard way.

If you want the longer version, my biography covers where I came from and how I got here. The Tatango story covers what I actually lived through as an operator. Knowing some of that context ahead of time means we don't spend the first fifteen minutes of our call on background.

Read what's already written

I've written a lot of essays on the topics founders most often ask me about. Raising capital. Co-founder disputes. Board management. Founder buyouts. Acquisition offers. Hiring and firing. Transitioning out of the CEO role.

If you're wrestling with something specific, there's a decent chance I've already written about it. Browse the essays. If one of them is close to your situation, read it first. We can use the call to go deeper, not to cover the basics.

Send things over ahead of time

Everything you send is confidential. I read everything before our call. The more context I have going in, the more useful I can be.

A few examples of what tends to help, depending on what you're working through:

• If it's a partnership dispute, send me the bylaws and the cap table.
• If it's a financial issue, send me the last few months of financials.
• If it's an acquisition offer, send me the LOI or term sheet.
• If it's a fundraising question, send me the deck and the cap table.
• If it's a co-founder departure, send me the operating agreement and any relevant equity documents.
• If it's a board issue, send me the board composition and any recent board materials.
• If it's a hiring or firing question, send me the org chart and the relevant comp details.

You get the idea. Whatever the documents are that tell the real story, send them. I'd rather spend an hour reading your materials and giving you specific advice than spend an hour on the call piecing together what's actually going on.

Come with one specific question

The single biggest predictor of a great call: you arrive with one specific question you need answered.

Not "I'd love to pick your brain." Not "What do you think about my business?" One real question. The thing keeping you up at night. The decision you're stuck on. The conversation you're dreading.

If you can send that question over in advance along with whatever documents are relevant, even better. I'll come to the call already thinking about it.

That's it

Show up. Ask the question. We'll get somewhere good.