Field notes12 min
The Carrier Appetite Chart Living in Your Broker's Head.
Every mid-market commercial brokerage has a senior CSR who knows which carrier writes what. When she retires, the chart leaves with her.
By Trey№ 006Field notes
Notes from the work.
Operator-written articles on AI, automation, and focused software for manufacturers, contractors, and service businesses. Real builds, real numbers, no decks.
Playbook11 min
The Mid-Market Electrical Contractor's Data Center Playbook.
Data center MEP is now 75% of the GMP, and electrical is the centerpiece. Here is how $50M electrical contractors actually win the work.
By TreyTeardown12 min
Wealthbox vs Redtail vs Salesforce FSC for $40M RIAs.
Wealthbox, Redtail, and Salesforce FSC each pitch the same $40M RIA. Here is the cost math, custodian reality, and where AI changes the decision.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
The Case for Hiring an Internal AI Ops Lead at $50M.
Mid-market AI engineers run $230K to $310K all-in. Boutique services run $75K to $200K a year. Here is how to think about the hire and when it pays back.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
How to Fix Slow-Moving Inventory at a $40M Distributor.
Slow movers tie up 20-25% of a distributor's inventory value. Here is the disposition workflow that recovers cash before write-down.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
Why RIA Roll-Ups Will Spend AI Budget on Back Office First.
RIA M&A hit a record in 2025. The PE-backed roll-ups now own the integration bill. The next AI budget will buy reconciliation, not robo planning.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
Work-in-Process Visibility for $40M Manufacturers.
Most mid-market manufacturers run their shop floor on paper travelers and a foreman's walk-around. Here's the middle answer between clipboards and a full MES.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
Why Change Orders Eat Margin at Mid-Market Contractors.
Most $40M general contractors lose 3 to 5 percent margin on change orders. The fix is workflow: clear thresholds, a 48-hour rule, and field discipline.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
PE Is Rolling Up Field Service Software. Three Options..
Private equity poured $3.5B into field service software in 18 months. Here is what $50M HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators should do.
By TreyPlaybook12 min
How to Qualify Final-Expense Leads Before You Dial.
A $50 final-expense lead converts at 5 percent if you treat it like a 2018 dial list. Here is the pre-call qualification workflow that protects your best closers.
By TreyTeardown11 min
QuickBooks Enterprise at $50M: What Breaks and What's Next.
At $50M revenue, three QuickBooks Enterprise limits hit first: record count, multi-entity consolidation, and custom workflows. Here is what to do.
By TreyField notes11 min
Why AI Pilots Stall at the Same Point Every Time.
Across mid-market rollouts, AI pilots stall at the same moment. It is not data, models, or budget. It is the handoff nobody plans for.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
How to Cut RFI Response Time From Two Weeks to Four Days.
RFIs at mid-market GCs average 9.7 days to first response. Here is the five-move workflow that gets you to four, and where AI actually helps.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
How to Get New Field Service Techs Productive in 90 Days.
Field service technician onboarding takes 12 months at most shops. Here is the 90-day structure that cuts ramp time in half, with the P&L math.
By TreyTeardown11 min
Practice Management Software for $40M Law Firms.
Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Aderant: an honest assessment of what each delivers for mid-market law firms, where the math breaks, and what to do about it.
By TreyOperator's view12 min
What Hyperscaler Capex Means for Mid-Market MEP.
Big Tech's $725B 2026 data center capex is concentrating among large MEP firms. Here is what the mid-market needs to compete for that work.
By TreyField notes12 min
Why Insurance Applications Get Keyed Three Times Over.
Mid-market carriers re-key the same application into lead, workbench, policy admin, and archive. The fix is connecting two systems you already own.
By TreyTeardown10 min
ServiceTitan vs. Alternatives for Mid-Market HVAC.
ServiceTitan IPO'd. BuildOps hit unicorn. For $30M-$75M HVAC contractors, the FSM platform choice just got harder. Here is the honest segmentation map.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
Why Specialty Finance Is the AI Vertical Nobody Is Targeting.
Harvey hit $11B with $190M ARR. Meanwhile $1.34T in equipment finance, 15,870 RIAs, and a wide-open vendor map sit ignored. Specialty finance is the bet.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
Why Sub-Contractor Coordination Breaks at 15 Active Jobs.
Sub-contractor coordination works at 10 jobs and fails at 15. Here is the system mid-market GCs use to scale without buying a new PM platform.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
How to Train New Estimators Without Losing Two Years.
A phase-gated playbook to cut estimator ramp time from 12 months to under 6, with shadow bids, markup reviews, and documented vendor intel.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
What AI Still Can't Do for Mid-Market Operations.
94% of mid-market firms use generative AI, but only 2% have scaled it. Here are five things AI cannot do for your operation, and where it actually works.
By TreyOperator's view10 min
AI for Mid-Market Insurance: What Actually Works.
Claims intake, submission triage, and status updates deliver real ROI for $50M-$80M insurers today. Fraud models and full automation are still vendor promises.
By TreyField notes10 min
Customer Communication Contractors Get Wrong: Ditch the Portal.
A $40M HVAC contractor spent $35,000 on a customer portal and got 8% adoption. Here's what actually drives repeat business in field services.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
How Long AI Actually Takes to Deploy at a $50M Company.
Not 18 months. Not a weekend. A focused AI tool at a $50M operations company takes four to eight weeks, if your data is ready.
By TreyPlaybook9 min
Job Costing for Contractors: What Your P&L Won't Tell You.
Your P&L shows $200K in annual profit while 40% of your jobs lose money. The winners mask the losers. Here are the five blind spots to fix.
By TreyCase study9 min
How a $40M Manufacturer Captured 25 Years of Expertise.
A precision-parts maker was six months from losing their senior estimator's quoting judgment. A 4-week AI engagement changed that before the door closed.
By TreyTeardown9 min
Procore vs. the Field: What $40M Contractors Need.
Procore is built for ENR-ranked firms doing $200M+ in volume. Here is what mid-market GCs actually need and what they should pay for it.
By TreyPlaybook10 min
Stop Quoting Different Prices for the Same Part.
Your sales reps are quoting different prices for the same SKU. A simple 90-day audit can find the worst leaks in under a week, and three free fixes close half the gap.
By TreyPlaybook10 min
Why Proposals Take Two Weeks at Your Services Firm.
Mid-market engineering and consulting firms spend 10-14 days on proposals because scope knowledge lives in partner heads, not shared systems. Here's how to fix it.
By TreyField notes10 min
Why Your Shop Floor Knows Things Your ERP Doesn't.
Your ERP tracks what was planned. Your shop floor tracks what actually happened. That gap is costing mid-market manufacturers real margin on every job.
By TreyField notes10 min
Why Your HVAC Dispatch Board Is Wrong by 10 AM.
Your dispatch board looks perfect at 7 AM. By 10, emergency calls and callbacks have rewritten it. The real system is your dispatcher's head.
By TreyPlaybook11 min
How to Cut Claims Processing Time Without Replacing Your Core System.
Most mid-market insurers lose 5-10 days per claim to manual work that happens outside their core system. Here's how to fix it without replacing Applied Epic or Majesco.
By TreyCase study11 min
Port of Tampa: How One AI Agent Replaced 3 Hours of Email.
A port operations team spent 3 hours daily triaging 150+ vessel emails. A custom AI agent cut that to 20 minutes with zero missed updates in 90 days.
By TreyTeardown11 min
What $50M Distributors Need From Inventory Software.
Mid-market distributors outgrow starter tools but can't justify enterprise WMS. Here is what actually works in between.
By TreyField notes9 min
Your ERP Says You Have 200 Units. You Have 147..
Most mid-market distributors run at 63 to 85 percent inventory accuracy. Here is where the counts go wrong and how to close the gap.
By TreyOperator's view10 min
How to Evaluate AI Vendors When You Don't Have a CTO.
Most AI vendor checklists assume you have a CTO and a procurement team. This five-question framework works when you have neither.
By TreyPlaybook9 min
Why Field Service Scheduling Breaks Past 25 Technicians.
Most field service companies hit a scheduling wall around 25 techs. The fix is not better software. It is better process.
By TreyPlaybook10 min
Your Quoting Process Is Costing You Jobs. Here Is the Fix..
Most mid-market contractors lose bids on speed, not price. Here is a six-step workflow that cuts quoting from days to hours.
By TreyPlaybook10 min
How to Capture Tribal Knowledge Before Key People Leave.
70% of your shop's critical know-how is undocumented. Here is a practical framework to capture it before your best people retire.
By TreyTeardown10 min
No ERP Does Everything. Here Is What Works Instead..
Your ERP handles accounting and job costing fine. Quoting, knowledge capture, field coordination, and claims routing need something else.
By TreyOperator's view11 min
What AI Actually Costs for a 20-Person Shop.
AI vendors quote $150K. Your shop does $8M in revenue. Here is what AI realistically costs, what it doesn't, and where the money actually goes.
By TreyOperator's view9 min
Build vs. Buy AI: What No One Tells Mid-Market Leaders.
Most build-vs-buy AI advice targets Fortune 500 or startups. Here is the framework for the $30M to $100M company stuck in between.
By Trey№ 005Get in touch
Tell us the workflow.
It's a conversation, not a sales call. You tell us what's broken, we'll tell you if we can fix it.
hello@granular.to