Two decisions start the clock: David's ~$10M capital commitment and the deal structure (a 55/45 David/Steve split after capital returns and a 10% preferred return), and locking Adrian as Qualifying Party. The firm is one self-performing builder with five licensed divisions — Construction (KB-1), Electric, Plumbing, HVAC and Civil (A) — brought online in a gated order: Construction & Electric in Year 1, Plumbing in Year 2, HVAC in Year 3, Civil in ~Year 4. With the two decisions in hand, this isn't a standstill — it's a running start. Verified Electric is in-market within a quarter, selling and collecting deposits, with the Construction license live, the Civil license reinstated, and the operating stack running. Here is the sequence, week by week, from handshake to first installs to the first acquisition.
The two decisions that start the clock
Everything below is gated on these two commitments. Nothing else waits on anything we don't already control.
Decision 1 — David
~$10M capital commitment + 55/45 deal structure signed
Decision 2 — Team
Adrian locked as Qualifying Party
The action plan — handshake to first acquisition
Week 1–2
Paper it & form up
- Engage counsel & CPA. David's Besins Group attorney and CPA handle entity formation and tax structuring; Steve retains independent counsel for the partnership terms — clean, arms-length papering on both sides.
- Form the entities. Stand up The Verified Companies, LLC (HoldCo) and Verified Electric, LLC (OpCo) under it.
- Contribute Icarus in. Roll the Icarus construction asset and its licenses into the structure as Steve's contribution.
- Begin license reinstatement. Start reinstating Icarus's two licenses (~$2,260) — Construction (KB-1 GC) and Civil (A engineering), both held by Steve as QP. Construction goes live in Year 1 alongside the Electric pilot; the Civil license is reinstated now and its division is onboarded in ~Year 4. The long-pole item, kicked off on day one.
Weeks 2–4
Lock the license & stand up ops
- Lock Adrian as Qualifying Party. Map his exam, experience, and bonding timeline so the electrical license path is scheduled, not hypothetical.
- Stand up the operating stack. JobTread for client / project management / estimating; QuickBooks Online with Sarah's Ops Desk on the books; Google Workspace + business phone.
- Brand & web live. Brand identity finalized and a one-page landing site published.
- First vehicle + crew. A wrapped used gas cargo van (Ford Transit or Ram ProMaster) is the first company vehicle; the next work van and initial crew follow. Crew hired W-2 on company-owned, company-insured trucks — full liability insurance, workers' comp and a ~half-paid HSA health plan in force day one.
- Rent the office & sign the financing partner. Lease a small flex unit (office + warehouse + yard) near the Scottsdale Airpark, market-rate and sign an outside customer-financing partner so homeowners can finance panel upgrades now and sewer/hydrojetting draws later.
Month 1–2
Go to market & fund the pilot
- Launch the panel-upgrade offer. Google Local Services Ads, Google Business Profile prep, and door-hangers to the target ZIPs — a focused demand engine, not a scattershot launch.
- Start selling, scheduling, and collecting deposits. Deposit-funded cashflow — the pilot begins funding itself as jobs are booked.
- Build the acquisition target list. Assemble it from ROC records + ratings — the pipeline of shops to roll up.
Month ~4
First installs & the inflectionInflection
- First panels install. Work goes in the ground once APS / SRP clears the utility interconnect.
- Steve full-time on Verified. Steve moves onto Verified full-time as the pilot proves out.
- Warm the first target. Begin warming the first acquisition target from the built list.
Months 3–9
Prove & pipeline
- Validate unit economics. Confirm the panel-upgrade model holds margin at volume before scaling spend.
- Open diligence. Move on the first 1–2 shops from the target list.
- Develop a second QP. Build license depth beyond Adrian so growth isn't single-threaded.
- Line up the next gated division. Plumbing (licensed lead TBD) for the Year-2 onboard; HVAC (QP TBD) follows in Year 3 and Civil in ~Year 4 — each released only on its green-light.
- Run the Verified Training Exam ladder. Apprentices train up on a crew, pass the Verified exam, earn "Verified," and get their own company truck — then train the next helper. The self-replicating engine that staffs every division.
- Ready the first acquisition tranche. Line up the first roll-up so capital deploys into a proven, in-market platform.
Net: momentum from the first signature
From handshake, the licenses are reinstating, the entities are formed, Adrian's QP path is scheduled, and the ops stack is live inside a month. Verified Electric is selling and collecting deposits within the quarter, installing by roughly month four, and warming its first acquisition while the pilot's unit economics are still being validated. David's commitment doesn't buy a plan on paper — it starts a business that is already moving.