“Small businesses aren't just the backbone of the American economy — that's a slogan. They're the actual mechanism by which communities build wealth, families create stability, and local economies stay resilient. When a business closes because its owner couldn't find a good exit, that's not just a personal loss. It's a structural one. I built Forte because that loss is preventable.”
— John Wilkes, Founder
Why this, why now.
I've spent my career working across both sides of the business world — inside founder-led companies where decisions happen fast and the stakes are personal, and inside structured corporate environments where process and systems are everything. What I kept seeing, in both worlds, was the same gap.
Small business owners who had built something real — real revenue, real relationships, real community value — couldn't get a clean exit. And capable, ambitious people who wanted to own and operate a business couldn't navigate the process to buy one. The market had brokers and bankers, but it didn't have infrastructure. Nobody was standardizing the process. Nobody was serving both sides of the table at once.
That gap is what Forte is built to close.
This moment is different.
A trillion dollars in small business wealth is changing hands as a generation of owners approaches retirement — at the exact same moment a new generation of capable operators is looking for an alternative to the corporate path. Entrepreneurship through acquisition is real, it's growing, and it works. What it has lacked is a standardized, trustworthy process that protects both the person selling and the person buying.
Forte exists at that intersection. We call it SMB Transition Ops — the process, preparation, and community infrastructure for how Main Street businesses change hands. Not a fund. Not a brokerage. The operating layer the market has been missing.
What I bring to the table.
My background is in operations, systems, and execution — the unglamorous work of making businesses run better and making the numbers tell the real story. I've led teams, managed complex operational environments, and worked with both founder-led businesses and enterprise organizations.
That cross-section matters here. I understand how a retiring owner thinks about their business — the pride, the anxiety, the relationships they're trying to protect — because I've worked inside businesses like theirs. And I understand what a first-time acquirer needs to see before they sign — because I've built the kind of operational and financial clarity that makes or breaks a deal.
I'm not a broker. I'm not a banker. I'm an operator who decided the process needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Based in Seattle. Built for Main Street.
Forte is headquartered in Seattle — a city that has always been defined by people who built things that mattered, often outside the traditional playbook. That's the community we're proud to be part of, and the spirit we bring to every client engagement.
We work with SMB owners and operators across the Pacific Northwest and nationally — wherever there's a business worth protecting and a transition worth doing right.
If any of this resonates, I'd genuinely like to talk.
Whether you're thinking about selling, exploring an acquisition, or just want an outside perspective on your business — reach out. No sales process, no obligation. Just a conversation.
Get in touch →