Two Perspectives.
One Conversation.
Scot Hunsaker brings the entrepreneurial instinct and emotional intelligence of a founder. David Kraeling brings the analytical rigor and corporate experience of a senior executive. Together, they offer a rare combination — the kind of counsel that speaks to both the heart and the numbers.
Scot Hunsaker
Founder, Ardent Group — Author, Heroic Ownership
Scot Hunsaker is the founder of Ardent Group and the author of Heroic Ownership. Over a 30-year career he has founded, acquired, and advised businesses across multiple industries, completing more than 16 mergers and acquisitions. He has served as a CEO, a buyer, and a trusted advisor — giving him a perspective on business transition that is grounded in every seat at the table. Based in Lake Ozark, Missouri, Scot now focuses his practice on a select group of founding CEOs who are ready to transfer their institutional knowledge, leadership legacy, and business wisdom to the next generation.
Scot grew up watching his father build Counsilman-Hunsaker, one of the country's leading aquatic design firms — and he learned as much from what he observed as from any formal education. His father was a brilliant entrepreneur and a fierce competitor, but he kept the knowledge, the decisions, and the risk concentrated in himself. When Scot eventually took the helm, he made a deliberate choice to lead differently. He brought in partners, shared ownership, and committed to the long work of building a company that could thrive without needing him at the center of every decision.
In late 2012, after twenty-four years and thirteen years as CEO, he sold Counsilman-Hunsaker to his employees — for cash, in forty-five days. Partners flew in from around the country, some with their spouses and children in tow. It was, as Scot describes it, everything they had worked for. That moment — the culmination of years of intentional knowledge transfer, leadership development, and earned trust — became the foundation of the Ardent Process. It was proof that when you invest in the people around you and give them the tools to lead, they will step forward.
He wrote Heroic Ownership to share what he learned — not as theory, but as a hard-won road map for any founding CEO who wants to leave something that lasts. The book's central premise is one he lives by: we cannot predict the future, so our job as leaders is to create as many paths as possible — to build the capacity to act when opportunity presents itself. That means transferring knowledge, developing people, and building the kind of trust that allows the next generation to lead with confidence. Today, working from Lake Ozark, Missouri, Scot brings that same commitment to a select group of clients: founders who are ready to pay it forward.
"My greatest satisfaction as a leader has never been what I built. It has always been watching the next team take what we built together and make it their own."
David Kraeling
Partner, Ardent Group — Financial & Strategic Analyst
David Kraeling is a Partner at Ardent Group, bringing more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in corporate strategy, financial management, and organizational development. He served as President of ProSource Wholesale and as Senior Vice President of CCA Global Partners, where he oversaw a $500 million franchise division within a $6 billion enterprise. Throughout his career David has led strategic planning initiatives, managed complex P&Ls, and delivered the kind of candid financial counsel that helps organizations make better decisions. He partners with Scot Hunsaker to provide founding CEOs with a complete perspective — one that addresses both the human dynamics of leadership transition and the financial realities that determine whether a strategy succeeds.
David Kraeling brings a rare combination of corporate scale and entrepreneurial acuity. As President of ProSource Wholesale and Senior Vice President of CCA Global Partners — overseeing a $500 million franchise division of a $6 billion enterprise — David spent decades navigating the financial realities that determine whether organizations thrive or stall. He knows how to read a business through its numbers, and more importantly, he knows what the numbers are actually saying.
Where Scot brings the emotional intelligence of a founder — the instinct for people, culture, and legacy — David brings the analytical rigor of a senior executive who has managed P&Ls, driven strategic planning, and delivered the kind of honest financial assessments that organizations need but rarely hear. His ability to cut through complexity and identify the tactical adjustments that move the needle makes him an invaluable partner in any engagement.
David has worked alongside Scot on strategic planning engagements, financial analysis, and organizational improvement initiatives — going beyond the scope of what clients expected and delivering the kind of candid, constructive counsel that creates lasting change.
"The numbers tell a story. My job is to make sure the people in the room understand what that story means — and what to do about it."
The entrepreneurial mind and the financial mind — in the same room.
Most consulting engagements give you one perspective. Scot and David together give you two that rarely coexist: the founder's emotional intelligence — the deep understanding of culture, legacy, and the human dynamics of leadership transition — and the corporate executive's financial intelligence — the ability to see the tactical and operational realities that determine whether a strategy actually works.
Scot has historically referred clients to David when they need the one-to-one financial reality checks — the monthly adjustments, the P&L conversations, the honest assessment of what the numbers are saying about the health of the organization. Together, they are able to facilitate a knowledgeable conversation about the full range of issues impacting the companies they work with: from leadership development and succession planning to strategic planning, financial analysis, and operational improvement.
- Legacy and succession planning
- Leadership development
- Founder-to-CEO transition
- Heroic Ownership framework
- Culture and institutional knowledge
- Financial analysis and P&L review
- Strategic planning facilitation
- Operational improvement
- Corporate structure advisory
- Monthly performance coaching
The mission now is to give back.
The videos, the book, and the frameworks on this site are offered freely — because the lessons Scot and David have learned belong to anyone who can use them. The goal is not to sell a program. It is to spread the kind of wisdom that helps founding CEOs and their successors build something worth inheriting.