Operator-Grade Advisory · Greater Seattle Area
KSIG Advisors serves founders and PE-backed operators at the inflection points — the moments where the decision in front of you is bigger than the team around you.
Institutional-grade exit readiness. Founder-accessible pricing.
KSIG brings founder-owned businesses the full exit journey — financial infrastructure, operational readiness, transaction execution, and post-close wealth — without the retainer-based cost structure that locks most lower middle market owners out.
What We Do
One relationship. A curated 360° Exit Ecosystem™. Every inflection point from scale to exit.
Operator-grade executive leadership without the full-time overhead. Financial systems, capital access, team development, and strategic direction for companies that need the real thing.
For founders whose exit is 6–24 months out. The companies that walk away with premium multiples built their readiness intentionally — not in the weeks before going to market. Financial and operational cleanup run simultaneously through aligned partner tracks.
When it's time to transact, KSIG connects founders to an aligned network of M&A advisory, operational leadership, and pre-exit liquidity partners.
How It Works
Five stages. One coordinated ecosystem. KSIG sits at the center — financial and operational tracks running in parallel from day one through close and beyond.
The Network
"KSIG doesn't try to do everything. We do what we're exceptional at — and we've built the network for the rest."
When you engage KSIG, you're not getting one person. You're getting a curated network of founder-operators, C-level executives, and specialty professionals — organized around the moments that define whether a company survives, scales, or exits successfully.
Every member of the KSIG network has built, sold, or led companies. We don't work with advisors who have only advised.
Global M&A deal origination and transaction execution. 85+ active buy-side partners. $1M–$10M EBITDA focus. European banking backstop for qualifying deals.
Family office capital partner. Unlocks equity for qualifying founders before transaction close — no immediate tax consequences. Targeting $150M+ deployed in 2026.
500+ member fractional CFO network across WA, OR, CO, and TX — backed by institutional capital. Expanded delivery capacity when engagement scope demands it. KSIG manages the client relationship.
Strategic operational advisory for succession and exit. Runs in parallel with KSIG's financial track — both moving simultaneously through the readiness window.
Virtual staffing that reduces founder/operator dependency — a primary valuation discount in lower middle market transactions — while lowering overhead during the pre-exit build phase.
Post-exit wealth at scale. WA State-level coverage — financial planning, estate strategy, business insurance, and long-term wealth management for founders and executives.
Nicholas Rogers, Founder · Rogers Financial Group. Post-close personal financial planning, wealth management, estate strategy, and trust structuring for founders and executives. Member Agent of The Nautilus Group® — New York Life's elite advanced planning division. Forbes Washington State Top Financial Professional 2022. Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT) member. Investment advisory through Eagle Strategies LLC, a New York Life company.
Capital & Transactions
Legal & Commercial
Technology & AI
Finance & Accounting
Operations & People
Industry Verticals
The Operator
Karl Ohlemann has spent 25+ years as a founder-operator — building, scaling, and turning around companies across construction, broadband infrastructure, and AEC industries. He has been in the room for every kind of inflection point a company faces.
He has evaluated and strategically declined PE acquisition offers from the ownership seat, raised growth capital under real pressure, and built the financial infrastructure that let companies grow beyond what their founders imagined.
"I'm a strategist and problem solver at my core. Complex situations with high stakes and no clear playbook — that's where I do my best work."
— Karl Ohlemann, Founder & Managing PartnerCredentials
The Name
"Built on something that lasts."
KSIG carries a deliberate legacy. Karl Siegmar Ohlemann and his father Siegmar Karl Ohlemann — two names, mirrored across a generation. His father escaped East Germany at 14, became the fastest 800m runner in North America, won Silver at the Pan American Games, and carried Canada's closing ceremony flag at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He trained under Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon alongside a young Phil Knight, and remained a lifelong friend of both men. He is named in Bowerman and the Men of Oregon — the book that documents the founding of Nike.
Two generations. One belief — the people who build lasting things do it through will, over time, without a safety net.
Engagements Are Selective
KSIG Advisors works with a small number of founders and PE-backed operators at a time. If your situation calls for an operator-grade partner — and the network behind them — reach out directly.