How Ascend Achieved Clarity and Expedited Engagement Using Alpine’s PeopleFirst Approach

When Erin Stahmer and David Wurtzbacher founded Ascend, an Alpine Investors-backed platform that partners with entrepreneurial CPAs, they had a lot of work to do to bring their ideas to fruition. The co-founders built a business plan to positively impact the accounting industry by bringing smaller regional CPA firms together under one platform to learn from one another and then grow with the resources and backing of Ascend and Alpine. However, they first needed to align on the long-term vision for the business, as well as the tactical steps to get there. Without this clear roadmap, Erin and David knew inspiring engagement for their team and clients would be difficult.

The co-founders worked closely with Alpine PeopleFirst consultant Amy Day to design a two-day workshop that focused on crafting the company’s foundational vision and values on day one and transitioned to strategy and the creation of a One Page Plan (OPP) on day two—two key steps in Alpine’s PeopleFirst Leadership Program. Completing the process within Ascend’s first two months of operating, the co-founders clarified their vision, goals and values, and created a clear value proposition that they could share with entrepreneurial CPA firms early in the partnership conversation. It proved so successful during the M&A process that Ascend now programmatically takes partner firms through the PeopleFirst program and helps them to establish an OPP within three to six months of joining Ascend.

“Excellence in business is one of the most powerful vehicles we have for lifting others up. We help our leaders to think big about a team’s full potential, to memorialize their goals, and to transform that vision into fulfilling, rewarding career opportunities for their people,” says Wurtzbacher. “The PeopleFirst OPP process unlocks this process. We are seeing our leadership teams take hold of ambitious visions to drive engagement and more positive outcomes for their people.”