For founders and CEOs who can see the runway ending — capital won't come in, the next round isn't there, and the question is no longer whether but how. The earlier the conversation, the more options exist.
Most founders going through this feel isolated. Most don't need to be. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley have been through wind-downs before rebuilding stronger companies. What matters now is moving from uncertainty to structure — professionally, discreetly, and on a timeline you can defend.
Many strong founders go through this at least once. Market conditions, cash-flow disruptions, and investor breakdowns affect even the best businesses. The right next step is the same regardless of how the situation got here.
Wind-downs don't have to be chaotic. We bring structure to difficult situations and walk you through the sequence step by step — vendor by vendor, creditor by creditor, decision by decision.
Enterprise value, employee paths forward, intellectual property, records, and reputation can all be protected with the right discipline. The trademark portfolio that clears in a wind-down is often the asset that funds your next thing.
The earlier we have a clear-eyed assessment, the more flexibility tends to exist. The Triage AI memo arrives in one business day with no obligation to engage. Waiting until payroll fails reduces every available option.
Financial distress does not always destroy value.
Poorly managed distress often does.
A well-run wind-down is the difference between something that defines your career negatively and something that becomes a quiet line on your CV. We design every engagement so that what reaches the bank account, what your team takes with them, and what your reputation looks like afterward are all maximized — in that order.
Distributions run through an audit-grade ledger. No public bankruptcy filing in California. Investors get a defensible record they can show LPs. Creditors get faster, higher recovery than legacy ABC firms.
Acqui-hire structuring with the buyer network. Severance, WARN-Act, and final-payroll guidance handled professionally. Where the right buyer exists, your top engineers, designers, and operators land on their feet.
Trademarks, patents, source code, customer relationships — anything with residual value is identified, packaged, and brought to qualified buyers. The trademark portfolio you built is often the asset that funds whatever you build next.
California ABCs are private state-law proceedings. No press release, no court docket, no public filing. Founders who wind down well get their next capital round faster than founders who try to drag a dying company across the line.
Not litigators reading from a checklist. The team that runs your engagement: Jonathan Bitumba on the financial work (Acting CFO Trademarkia, founder of Nestarion Investments, M&A workstream at AB InBev). Raj Abhyanker on buyer outreach and IP monetization (inventor of Nextdoor.com, founder of Trademarkia, patents licensed/sold > $1B). Michael Markos on brand and trademark value preservation (Professor of Law at ASU, brand counsel for A$AP Rocky and VLONE). Amien Gassiep on governance and forensic readiness (24 years across Big 4 and JSE-listed entities).
Send the company name and a sentence on the situation. The Triage AI memo arrives in one business day modeling cap table, debt stack, IP, and runway against ABC, restructure, sale, and Article 9 paths. No obligation to engage afterward.