Prologue · Jack Pitts

Every company has a making of.
Here's mine, so far.

Chicago kid. Grew up in the suburbs playing football and basketball. Vanderbilt grad. Started out in private equity in New York, then went and built my own things: Salt Creek Advisory, an M&A firm my brother and I run for family-owned businesses, and HelmIQ, software that came straight out of running those deals.

New York got me too. Lived on the Lower East Side and loved that city more than I expected to. I also host The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts, because I like asking people how they built what they built. I'm young, I don't pretend to know it all, and I'm spending my twenties at the front of AI and technology. Next part gets written back home in Chicago.

Book time with me

Hey, that's my LinkedIn ↗

Jack Pitts · CHI → NSH → NYC → CHI

Chapter 01 · The Road

Chicago raised me. The rest of it trained me.

Chicago · The Start

Grew up here.

Everything I like about how I work comes from home. Show up, be useful, don't make it about you.

One brother, Connor Pitts, two years older than me. Grew up outside as much as possible and never grew out of it — running and being outdoors is still how I clear my head. Two dogs round out the family: Addie, a pitbull-boxer mix, and Harvey, a dachshund who somehow became the mascot of Salt Creek Advisory.

Nashville · Vanderbilt

Vandy, class of May 2025.

Studied Human and Organizational Development. Honest review: the classroom taught me a little, the people taught me a lot. I also started a nonprofit called Trash Troopers. It's exactly what it sounds like, and I'm still proud of it.

London · Four Months

Lived in London.

Four months there, and I loved it more than I expected to. Different pace, different rooms, same lesson: get out of your bubble and talk to people. I still look for excuses to go back.

New York · Private Equity

Blue Wolf Capital, Coastal Partners, then Kingfish Group.

Private equity taught me how deals actually move. It also taught me the bigger lesson, sitting across the table: the owners were the ones building the real wealth. I didn't want to watch that from the fund side. I wanted to build my own things, better myself, and meet as many sharp people as I could. That's where Salt Creek Advisory and HelmIQ come from.

Chicago · Now

Back home, figuring it out.

No script for this part, and I'm not pretending there is one. I'm young. I know how much I don't know. So the plan is simple: ask a lot of questions, break things, build them back better, and keep myself at the front of what AI and technology can do. Salt Creek Advisory and HelmIQ, run from the city I know best.

Chapter 02 · The Firm · New York City

Somebody spent thirty years building it.
The sale gets one shot.

Salt Creek Advisory is the M&A firm my brother and I run. We represent family-owned and founder-owned businesses in the lower middle market, and we're a family business ourselves. That's the whole model: the people you meet on the first call are the people who close your deal.

Sell-side representation. Buyer development across strategics, family offices, and private equity. A process built around the owner, not around a banker's calendar.

No handoffs. No junior team. No autopilot.

Visit saltcreekadvisory.com jack@saltcreekadvisory.com Talk about a deal

"A family business that sells family businesses." Salt Creek Advisory

saltcreekadvisory.com ↗

WhatSell-side M&A advisory
WhoFamily & founder-owned businesses
MarketLower middle market
Run byThe Pitts brothers, start to close

Chapter 03 · The Machine

Deal software wasn't built by people who do deals.
So we built our own.

Running deals at Salt Creek Advisory meant juggling spreadsheets, a CRM that didn't fit, and a hundred follow-ups living in someone's head. So we built HelmIQ: an operating system for dealmakers. It doesn't find the companies for you. It keeps everything organized and handles the busywork in the background, so you can spend your time actually doing the deal.

It was born in the lower middle market because that's where we live, but it's built for anyone who does deals. Advisors, private equity and origination teams, family offices, searchers. If your day is companies, conversations, and follow-ups, it works for you.

Every piece of it got tested on our own live deals before anyone else touched it.

Visit helmiq.net Get a demo jack@helmiq.net

helmiq.net ↗

WhatAn AI operating system for deals
DoesKeeps you organized, runs the background work
Doesn'tDo the deal for you. That's your job
Born inThe lower middle market
Built forAnyone who does deals

Organized

Companies, contacts, and notes in one place, kept current.

Background work

Notes, reminders, and prep handled while you work.

Pipeline

Every deal, every stage, nothing living in your head.

Follow-up

Nothing slips. The system remembers so you don't have to.

Chapter 04 · The Mic

I just like asking people how they built it.

That's the honest origin story. I love podcasts, I love talking to people, so I started one. The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts is long-form conversations with founders, investors, and operators about how the thing actually got made. The early doubts, the pivots, the deals that nearly died.

Every episode feeds everything else. Guests become friends, friends become the network, and the lessons go straight back into the firm and the product.

Building something worth talking about? The guest calendar is open.

Pitch yourself as a guest

themakingofhostedbyjackpitts.com ↗

Private Markets Origination Professionals

The other thing I started: a group for the people who do sourcing and origination for a living. We talk deal flow, outreach, what's working and what isn't. Same idea as the show, just with the mics off. First event's on the calendar below.

First event: Chicago Private Capital Rooftop

Thursday, August 6, 2026 · 5:00–8:30 PM
The Aurélien, 833 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60610

Invite-only rooftop gathering for lower middle market M&A, private capital, independent sponsors, lenders, and deal professionals. Hosted by HelmIQ and Salt Creek Advisory.

RSVP on Luma →

Epilogue · Your Move

Selling, building, or backing?
Let's talk.

Owners thinking about a sale. Investors who want a real look at the lower middle market. Anyone curious about HelmIQ. Builders with a story for The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts. Fastest path is the calendar.

Book time with Jack → Connect on LinkedIn

The Newsletter

Jack In Progress. Read it, or get it in your inbox.

Notes from someone young building in private markets and AI. What I'm learning at the deal table, who I'm meeting, what's working and what I got wrong. Short and real, every so often.

Read Jack In Progress → Follow along on Instagram

Advisory · Salt Creek Advisory

jack@saltcreekadvisory.com

Software · HelmIQ

jack@helmiq.net