About the Founder
Rylan Schebesch
Founder, Stratus Holdings
Rylan founded Stratus Holdings to solve a problem he kept seeing in the lower middle market: serious buyers with clear mandates, stuck relying on crowded broker processes, inconsistent referrals, and manual outreach that doesn't scale.
A Note From Rylan
Most buyers I talk to have the same problem: they know exactly what they want to acquire, but their pipeline depends on brokers, referrals, and cold outreach that lands in the same inboxes as everyone else's.
I built Stratus to fix the first mile. When a business owner reaches out to you, before a broker and before a process, everything about the conversation changes. That's the channel we build, and it's the discipline I intend to carry into owning businesses myself one day.
If you're serious about buying well, or you've walked the ownership road ahead of me, I'd genuinely like to talk.
Rylan Schebesch, Founder
Why Stratus Exists
Buyers deserve a better first mile.
Most acquisition pipelines start in the same places: brokered listings everyone else is reading, referral networks that run hot and cold, and outbound campaigns landing in inboxes already full of identical messages.
Stratus exists to create a different channel, one where qualified business owners initiate the conversation. When an owner reaches out first, everything downstream changes: the tone, the trust, and the terms of engagement.
Why Deal Sourcing
An underleveraged channel, at the right moment.
The demographics are hard to ignore. A large share of lower middle market owners are at or approaching retirement age, and that demographic spends real, daily attention on digital platforms most acquirers still treat as an afterthought. Adults 65 and older are among the fastest growing user groups on platforms like Meta.
Very few buyers show up there professionally. Stratus does, with disciplined, confidential, professionally branded campaigns that treat owners with respect and position the buyer as a credible, trustworthy partner rather than another cold email.
That gap, motivated owners on one side, serious buyers on the other, and almost nobody building the bridge properly, is the opportunity Stratus was built around.
Long Term Vision
Sourcing today. Ownership over time.
Stratus' long term interest is small business ownership: acquiring and operating durable, founder led companies. That path is future facing and kept deliberately separate from client work.
The through line is the skillset. Every mandate sharpens the origination, qualification, and owner trust muscles that long term ownership will be built on.
Operating Principles
How Stratus works.
Confidentiality
Client mandates and owner conversations are handled discreetly, always.
Discipline
Clear criteria, structured processes, no shortcuts.
Clear communication
Direct, honest, and prompt, with clients and with owners.
Speed
Momentum matters in acquisition conversations. We move quickly and deliberately.
Ownership mindset
Every engagement is run like we own the outcome.
Long term relationships
Built for the relationship after the transaction, not just the introduction.
Respect for founder led businesses
Owners built something real. Every conversation honors that.