Direct answers, no marketing.

Founder of Evolve to Grow. Australian business coach working globally. Built and sold a cycling apparel business after rebuilding it from $200K in debt. Coaching B2B service-business owners since 2017. Author of Altitude (2026).

A nickname that stuck. Sherpas guide climbers up the mountain — they don't carry them. Tristan's role with clients is the same: he's been to the top, he knows the terrain, but the climb is yours.

Tristan is based in Australia. All coaching is delivered globally over Google Meet. Active clients are in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Perth and New Zealand.

Yes. Before coaching, Tristan ran Seight — a specialist cycling apparel company. It was a B2C product business, not a service business, which taught him exactly what not to do and why the BEF's Foundation-first principle matters. He graduated from Swinburne with a Product Design Engineering degree (mechanical engineering and industrial design) and spent years in the technical side of manufacturing before switching to business strategy.

Tristan works with a full roster of active clients simultaneously across different industries. Patterns that look unique to your business are often industry-wide or stage-specific. When he says "I've seen this in eight other agencies," that's pattern recognition from 9 years of live data — not theory.

Nine years. Evolve to Grow was founded in 2017. His longest current client relationship is eight years. Several clients have been with him for four or more years.

Most coaches sell a single framework to everyone. I don't. The BEF is the map — the prescription is built to your business, your stage, and what's breaking right now. Cross-portfolio insight matters: I'll tell you what comparable businesses did, what worked, what didn't, why.

Fortnightly tier: two 60-min sessions per month, structured pre-briefs, Slack/voice memo access between. Quarterly review locks the next 90-day plan. Weekly tier: weekly 60-min sessions plus direct mobile access for live-fire decisions.

Free, on Google Meet. The qualifying step in the coaching funnel — Tristan maps your business to the BEF, names your #1 problem, and confirms fit on both sides. If there's a fit he sends the coaching agreement. No sales close, no urgency tactics. If we're not a fit I'll tell you on the call and point you somewhere better.

One hour on Google Meet. You send a short written brief before — what moved, what didn't, what the decision is this week. We work through the highest-leverage problem on the table. Between sessions: short voice memos or messages for time-sensitive questions.

Longest active is 8 years. Several at 4+ years. Minimum commitment 6 months for 1:1 coaching because anything less is theatre.

No. Coaching that doesn't stack doesn't work. The $2,100 Business Read is the closest thing — a standalone paid audit, no coaching commitment attached.

Yes, if they're a decision-maker in the business. The best sessions happen when the people who own the decisions are in the room. If you're a solo founder, that's also fine.

There are commitments — actions you agree to take before the next session. The session debrief is the accountability mechanism. Most clients find the discipline of having to report on what happened more useful than any specific task list.

A consultant does the analysis and hands you a report. A coach works alongside you through the execution. The BEF means every session connects to a framework your whole business understands — not a one-off recommendation that sits in a folder.

An accountant works backward — they tell you what happened. Tristan works forward — what decisions to make next and why. An adviser manages specific financial instruments. This is business strategy applied to operations, team, leadership, and growth.

Five layers — Foundation, Supporting Systems, Success Triad, Inner Core, Core Fulfilment — built foundation-up. Plus five stages of business: Existence, Survival, Success, Take-Off, Resource Maturity. Together they locate your business and prescribe the next move.

L1 Foundation: cash, legal, ops, owner energy — the layer everything stands on. L2 Supporting Systems: people, processes, technology — stops the founder being the bottleneck. L3 Success Triad: strategy, marketing, sales, fulfilment — where revenue compounds. L4 Inner Core: vision, values, identity, leadership. L5 Core Fulfilment: the apex — business serves your life.

Existence: testing if the model is repeatable. Survival: revenue is predictable, first team hires made. Success: the team has real autonomy, but the founder is still the bottleneck — most $2M–$5M businesses are here. Take-Off: leadership layer operates independently. Resource Maturity: market-leading indicators, exit or legacy planning.

Nine years of pattern-matching across hundreds of service-business owners. Every layer earns its place. The BEF is the result of working real businesses through real cycles, not theory.

It means you fix L1 (cash, legal, ops, owner energy) before investing in L2 or L3. Most founders want to scale marketing or hire management — but if the financial foundation is broken, scaling just accelerates the problem. Foundation first is a diagnostic principle, not a sequence of tasks.

Yes. The 125-question BEF self-assessment is in the book and free for newsletter subscribers. It gives a directional read. The free Bearings Call gives a sharper one. The paid $2,100 Business Read — with your real data reviewed beforehand — gives the precise one.

Take the 5-minute BEF Stage Quiz — five questions, instant result, links to the full stage guide. Or do The Business Read for a precise, data-backed stage diagnosis based on your actual financials.

Coaching (three tiers, all entered through the free apply funnel): Fortnightly — from $2,000/mo + GST, 6-month minimum. Weekly — from $3,000/mo + GST, 6-month minimum. Profit Share — lower monthly base + a share of new profit, by application only.

Separate from coaching: the $2,100 Business Read — a standalone paid product, no coaching commitment attached. You share your finances and answer ~100 questions; AI maps your BEF stage and priorities; Tristan walks through the findings in a 60-minute session; you get a prioritised 90-day plan in writing.

Six months. Anything shorter is theatre — the work is real and it takes time. After six months it converts to month-to-month on 30 days notice. No clawback, no exit fees.

Monthly, in advance. Direct debit or bank transfer. First payment due at the start of month one. No annual payment required, no discounts for paying upfront — the monthly model keeps both parties accountable.

I can't guarantee what you'll execute on. What I do guarantee: month-to-month after the first 6 months. If the work isn't moving the needle, you can leave with a month's notice. No exit fees.

You can cancel on 30 days notice after the initial six-month period. Pausing isn't a standard option — if the business can't sustain the work, that's usually the conversation we need to have in a session, not a reason to stop.

Yes. Tax-deductible business expense in most cases (talk to your accountant). Invoicing through ABN, GST inclusive on application.

Tristan keeps a deliberately capped 1:1 roster. When a spot opens, new clients are onboarded. When full, you're waitlisted. Apply and you'll know your position within 48 hours.

B2B service business owners doing $500K+ in annual revenue. Agencies, trades, builders, manufacturers, civil contractors, commercial services. Not retail. Not product. Not start-ups. If your revenue is below $500K, The Business Read is a better starting point.

The majority of clients run agencies, specialist trades, construction and civil companies, manufacturing operations, and commercial services businesses. The Business Evolution Framework applies across all of them — the patterns repeat even when the work looks different.

I'll tell you on The Bearings Call. Before $500K the work is product-market fit and proof-of-revenue, not the BEF. I'll point you to a better-fit coach or program. I don't take clients I can't help.

Sometimes. The BEF maps cleanly to product businesses but my pattern library is service-led. If you're a service-product hybrid I'm probably a fit; pure-play SaaS or e-commerce, less so.

Owners looking for a hype-merchant. Owners who won't take ownership of outcomes. Owners under $500K. Owners who can't commit 6 months. If three or more describe you, don't apply.

Yes. All sessions are over Google Meet — location is never the barrier. Current clients across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the US. The BEF applies regardless of geography.

2026. Pre-orders open now. Hardcover, audio, and digital launching together.

B2B service-business owners doing $1M–$10M who want their business to serve their life. Same audience as the coaching, just at scale. Useful for any owner-led service business.

The book is the map. Coaching is the prescription. Plenty of owners run with just the book and do well. Coaching exists for the ones who want pattern-matched guidance from someone who's seen the next two moves before.