About

    Trajectory

    We help founders navigate every stage of their journey—from ideation to successful exit—with proven frameworks, expert guidance, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

    Mission

    Empowering Founders at Every Stage

    Trajectory was founded on a simple belief: every founder deserves access to the knowledge, networks, and resources that make the difference between success and failure.

    We've distilled decades of experience from successful exits, failed ventures, and everything in between into actionable frameworks that help founders make better decisions faster.

    1,000+
    Founders Helped
    20+
    Years Experience

    Values

    What Drives Us

    Founder First

    Every decision we make starts with one question: how does this help founders succeed?

    Radical Transparency

    We share the real stories—the failures, the pivots, and the hard-won lessons.

    Community Over Competition

    We believe in lifting each other up. Your success is our success.

    Team

    Meet the Team

    Dave Parker

    Dave Parker

    Founder & Chair

    Serial entrepreneur with multiple exits. Author of 'Trajectory: Startup'. Dave brings decades of experience helping founders navigate every stage of their journey—from ideation to successful exit.

    Chris Dishman

    Chris Dishman

    Partner

    Seasoned entrepreneur and financial executive who co-founded Denali Financial Consulting. Specializes in interim CFO services and building financial infrastructure for high-growth startups.

    Kevin Bonfield

    Kevin Bonfield

    Partner

    Strategic advisor and operator with deep expertise in business development, partnerships, and go-to-market strategy. Kevin helps founders accelerate growth and build the relationships that drive successful outcomes.

    How We're Built

    One Guide. A full bench.

    Every Trajectory engagement is led by a Guide — an Exited Founder who's sold their own company. Behind them, three fractional practices deliver the specialist work, each aligned to a layer of your Quality of Exit™.

    Fractional Services

    Three practices, each owning the layer a buyer will diligence.

    Vishal Tayal

    Vishal Tayal

    Fractional CFO (fCFO)

    Quality of Earnings

    Owns the numbers a buyer trusts — normalized financials and a defensible adjusted-EBITDA bridge, working capital and cash, and the financial model behind your Growth Plan.

    Vishal is a CFO, Head of Finance, and embedded operator focused on SaaS, AI, and e-commerce. Over the last two decades he has worked across founder-led businesses, helping companies strengthen the operating mechanics behind revenue, profitability, and cash flow — from pricing and subscription economics to sales incentives, forecasting, working-capital management, and integrating AI into operating decisions.

    LinkedIn
    Loren Anderson

    Loren Anderson

    Fractional CTO (fCTO)

    Product & Technical Readiness

    Owns the technology a buyer diligences — architecture and scalability, security, code quality and tech debt, the IP in your product, and the roadmap.

    Loren is a Western Washington University graduate with a BA in Business and Commerce. He founded Innovise Technology and has worked as an architect, staff-level engineer, integration lead, and technical mentor across SaaS, cloud infrastructure, data, identity, AI, and platform modernization work. He was a Software Engineer at ATG Stores, acquired by Lowe's in 2015.

    LinkedIn
    Peter Denton

    Peter Denton

    Fractional CGO (fCGO)

    Growth & AI Readiness

    Owns the forward story — go-to-market, the growth levers, and AI readiness: where AI builds a moat versus where it's a threat.

    Peter is an extremely passionate growth manager, specializing in systematic growth through engineered marketing programs. He has a proven track record for creating scalable growth programs. He was Head of Growth for XMTP, focusing on storytelling and business development for the messaging protocol. At Pioneer Square Labs, he oversaw market validation and growth strategies for companies in the PSL portfolio. Prior to that, he was a Product Manager/Growth Manager at Steller (Mombo Labs, Inc) with over 10 years of experience in all aspects of product management, with strong qualifications in UX, focusing on user growth and acquisition scenarios.

    LinkedIn

    FAQ · Clarity on the Process

    Common questions

    Last updated:

    No. Trajectory is not an investment bank and charges no banking fee. We provide coaching and preparation, not a transaction.

    No. We don't replace investment bankers; we prepare founders so bankers succeed. Our Reverse-Engineered Readiness methodology identifies risks 18 to 24 months before an LOI, so when you're truly prepared, your banker can focus on getting you the best deal.

    Earlier than most founders think. Our exit program runs 9 to 24 months, and our fractional CFO, CTO and Chief Growth Officer practices put seasoned operators in the seats buyers scrutinize 18 to 24 months before an LOI, so gaps are fixed before they cost you at the table.

    An assessment your Guide runs of the 9 factors buyers actually score. It shows you the gaps in your business while you can still fix them.

    Coaching from an operator who has already sold a company, so the advice comes from having done it. Your Guide is an Exited Founder who gets you ready, builds the plan and puts you across the table with your number and your buyers already in hand.

    Exited Founders: operators who have already sold a company. A Guide gets you ready, builds the plan to your number, and helps you know your buyers before you ever engage a banker.

    A two-day, in-person, cohort-based session in Seattle during regular business hours, designed to accelerate your exit readiness. The next one is in Winter 2027, dates to be announced, at $5,000 per company with a co-founder or CFO second seat for $3,000.

    A give-to-get model for M&A data, like Payscale for M&A: contribute anonymized transaction data and unlock access to practical valuations and private equity multiples.

    Have a specific question about your company or timeline?

    Talk with a Guide