Independent wealth advice · La Jolla

Advice for founders, from people who pick up the phone.

Harlow & Voss is an independent, fee-only advisory firm for first-generation entrepreneurs, most often in the few years before and after they sell. You work with a partner, by name, from the first call. You know exactly what we charge. Nobody hands you off.

Book an intro call How we work
A fountain pen writing a letter by hand.
Every relationship starts with a plan we write for you, and sign.
  • One flat feeAgreed in writing before we start. It doesn’t grow just because your account did.
  • 40 familiesThe most any partner will take on. When we’re full, we keep a waiting list instead of hiring to fill it.
  • Fee-onlyNo commissions, no products of our own, no referral payments. The only person who pays us is you.
  • One business dayThe longest you’ll wait to hear back from someone who knows your name.

Why founders

New money has its own problems.

Most wealth firms were built around inherited money: a portfolio that already exists, managed a little better. Founders arrive differently. For years your wealth is one illiquid company. Then, usually in a single week, it isn’t.

The decisions around that week matter more than any investment we’ll ever make for you, and most of them need to be made long before the wire arrives. We built Harlow & Voss around that stretch of time: before the sale, during it, and the quieter, stranger years after.

Concentrated stock
How much to hold, when to sell, and how to do it without tripping a tax bill or a trading window.
QSBS
Whether your shares qualify for the Section 1202 small-business stock exclusion, and how to keep them qualified.
Tenders & secondaries
Selling some shares before an exit, and whether you should.
Deal terms
Earnouts, escrows, rollover equity and lockups, read from your side of the table alongside your attorney.
The year of the sale
Estimated taxes, where the money sits while you decide, and saying no to everyone who suddenly wants a meeting.
After
Spending, giving, family, and what the money is actually for.

How we work

Three stretches of time, one plan.

  1. Before the sale

    One to three years out. We map what you own, what a sale could look like, and what you’d do with the proceeds. Most of the tax planning that matters happens here, not after.

  2. The year of the sale

    We sit beside you and your deal attorney, compare offers in after-tax dollars, and have a plan for the money before it lands in your account.

  3. After

    We invest plainly and conservatively, keep your taxes coordinated with your CPA, and help you work out what comes next. There’s no rush.

Our approach, step by step

What it costs

One flat fee, in writing.

We don’t charge a percentage of your assets. That kind of fee grows with your balance whether or not the work does, and it quietly rewards an adviser for keeping your money with them. Ours is set by how complicated your situation is, agreed before we start, and reviewed once a year.

Pre-sale planning

$15,000 one time

For founders one to three years from a sale. A written plan, a tax projection built with your CPA, and a partner on call until the deal closes.

Ongoing advice

from $24,000 per year

Most clients pay between $24,000 and $60,000 a year. It includes:

  • Planning and quarterly meetings
  • Investment management, at no extra charge
  • Coordination with your CPA and attorney
  • A partner’s direct line

A second opinion

$450 per hour

For a look at an offer letter, a tender, or a plan someone else wrote. We agree on a cap before we start.

Fees are billed quarterly, after the work. You can end the relationship at any time with 30 days’ notice. Our full fee schedule is in our Form ADV Part 2A.

Client stories

“Every banker we met wanted to manage the money. They were the only ones who asked what we wanted our lives to look like first.”

Fictional compositeTwo brewery foundersSold to a national brewer

Two cofounders, a three-year earnout, and forty employees they didn’t want to leave behind.

Read the story

La Jolla, California

To the founder reading this,

Before you decide whether we’re right for you, here is what we promise every client. It’s also written into the agreement you’d sign.

  • You will work with the same partner from the first call on.
  • You will hear back within one business day, and usually the same day.
  • You will know what we charge, in dollars, before you pay us anything.
  • We will never sell you a product, earn a commission, or be paid by anyone but you.
  • We will tell you when we don’t know something, and find the person who does.
  • If we aren’t the right firm for you, we’ll say so, and help you find one that is.

We would rather have forty clients who trust us completely than four hundred who don’t.

Sincerely,

These promises appear in Section 3 of our advisory agreement.

Thirty minutes. No pitch deck.

Tell us a little about your company and what’s coming up. We’ll tell you honestly whether we can help, and if we can’t, who can.

Book an intro call (858) 555-0182