Taylor Miller
Founder & Operator, Dovetail Growth Partners
I started Dovetail because I want to own and run one good business for a long time. Not advise on businesses, not manage a portfolio of them. One company, run well, with the people who built it.
I spent more than seven years in management consulting, specializing in private equity due diligence, merger integration, value-creation planning and implementation, revenue growth, and cost reduction. What I saw again and again is that the best small and mid-sized businesses aren't badly run. They're under-resourced for the next chapter. They have loyal customers, steady revenue, and a founder who has given decades to something worth keeping. What they need is a capable successor with capital, a plan, and real commitment.
Before starting Dovetail, I deliberately went to work inside operating companies, because advising on a plan and living with one are different things. I'd rather have learned that lesson before I'm responsible for someone's life's work than after.
Experience.
In plain terms: what I've done, and why it matters to the business I'll run next.
Bain & Company
Management consultant, rising to Manager
I helped professional investors decide whether to buy companies, and helped the companies they owned grow. That meant getting to the bottom of how a business really makes money: talking to its customers, understanding its competitors, and testing whether the numbers hold up. Later, it meant working with management teams on the practical side: pricing, sales, costs, and combining two companies into one after a merger.
Why it matters: I've looked closely at a lot of businesses, in software, services, healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing. I know what a durable one looks like, and I know where the surprises usually hide.
Chief of Staff, consumer products manufacturer
Right hand to the CEO and COO of a private-equity-backed company
I moved from advising leaders to sitting beside them, during a period when the company was changing senior leadership. I dug into inventory, found a large amount of stock that shouldn't have been there, and built the plan to fix it. I led cost and freight projects, helped the executive team communicate with the board and investors, and built the tools that let a small management team coordinate across the business.
Why it matters: This was my first sustained time inside the daily decisions that keep a company running. It confirmed how much skill it takes, and that it's the work I want to do.
Strategy and transformation, enterprise software
Working directly with the technology and strategy leaders of a large legal software company
The company had more good ideas than it could build. I helped its leaders put in place a clear, shared way of deciding which products to build, in what order, and with what resources, and then helped bring one of those products to market.
Why it matters: Getting people who don't report to you to agree on priorities, and then stick to them, is most of the job of running a company. I've done it in a complex environment.
Ivey Business School
Honours Business Administration
Where my interest in investing started, through the Western Investment Club (WIC) and a Buffett / Munger value-investing mandate. That experience left me with a conviction I haven't shaken: the most interesting value creation happens where capital meets operations.
How I make decisions.
Act when the path is clear
Make decisions and move resources quickly once the answer is obvious. Waiting for everyone to agree is often more expensive than being wrong and correcting.
Know the numbers, hold the ego
Understand the inputs better than anyone. Use data to build agreement from the ground up, and give the right people the right resources at the right time.
Get the right people in the room
The quality of a decision depends on who's involved, and a small team of the right people beats a big one. Ask hard questions early. Form a view, then hold it loosely.
Ask for help
I know the edge of what I know. I build around it deliberately, with advisors, investors, and operators who have done this before.
Outside of work.
I grew up around workshops, back-country canoe routes, and kitchens that took their time. I'm a hobby carpenter and guitar player, which is where the Dovetail name comes from, and a Telemark skier, sailor, hi-fi enthusiast, canoe tripper, cook, and cyclist.
I've always been drawn to how things are actually built: the joinery that holds, the process behind the product, the problem that looked complicated until someone took it apart. Owning and running a business is the version of that I've been working toward for a long time.
Get in touch with Taylor.
Whether you're an owner, an advisor, an intermediary, or an investor, the fastest way to reach Taylor is directly. Every note gets a personal reply.
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Taylor reads every introduction personally and will reply within a few business days. If you don't hear back, email Taylor.Miller@dovetailgp.ca directly.