Gannett.Partners Launches Founder & CEO Diligence Service
News related to:Gannett.Partners · 2 min read
Gannett.Partners, a Dallas-based leadership advisory firm, has launched a new service aimed at providing independent evidence on founders and CEOs. This service, known as Founder & CEO Diligence, brings deal-level rigor to leadership decisions, addressing a gap in high-stakes leadership evaluations.
According to the release, the service is designed to help boards, investors, and family offices make informed decisions about leaders. In a transaction, financial, market, and legal risks are independently tested. However, decisions about the leader still largely rely on reputation, references, and the judgment of people with a vested interest in the outcome. This can lead to extended hold periods, increased transition costs, and reduced returns.
The launch of Founder & CEO Diligence comes as owners of various kinds are revisiting leadership decisions more frequently. CEO turnover hit a record for the second consecutive year in 2025, according to Russell Reynolds Associates. Additionally, in AlixPartners’ 2026 survey of 427 private equity (PE) leaders and portfolio company executives, 65% of PE firms reported replacing a portfolio company CEO during their hold period.
Chris Gannett, founder and CEO of Gannett.Partners, emphasized the need for a more rigorous approach to leadership decisions.
Gannett.Partners has released a white paper titled "The Standard of Impression," which introduces its CEO lifecycle model. This model maps four key checkpoints when the job changes and owners are effectively making a fresh bet on the same person: a new bet or a new leader, a new team, a new plan, or a longer hold, and a new owner. For the middle of a hold, the firm also offers a Mid-hold Review, and a Business Health Check that reviews the company and its plan without judging the CEO.
Founder & CEO Diligence is designed to work alongside, not replace, the advisors already involved in leadership decisions. It complements executive search, leadership assessment, and background investigations, which surface legal and conduct issues but are not designed to determine fit for the job ahead. The firm’s independence rules are written into every engagement letter: it takes no equity, debt, or other economic interest in companies it reviews, accepts no placement fees, and does not evaluate a leader it is coaching or has coached in the past year. Its fee does not depend on what it finds.
Gannett, who was named to D CEO’s Dallas 500 for the second consecutive year and featured on the cover of its 2027 edition, has spent more than 20 years in senior operating and investing roles, making high-stakes leadership decisions. He was CMO of CKX, the public company behind American Idol, through its $509 million sale to Apollo Global Management, later led a $40 million business at MediaMath, and has invested in more than 20 startups. He also writes Leadership, Underwritten, a newsletter on leadership decisions in the news, whose Mattel issue was featured by LinkedIn News.
Gannett.Partners is an independent leadership advisory firm that helps investors and boards back the right leaders and helps those leaders grow. The firm provides Founder & CEO Diligence for private equity sponsors, family offices, and boards and, separately, coaches founders and CEOs. Its diligence and coaching are kept apart: the firm does not evaluate a leader it is coaching or has coached in the past year. Based in Dallas, it works with leaders globally.