01
Ellen Brandvold
Founding partner · cadence and leadership
Fourteen years at a Pittsburgh valve maker, the last five as COO. She has sat in the Tuesday meeting from the operator's side of the table, which is why she builds them short.
About the firm
Eight people. Every partner has run something.
Foundry Counsel was started in 2011 by a former COO and a former CFO who were tired of watching consultants hand owners binders. We still work from one office in the Strip District, and every partner worked inside industry before consulting.
Fifteen years, briefly
From two partners to a practice.
We have grown slowly on purpose. Every partner and consultant who joined had run a plant, a branch network, a finance team or a costing system first.
2011
Two operators, one desk
The founders leave industry and take their first client: a Butler County machine shop.
2014
The scorecard sticks
The weekly cadence that every client now runs is written down for the first time.
2017
The Strip District
A real office on Smallman Street, and the first client outside Pennsylvania.
2020
Margin work joins
A costing lead from a $300M food distributor joins and builds the method we use today.
2023
Exit readiness
After three clients sell, the succession practice gets its own partner.
2026
64 companies
Clients in 31 states. Still eight people, still one office.
How we behave
Seven things we hold to.
Written in 2014, revised twice. We read them aloud at the start of every engagement so the client can hold us to them too.
Numbers before opinions.
We don't recommend anything until we've seen the margin by customer. Neither should you.
Install it, then leave.
Success is the week your team runs the meeting without us. We plan for that week from day one.
The owner decides.
We'll be blunt about people and prices. The call is always yours, and we'll say so in writing.
Fixed fees, agreed up front.
No hourly meter, no scope creep invoices. If we underestimate, that's our problem.
On the floor, not in the boardroom.
Half our days on site are spent where the work happens: the dock, the line, the dispatch desk.
Boring is the goal.
Same meeting, same time, same twelve numbers. Exciting management is usually a symptom.
We say no.
About one in three intro calls ends with us saying we're not the right fit. We tell you who is.
The team
Who you'd work with.
Every engagement has a lead partner and one senior consultant. You'll meet both on the intro call, not after you sign.
02
Tomas Pikul
Founding partner · margin, pricing and exit
Former CFO of a regional building products distributor. He has watched the biggest account get priced on a handshake and then counted what it cost, which is where most of our margin work starts.
And the rest of the team
Renata Oakes
Partner, succession
Ran M&A integration for a mid-market industrial holding company. Joined in 2023.
Darnell Whitcomb
Partner, margin
Built costing systems for a $300M food distributor. Joined in 2020.
Priya Venkataram
Senior consultant
Former plant manager, contract packaging. Runs most first-90-day cadence installs.
Colin Marchetti
Senior consultant
Ten years in field service operations across four HVAC and plumbing brands.
Hana Lisowski
Analyst
Builds the margin maps and scorecards. Former FP&A analyst at a specialty steel company.
Gail Ferrante
Operations
Keeps the calendar, the travel and the client portal running. The first voice you'll hear.
Fit
Who we're for, and who we're not.
A good fit
- Owner-led, $5M to $75M revenue
- Makes, moves or services something physical
- Owner wants to grow, sell or step back in 1 to 5 years
- Willing to share real numbers in week one
Not a fit
- Venture-backed software or startups
- Turnarounds where cash runs out in 90 days
- Companies wanting a strategy deck, not changes
- Owners looking for a coach, not an operator
Meet two of us first.
The intro call is with the partner and consultant who would do the work. If it isn't a fit, you'll hear that on the call.
