An operator-led investment firm

A good home for the business you built.

Sisu Partners acquires and grows a small family of exceptional businesses. We're operators, not passive investors — we step in, roll up our sleeves, and help good companies become great while protecting what made them worth building in the first place.

Start a conversation How we work
Acquire. Businesses we believe in. Operate. Shoulder to shoulder with your team. Grow. Patiently, for the long term.
sisu
/ˈsi.su/  ·  Finnish, noun
No clean English translation
Grit. The quiet, stubborn resolve to keep going long after it would be reasonable to stop.

Why Sisu

We named the firm after a word that describes the people we back.

Sisu is the grit it takes to build something real and refuse to give up on it. We see it in the founders and operators we partner with — and it's what we ask of ourselves as we build this firm. The highland cow is our reminder: hardy, patient, and entirely unbothered by bad weather.

How we got here

Operators who'd rather build than spectate.

The three of us met in business school, drawn together by the same itch: to stop advising from the sidelines and build something of our own. Sisu is how we're doing it — by backing businesses we genuinely believe in and working alongside the people who run them.

We're entrepreneurs at heart, which is exactly why we love working with owners who are too. The best partnerships we've had start with people who care about their company as much as we'll come to. If that's you, we should talk.

For business owners

Thinking about what's next for your business?

Selling the business you've spent years building is a big decision — we get that. We're not here to strip it for parts or flip it in three years. We buy to hold, we keep the team, and we protect what makes the place special. Here's the kind of company we tend to fall for:

01

Dependable revenue — the kind that comes back year after year, from customers who stick around.

02

Something customers rely on — a product or service that's genuinely hard to live without.

03

Loyal, spread-out customers — a healthy book where no single account leaving would sting.

04

Healthy economics — solid margins, and a business that doesn't burn cash just to grow.

05

Room to run — a market with real tailwinds and reasons it's hard for others to copy.

06

The right size — established and profitable, and ready for its next chapter rather than its first.

Our approach

What "operator-led" actually means.

Most firms send a board deck. We show up. Once we partner with a company, we work shoulder to shoulder with the team on the things that actually move a business forward.

Sales & BD

Build a pipeline that compounds

Repeatable ways to find, win, and keep the right customers — so growth doesn't depend on heroics.

Technology

Take work off people's plates

The right tools, sensibly applied — including practical AI adoption — so the team spends its time on what actually matters.

Growth through Acquisition

Grow by acquiring, not just competing

Acquisitions are our day job. We help good companies use M&A to add capabilities, reach new markets, and accelerate — without the usual missteps.

Data

Decide with evidence

Clear numbers and KPIs, so calls are grounded in what's true, not what's loudest.

Marketing

Actually reach your customers

Modern, measurable demand generation that fits how people really buy today.

Finance & People

Clean books, right seats

Financial discipline and an org built so the best people can do their best work.

And we're patient. Our capital isn't on a five-year clock — so we can make the right call instead of the fast one.

Where we focus

Good businesses, strong tailwinds.

We tend to find ourselves in and around a handful of industries — places where dependable companies meet real momentum.

Healthcare Tech-Enabled Services Safety & Life Safety Education & Training Governance, Risk & Compliance Industrial Services

Outside these and think we'd click? Reach out anyway — the fit matters more than the category.

Our portfolio

A small portfolio, run hands-on.

The operator model only works if we're not spread thin — so we hold a deliberately small number of companies and stay close to each one.

Our first partnership
Life safety & emergency preparedness

Heart To Beat keeps people safe when seconds count. The company manages automated external defibrillator (AED) programs end to end, trains teams in CPR and first aid, and keeps organizations compliant and audit-ready — often across many sites at once.

It's exactly the kind of business we love: essential, dependable, and built on long-term relationships. It's also where our operator approach shows up every day, not just in a quarterly review.

Visit Heart To Beat →

The partners

Who you'll be working with.

Three operators with backgrounds across operations, sales, consulting, and private equity — and a shared habit of getting into the details.

Michael Britton

Michael Britton

Partner

Mike was most recently a Vice President at Inverness Graham, a healthcare- and technology-focused private equity firm, where he led the Value Creation team — driving M&A, strategy, and operational improvement across the portfolio. Before that, he was a manager in Deloitte & Touche's M&A transaction services practice, leading buy-side and sell-side diligence for private equity and strategic buyers in healthcare and technology. He's the one mapping how a good business becomes a great one.

Education MBA, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania · B.S., Business Administration, Fordham University

John Ryan

John Ryan

Partner

John is a partner at R Capital, a family investment firm focused on real estate development and value-add opportunities across the Mid-Atlantic, where he also supports operations across a portfolio of small businesses. Earlier, he was a life-sciences consultant at ZS and The Dedham Group, working on commercial analytics, sales and marketing strategy, and organizational design. He's happiest turning messy data into clear decisions.

Education MBA, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania · B.S., Biology, Brown University

Dave Stefanski

Dave Stefanski

Partner

Dave was most recently Vice President of Vistia Health and Specialty Services at Independence Blue Cross, overseeing a large portfolio across care management, health advocacy, stop loss, and supplemental products. While there, he founded and launched Vistia Health, a healthcare navigation and advocacy startup serving self-funded organizations, leading its go-to-market, product, and organizational design. Dave has run the operator's playbook we now bring to our partners.

Education MBA, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania · B.A., Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

Get in touch

Let's talk.

Whether you're an owner weighing your options, an advisor with a business in mind, or someone who just wants to compare notes — we'd love to hear from you. No pitch, no pressure.

Email info@sisu-partners.com Office Wayne, Pennsylvania LinkedIn Sisu Partners