History

Clarity was formed in 1994 by Richard Sheiman, initially as a Competitive Intelligence firm and card carrying member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). He Previously worked at Harlan Brown, a pioneer in market segmentation research based on Business Rival Clusters www.bricstudy.com  what we call Total Available Market (TAM) today

As with any boutique consulting firm in business for 30+ years, Clarity has evolved. Our 2 Foundation Stones are Actionable Market Intelligence & the Wayne Grezky concept of figuring out where the market is going and how to get there first - or more decisively.

www.clarity1.com 

in 2025, Clarity launched our Independent Sponsor model. With the addition of Jay Burnette and Jim Winistorfer, both former Clarity clients and GM of Waukesha Bearings (NYSE: DOV) who have both gone on to lead PE owned Platforms and now do so for Family Owned businesses. 

Clarity introduced Operators to complement our 30 year young Market Research & Planning Support capabilities. 

In practise, it does not matter whether a company is a corporate operating division, a Private Equity Platform or a founder led private company. The tenets and methods of sound corporate growth are the same.

As an Independent Sponsor, Clarity leverages our Domain Expertise & Methodology to help great Founder-led companies reach the next level by matching them with the best Financial Sponsor we know and Trust.

This match is based on a range of factors - based on the unique features of the business and the objectives of its owners. This set of objectives generally extends to the Legacy of the business and ways to reinforce the culture and augment capabilities through targeted Add-on Acquisitions that survive Diligence and are Integrated in a disciplined manner.

Rather that simply facilitating a match to collect a finder's fee, Clarity stays involved as a trusted partner to both Management and Financial Sponsor - with a role that sustains focus on Value Creation.

Paul is a seasoned Corporate Development officer, having closed over 60 Transactions in his career, so far.

Clarity first worked with Paul when Sterling Partners engaged us to work with him on Add-On Acquisitions for Roofing Supply Group. After RSG, Paul worked for ABC Supply as a direct report to the wealthiest self made Woman in the US where he completed 37 Add-ons in 5 years.

For many years, Paul has worked on Clarity searches in addition to his Corp Dev role at PE Platforms, including Go CarWash and Valcourt.

Paul has a BS from Davidson, where he was a Power Forward several years before the arrival of Steph Curry.

Paul lives in the Denver area.

Clarity first worked with Jay when he was VP of Engineering and Business Development at Waukesha Bearings, a Dover operating company (NYSE:DOV)

We later worked with him on an Acquisition Search for mechanical & elastomeric seal companies.

After Dover, Jay was CEO of the PE Platform TF Hudgens and he orchestrated the acquisition of Allied Reliability and oversaw the development of Condition Monitoring as a Service. He led the successful exit of the rebranded business to Shell US

In addition to his work with Clarity, Jay is CEO of Boulden Company, a Family Owned specialist in wear components for rotating equipment.

Jay lives in the Houston area.

Clarity first worked with Jim when he was GM of Waukesha Bearings, a decade before Jay Burnette served in this same capacity.

Clarity worked with Jim on several Acquisitions, notably the Glacier Magnetic Bearings carve out from Federal Mogul.

During his time at Waukesha Bearings, he managed the consolidation of 4 plants, including a UK operation.

We subsequently worked with him on acquisition diligence when he was CEO of Milwaukee Electronics, a circuit assembly business.

In addition to his work with Clarity, Jim is CEO of DOIG Corp, a Family Owned automation solutions distributor.

Jim lives in the Milwaukee area.

Erik has been Clarity's Public Domain Research Specialist since 1996

Liz manages Clarity's back office and supports Research projects

Richard formed Clarity in 1994 - based on the simple premise that major business decisions demand reliable market intelligence