From Jasper to Indiana to the Whole Ecosystem

Building operators, not advisors.

The story of how two former PE operators decided Indiana needed a different kind of firm. One that gets dirt under its fingernails.

Our Story

How Limestone Started

Built from 100+ QoE engagements

Jared grew up in Jasper, Indiana. Built a career in PE after Kelley School of Business and his CFA, doing Quality of Earnings work for businesses across the Midwest. Ryan came up the same way. Together, over a decade, they ran 100+ QoE engagements for PE buyers, search funds, and corporate acquirers.

They saw the same pattern over and over: businesses with real enterprise value but broken financial infrastructure. Books that didn't tell the story. Teams flying blind. Founders who were the bottleneck on every decision. Good operating fundamentals that just needed someone to install the rhythm and build the systems.

And they noticed something else: after a deal closed, PE sponsors brought in operators. Firms hired CFOs and management teams. But the early stage, the founders and smaller businesses about to scale, had no one embedded with them, running operations and building the financial story.

That gap was the opportunity. And Indiana was the market that needed it most.

The model we needed ourselves

In 2023, Jared and Ryan made the bet. Not to advise businesses from the outside. To embed as operating partners, inside the business, running the cadence, building the financial infrastructure, deploying AI to give operators real leverage.

They named it Limestone. A nod to Indiana's quarrying heritage in the south. A stone that's been used to build for centuries. Solid. Reliable. Local.

The mission was simple: become operators who get things done. On Main Street. In Indiana. For the long term. Not asset managers with a time horizon to liquidity. Not advisors who bill by the hour. Embedded partners with skin in the game.

From Day 1, Jared and Ryan built Limestone on the same systems they deploy for clients — AI-powered briefings, automated reporting, real-time dashboards, and a weekly operating cadence that keeps everything moving. They didn’t bolt AI on after the fact. They built the firm around it. Every tool and workflow they bring to a client’s business has been tested inside their own operation first.

Today, we've embedded with founders, search funds, PE firms, and family offices building Indiana's next great businesses.

“We’re going to make our name as operators who get things done. On Main Street. In Indiana. For the long term.”
Seven Operating Principles

From Quarry to Capstone

These principles guide every engagement, every decision, every operating assumption we make.

1
Embedded, not external
We sit inside. We run the meetings. We own the outcomes alongside you. Advice from afar doesn't move needles.
2
Operating first
Enterprise value is created through better operations. Finance and systems are the leverage. We lead with operations.
3
Rhythm above all
Weekly cadence. Monthly reviews. Quarterly planning. The beat is what compounds. We install the operating tempo.
4
No black boxes
Real-time visibility. Automated insights. If you can't see it, you can't manage it. We build the financial infrastructure to see everything.
5
Skin in the game
We take equity. We don't collect fees and disappear. We stay aligned for the long haul. We win when you win.
6
Long-term Indiana focused
We're not flipping investments. We're building Indiana businesses that matter. Local roots. Long view.
7
Execution over promises
We don't talk about value creation. We drive it. Results are what matter. Everything else is noise.
“
Investor-grade clarity.
Operator-level execution.
The Limestone Standard
How We Embed

Two arms. One mission.

O

Limestone Strategic Partners

Operating Partner, CFO, and AI systems embedded inside businesses growing from $1M to $50M. We drive cadence, build financial infrastructure, and deploy systems that give you real leverage.

For founders and growth-stage businesses about to scale, raise capital, or exit.

$

Limestone Equity

Permanent capital for $1M-$10M Indiana businesses where we've embedded as operating partners. We take meaningful equity stakes, bring operator discipline, and keep your name on the door.

For owner-operators who want to stay owner-operators, but with an embedded partner.