Eight years,
one model.
ACME was founded in 2018 as a one-person practice. It has stayed small on purpose — a partnership of senior practitioners, never a pyramid. The model is the same one we started with; the team has just grown around it.
How we got here.
The first engagement.
Eleanor Hayes leaves a mid-tier consulting firm to start ACME as a solo fractional-CFO practice. The first client is a 14-person Series A SaaS company that needed a real financial model before its next raise. That engagement is still active in some form today.
The first partner.
Marcus Chen joins as a partner, bringing a deep M&A and transaction advisory practice. The firm grows to four practitioners and formalizes the partnership model that defines ACME today: senior people only, fixed scope, fixed fee.
Fully virtual, on purpose.
Before the rest of the industry made the switch, ACME formalizes its fully-virtual operating model. Shared Notion workspaces, async-first communication, quarterly on-site sessions only when the work demands it. The model survives 2020 without disruption.
The tax practice is added.
Daniel Okafor joins to build the firm's tax strategy and compliance practice. For the first time, ACME offers a fully-integrated finance + tax offering, delivered by a single team rather than a collection of specialists.
Crossing $250M in transaction value.
The M&A advisory practice crosses a cumulative $250M in transaction value supported. The firm also publishes its first public case study (Lattice Health), setting a new standard for how ACME talks about its work.
The 100-engagement mark.
ACME crosses 100 cumulative engagements. The team grows to nine practitioners. The firm formalizes its advisory board and writes its first internal handbook for how senior practitioners should work together on shared clients.
The $1B mark.
Cumulative transactions and financings supported cross $1B. The team grows to 12 practitioners. Forge Capital and Northwind Logistics engagements become the public reference work for the firm's SOX readiness and operational finance practices.
Today.
ACME serves 40+ active clients across SaaS, services, industrial, and healthtech. The model is unchanged: senior practitioners, fixed scope, work that outlives the engagement. The team is selective about growth and turns down more work than it takes.
What's next.
Two new partners are expected to join in 2026, expanding the firm's operational finance and international tax practices. The model is still the same one we started with in 2018. We are not interested in becoming the largest firm in our category — only the most senior one.