THE 90-DAY CEO RESET
Most new CEOs inherit problems they cannot see yet
You have 90 days before the board’s patience thins, the team settles into old patterns, and the window closes. This is the work that happens before the crisis arrives.
Days. The critical window in which a new CEO sets the trajectory of the next three years.
Months before a business crisis becomes visible, the warning signals are already present.
Firms. Small, senior team. Experienced practitioners only — no juniors, no internal routing. CEO and CFO only.
THE RISK WINDOW
Pre-stress is harder to spot than distress. That is the point
By the time a mid-market business looks distressed, the decisions that caused it are 12 to 18 months old. A newly appointed CEO inheriting a firm in this condition has very little time and very few options.
The firms we work with are not in crisis. They show early signals: margin drift, team misalignment, stalled initiatives, or AI investments that have produced no measurable return. These are solvable problems, but only if they are identified and addressed in the first 90 days.
- Revenue growth has slowed but the board has not yet named it a problem
- Technology spend is rising and operational output is not
- The leadership team is performing, but not pulling in the same direction
- AI tools have been adopted but no one can articulate the return
- The previous CEO’s agenda is still running the business
- The CFO is concerned but not yet alarmed
THE SERVICE
The 90-Day CEO Reset
A structured 90-day engagement that gives a newly appointed CEO a clear picture of what they have inherited, what requires immediate attention, and how to set the business on a stable footing before the board expects results.
Days 1–30: Diagnosis
We conduct a rapid assessment of financial health, operational performance, technology spend, and leadership alignment. You receive a clear, unvarnished picture of where the business actually stands, not where it says it stands.
Days 31–60: Prioritisation
We identify the three to five decisions that will define your first year. We remove the noise. We build the sequencing so that the most important moves happen first, with the board prepared for each one.
Days 61–90: Execution Framework
You leave the engagement with a decision-making structure, a clear 12-month agenda, and a leadership team aligned around it. No consultancy to manage afterwards. No dependency created.
WHO THIS IS FOR
A specific engagement for a specific situation
This is not a general advisory service. It is designed for one scenario.
You have been appointed CEO of a mid-market firm, typically between $250M and $2B in revenue, in the UK or USA.
The business is not in distress but it is not performing at the level the board expects or the market allows. You are 0 to 6 months into the role.
You want an independent perspective from someone who has worked inside firms at this stage and has no interest in building a long-term retainer relationship.
You engage directly, with your CFO if appropriate. There is no internal routing through a CIO or COO.
ABOUT
John Corr
I have spent my career working with mid-market businesses at inflection points: firms that are either already in difficulty or showing the early signs of it. The work at AlixPartners in particular gave me a precise sense of what these firms look like 12 to 18 months before the problems become public.
I work with a small group of experienced practitioners — former Kearney consultants and operational CFOs and COOs — brought in where the engagement requires it. The model is deliberate: senior people only, no juniors, no bloated teams. You get the thinking and the doing, without the overhead. Then we leave.
I work with CEOs and CFOs directly. That is the only way this kind of engagement produces honest results.
PRIVATE BRIEFING
If you recognise your situation in this, the next step is a 30-minute conversation
No pitch deck. No sales process. A direct conversation about your first 90 days and whether this engagement is the right fit.
CEO and CFO only. No internal routing. Strictly confidential.