LavaHopper. Hands-on business problem solvers
Three big problems. Let's make it two.
Bring us the three biggest problems in your business. In one conversation we pick one together and agree what fixed looks like. Then we fix it within 48 hours, working alongside your team. No charge. No obligation to continue.
How the first fix works
One conversation, one problem chosen together, 48 hours. We take it seriously because it is the most honest way to show you how we work.
The conversation
Fifteen minutes. You bring three problems; we ask about the business behind them. Together we choose the one to fix first and write down, in plain words, what fixed means.
Kickoff
We agree a kickoff time and what the fix needs: access, the right people and any approvals, ready to go. The 48-hour clock starts at kickoff, not at the first call.
The fix
Within 48 hours of kickoff the problem is fixed and you can see it working. We do the work alongside your team, not around it, and we do not swap a fix for a list of recommendations.
Your call
Keep the fix and get on with your week, or talk with us about problems two and three. No charge for the first fix. No obligation either way.
The first fix, in plain terms
One problem, chosen together on the call. What fixed means is written down and agreed by both of us before kickoff. The 48 hours run from the agreed kickoff, once the access, people and approvals we listed are in place; if they are not, kickoff moves and the clock does not start early. If the work shows the problem is larger than either of us judged, we say so as soon as we know, and you decide with us whether to narrow it, pause it or stop. No charge for the first fix in any case. No obligation to continue. Your information is handled as agreed before anything is shared.
Ready when you are. Bring the three problems, or just the one that is keeping you up at night.
Book a 15-minute introductionWho brings us problems
Owner-led companies
You run the business and every decision still routes through you. The list of things you meant to fix keeps growing. You want people who have carried a P&L themselves to take one off the list and show you it can move.
Enterprise teams
You lead a function or a region and need operators who can get a stuck piece of work unstuck with the team you already have, with approvals and measurement, rather than a long consulting bench and a slide deck.
Markets we know from the inside: healthcare, airway, ENT, dental, apps and technology. These are fields we have worked in, not a client list.
How we work
- Business outcomes firstThe brief is a business result. AI implementation, information handling, privacy considerations and data stewardship support that result; they are not the point on their own.
- Alongside your team, without blameWe work with the people already doing the work. We are there to understand the bottlenecks and remove them, not to find fault or cause unnecessary disruption.
- Bounded scope, human approvalsEach piece of work has a start, an end, a deliverable and an owner. Automation handles the routine. People approve what matters.
- Measured, then reported plainlyA baseline before, a measurement after. If something did not work, you hear it first and in writing.
The collective
We bring together experienced people around the needs of each engagement.
Who is involved
Operators who have run businesses and P&Ls. Developers who build and integrate working systems. Commercial consultants who know how revenue is actually made. Creative capability when a project needs it, though we are not primarily a marketing agency.
How a team is formed
Matt Cronin has worked with these people over years and helps assemble the team each problem calls for. Every engagement has a clearly identified lead and agreed responsibilities, and you know who is involved before work starts. A first fix may need one person. A diagnostic may need two. Implementation may add a developer for a defined stretch.
Led by Matt Cronin
An operator first. AI where it earns its place.
Matt Cronin leads LavaHopper and helps assemble the right team. Each engagement has a clearly identified lead and agreed responsibilities. He has led commercial organizations and turnarounds in medical technology, run multi-million-dollar P&Ls and built his finance foundation through executive education at Northwestern's Kellogg School.
He also runs a technology company of his own, where he has built AI into daily operations and tested it on real decisions with real money behind them. That is where the collective's view of what works, and what does not, comes from.
If you want to keep going
Only after the first fix, and only if you want to. Each of these starts with a written scope you agree to, and you know who from the collective is involved.
Operating Diagnostic
Find what is slowing the business down. We map the work, set baselines, rank the opportunities by value and effort, and hand you an operating plan you can run with or without us.
AI Integration and Workflow Implementation
Put AI to work on bounded workflows where it pays back. We pick the workflows, fit the right tools, define where a person approves, test against a baseline, measure the result and train your team to own it.
Fractional Executive Leadership
Senior operating leadership under a defined mandate: a weekly operating cadence, commercial execution, accountability across the team and clear product and business direction.
Not ready to talk yet?
Name one problem now.
Four short questions, in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. You leave with one of your three problems named and scoped, ready to bring to the call.
Questions people ask
- Is the first fix really at no charge?
- Yes. One problem, chosen together on the call, fixed within 48 hours of kickoff, at no charge. No invoice and no obligation to continue.
- How do we choose which problem?
- You bring three. We ask about the business behind each one, then choose together: usually the one that unblocks the most and that we can finish in 48 hours with the access you can give us.
- What does fixed mean?
- We write it down together before kickoff, in plain words you agree to. The job is done when that is true and you can see it working, not when a set of recommendations lands in your inbox.
- When does the 48 hours start?
- At the agreed kickoff, once the access, people and approvals we listed are in place. Forty-eight hours means 48 hours on the clock.
- What if the problem turns out to be bigger than it looked?
- We say so as soon as we know, and you decide with us whether to narrow it, pause it or stop. The first fix stays at no charge whatever happens. The plain-terms note above the questions sets this out.
- What happens after the first fix?
- You decide. Keep the fix and get on with your week, or talk with us about problems two and three. If you want to keep working together, we agree scope and fees in writing at that point, not before.
- Who does the work?
- A small team matched to the problem. Matt Cronin leads LavaHopper and helps assemble the right team. Each engagement has a clearly identified lead and agreed responsibilities. The people are operators, developers or commercial consultants Matt has worked with over years, and you know who is involved before work starts.
- Is LavaHopper an AI company or a consulting company?
- A consulting collective. We are operators who use AI where it earns its place. If a spreadsheet, a hire or a decision solves the problem, that is the fix.
- How do you handle our information?
- Information handling, privacy considerations and data stewardship are part of every scope, in writing, before anything is connected or shared. Nothing about your business is collected through this website.
Next step
Bring us three problems.
Fifteen minutes. We pick one together and fix it within 48 hours, at no charge. If LavaHopper is not the right help, you will hear that too.
Prefer to read first? Plain-English writing on putting AI to work in a business, from inside a company doing it. Read the free series.