What the readout is
An owner who has never had three named buyers held against a number does not know the number. The owner has an opinion, an accountant’s opinion, or a single buyer’s opening position.
The readout is the firm’s answer to that. It is a bounded, thirty-day piece of work that ends with a written document the owner keeps. It is prepared inside Windsor Drake from the company’s own information and the firm’s transaction record. No buyer is contacted. No process is started. The owner decides what, if anything, happens next.
It exists because the alternative is worse. A founder who takes the first offer usually gives up the gap between a single-buyer price and a short competitive process. A founder who waits for the right moment usually has no way to tell when it has arrived. The readout gives the owner the number and the timing before either of those decisions has to be made.
Who it is for
Owners and majority shareholders of founder-led companies, typically with 11 to 200 employees, in Canada and the United States. In practice that is three situations.
- An owner who is not for sale and wants to know the number before a buyer, a broker, or an accountant sets it.
- An owner who has received an approach, formal or informal, and wants an independent read on what a competitive price would be before responding.
- An owner who is a year or two from a decision and wants to know what to change in the business, and by when, so that the number is higher when the time comes.
Windsor Drake represents founders only. The firm never acts for buyers, and the readout is never shared with one.
What you receive
A written readout, delivered to the owner on a call, covering three things.
- A price range. What a buyer would actually pay for the company today, built from current transactions in the sector and the company’s own numbers, with the reasoning stated so the owner can see what moves it.
- The real buyers. The three or four parties most likely to pay that range, named, with the reason each one would and the conditions under which it would not.
- A verdict. Sell now, sell later, or do not sell. If the answer is later, the readout says what has to change in the business and by when. If the answer is do not sell, it says why.
The number goes in writing before any engagement. That is the point of the product, and it is the reason the firm is willing to be measured against it.
How it runs
Thirty days from engagement to delivered readout. The owner’s time is kept to a few hours in total.
| Stage | What happens | What is needed from you |
|---|---|---|
| Before engagement | Twenty minutes with the firm’s Head of Desk, confidential and without fee, to establish whether a readout is worth running for the company this year. If it is not, he says so. | Twenty minutes |
| Scoping | A conversation with the Managing Director. Scope, timing and the fee are fixed. Engagement letter signed. | Forty-five minutes |
| Weeks one and two | Financial review, normalisation of earnings, and the buyer map: who has bought in the sector, at what price, and why. | Three years of financials and a short call on the business |
| Weeks three and four | Price range set and tested. Buyers ranked. Verdict written. Readout delivered and walked through with the owner. | Ninety minutes |
Who does the work
Every readout is led by Jeff Barrington, the firm’s founder and Managing Director, who is on every Windsor Drake mandate himself. The firm advises founder-led companies in fintech, software and services on sell-side transactions from its Toronto headquarters, and the buyer map in each readout is drawn from that work. See the firm.
What the readout is not
It is not a formal valuation report. It contains a price range, but it is not prepared for tax, litigation, financing, or shareholder purposes, and it should not be relied on for them.
It is not a sale process. No buyer is approached, no material is circulated, and nothing leaves the firm without the owner’s written instruction.
It is not a commitment. An owner who receives a readout is under no obligation to engage the firm, to sell, or to do anything at all with it.
It is not legal, tax, or investment advice.
Fees and how to start
Fees for the readout are available on request and are set by the Managing Director on the scoping call. The fee is fixed before any work begins. Where a readout leads to a Windsor Drake sell-side engagement, the firm’s published advisory fee model applies to that engagement.
The first step is twenty minutes with the firm’s Head of Desk. Request a confidential consultation.
Questions founders ask
What is the 30-Day Readout?
A thirty-day engagement in which Windsor Drake puts three things in writing for the owner of a founder-led company: a price range for the company today, the three or four buyers most likely to pay it, and a verdict on whether to sell now, sell later, or not sell. It is delivered before any sale process and carries no obligation to run one.
Do I have to be for sale to run one?
No. Most owners who run a readout are not for sale. The point is to know the number before a buyer, a broker, or an accountant sets it. If the verdict is to wait, the readout says what has to change and by when.
Is this a valuation report?
It contains a price range, but it is not an accounting valuation and it is not prepared for tax, litigation, or financing purposes. It is a transaction read: what a buyer would actually pay, who those buyers are, and whether the timing is right.
Will any buyer be contacted?
No. The readout is prepared inside the firm from the company’s own information and the firm’s transaction record. No buyer is contacted during the readout, and nothing leaves the firm without the owner’s written instruction.
What does the 30-Day Readout cost?
Fees are available on request and are set by the Managing Director on the scoping call. The fee is fixed before work begins. Where a readout leads to a Windsor Drake sell-side engagement, the firm’s published advisory fee model applies to that engagement.
Published October 2026 by Windsor Drake. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or investment advice, an offer, a solicitation, or a representation as to the value of any company or the outcome of any transaction.