Free · No login · Nobody calls you · From Cordis, an M&A firm
FoundryFrom Cordis
Tier One · Free

The publication and the diagnostic.

The thinking is the brand. The publication is free and always will be. The diagnostic is a buyer-lens self-assessment, same risk axes a real diligence team would score you on, finished in twelve minutes, no email required.

Quarterly issue · Monthly piece · Email
A quarterly themed issue plus one substantial piece a month. Buyer Lens, The Operator, and Field Notes columns. Read in browser, in email, or in print on request.
Free · always
Subscribe
Diagnostic · 12 minutes · No email gate
A buyer-lens self-assessment scoring your business across customer concentration, key-person dependency, documentation, recurring mix, and clear decision rights. Personal to you. Honest with you.
Free · always
Take the scorecard
Tier Two · For Sale

Reports and monographs.

Long-form deep work that lives outside the regular publication. Sold individually, in PDF and (where it earns it) in print. The kind of writing you put on a shelf.

Monograph · 70 pages · PDF + Print
The reference text on how buyers really price lower-middle-market businesses, what they mark down for, and the work that closes the gap before you get in the room. Pulled together from the most-cited research in the field, Cordis Institute's work on 200+ engagements, the academic research on private-company pricing and discount stacks, first-hand accounts from buyers and bankers, and the diligence checklists that hold up in a real deal.
$97
Buy
Sector Report · 38 pages · PDF
A buyer-side look at what pushes multiples down and what earns a higher price in industrial services lower-middle-market deals, 2024 to 2026. Sector-specific. For founders who want the comp data without a long analyst report. The live quarterly board for your trade and region is Sector Pulse at Off-Market Method.
$197
Buy
The Gap Table Kit Off-Market Method tool
Self-run kit · Off-Market Method
Rather do the prep work yourself, step by step? The Gap Table Kit is Off-Market Method's self-run tool for building your own gap table. It is a tool, not reading, so it lives at Off-Market Method.
At Off-Market Method
See the Kit ↗
Tier Three · By Application

Subscriptions, memberships, and the diagnostic engagement.

Membership tiers and engagements that require a fit conversation before access. We open these on a schedule and review applications quarterly. The Cordis MRI is the one you can engage at any time.

Diagnostic engagement · 4 weeks
The diagnostic Cordis uses with its own clients, run on your business. Five risk axes scored, then scored again against your documents. You get back a written buyer's-eye read: how the discount stack is likely to hit, and the work that closes each discount. The next step when you are ready to act on what you have learned.
By engagement
Begin intake
Monthly subscription · By application
A monthly briefing on how buyers think, plus comp data and sector reads, written for active sellers 12 to 24 months from a sale. Limited to a few hundred members. Applications open each quarter. Next opening, October 2026.
$97 · monthly
Express interest
Annual · In person
A yearly gathering of Foundry readers, Cordis clients, and a small number of invited operators. Two days, one venue, no panels. Next Summit, 2027.
By invitation
Express interest
Advisory engagement · By referral
M&A advisory for businesses worth $5M or more in enterprise value, with room to flex for the right fit. Sister firm to Cordis Private Client. The MRI is the usual way in.
By referral
Learn more
Advisory engagement · By referral
Succession and transition advisory for $5M+ EBITDA businesses. Sister firm to Cordis Group. The MRI is the usual way in.
By referral
Learn more

What we sell

Reading, tools, and access to the same diligence thinking we apply inside Cordis engagements. Nothing more.

What we do not

Courses. Memberships you cannot leave. Coaching certifications. Anything that requires you to think of yourself as someone in need of fixing.

Why the application

Some products work best in small groups of right-fit founders. The application is not gatekeeping. It is sequencing, for both sides.