A Founder & CEO on top, an M&A & integration team that makes deployment repeatable, one central back office that serves every division, and a licensed owner-operator over each trade. Adding a division doesn't add a back office — it plugs into the one we already run. Pay below is planning-anchor, to confirm with a CPA.
One HoldCo over five operating divisions — each its own trade, color, license, and Qualifying Party (director = QP = owner-operator). They light up in launch order:
Steve's salary steps up as he transitions out of McCully — tracking real income, not an abstract ramp. It's a senior operating expense (paid ahead of David's preferred return) with a floor at each tier, and it sits inside the ~12% margin (honest EBITDA). His real upside is the carry, not the salary.
Steve rebuilds his existing comp at Verified: the same $250k base and the same 5%-of-profit bonus he earns today at McCully. He's paying himself his market rate — not inflating salary on David's dime. The staged steps just track his real transition out of McCully, and it all sits inside the ~12% margin (honest EBITDA). The bonus is treated as normalized owner comp (added back at exit), so it doesn't reduce David's return.
Steve's 45% operator carry at exit — earned only after David is made whole. It's the upside he could never get at McCully, on top of comp that already matches it.