Consulting partner for small and midsize businesses

An operator in your corner — through growth, and through the close.

Live Axis Consulting partners with owners on the work that does not fit a playbook: running the business, tightening the sales cycle, designing the systems underneath, and — when it is time — finding the right buyer, seller, or partner.

Open to every industry. At home with live-event, entertainment, and experiential operators.

Book a conversation Mergers, acquisitions & exits

Ryan Steidinger, Principal of Live Axis Consulting — Ryan Steidinger, Principal

How we help

Practical consulting, scoped to the problem in front of you.

Start with a conversation, then we shape the work together.

Coaching and Consulting

Business management consulting plus executive, one-on-one, and sales coaching and training. A practical partner for owners and operators who want a sounding board that has sat in the chair.

Strategic Exits

Guidance for sellers and buyers through positioning, diligence, and close. Your partner for the outcome you want — not a listing mill shopping a book of deals.

System Designs

AV, lighting, staging, and rigging system design for live venues and productions — from concept through a build that works on the day.

Consulting

Coaching and consulting for the business you are running.

Ryan partners with owners and operators on the work that sits between strategy decks and the day-to-day: managing the company, tightening the sales cycle, and thinking through the hard calls with someone who has carried them before.

Business management consulting
Operating cadence, financial discipline, and the decisions that compound — for owners who still run the company day to day.
- Operational support for day to day
- System implementation
- Financial support
- Policy & procedure curation
Executive & one-on-one coaching
A confidential working relationship for owners and operators who need a sounding board that has actually sat in the chair.
- Confidential sounding board for hard calls
- Leadership development through proven methods
- Mid-level management training to help excel goals
- Understanding how your team works psychologically
Sales coaching & training
Cycle design, pipeline honesty, and the conversations that close — especially for teams selling complex, high-consideration work.
- Pipeline development & discipline
- Sales cycle design that matches how your business actually works
- Coaching conversations 1 on 1 or group
- Understanding how to sell services versus products approach
Entertainment consulting
Production, operations, and artist sourcing, or venue management consulting from someone who ran the entertainment business — not from the cheap seats.
- Operations advice and design
- Technical consulting around any entertainment work
- Bridging creative, technical, and business decisions
- Venue / show / company-scale problem solving

This is consulting and coaching for the business or government agency — practical help for those that strive to excel. Start with a conversation.

Let's talk

Mergers, acquisitions & exits

Your partner in ensuring successful exits.

Live Axis works with owners of small-to-midsize businesses who are seeking a strategic exit, and with buyers looking for the right fit. The work covers M&A, partnerships, and other paths off the operating seat. The standard is the same: a counterpart who actually belongs, and a close that holds.

If you are selling — or considering it

Position the business before the market sees it.

You have a company, a crew, and a reputation. The next chapter — a full exit, a partnership, a recapitalization — should be chosen, not improvised. Ryan works with sellers up front on readiness and positioning so the business shows its best face before buyers even know it is for sale.

Strategic exits via sale, partnership, or other structures
A partner for small-to-midsize owners, not a listing mill
An operator's eye on what a buyer will actually do with the business

If you are buying

Find the right fit. Then close it.

The right acquisition is not the one that looks good in a teaser. It is the one you can operate, integrate, and grow. Ryan helps buyers find that fit and navigate diligence and close with someone who has sat on both sides of the table.

Search and evaluation with an operator's criteria
Advocacy through negotiation, diligence, and close
Especially fluent with live-event and experiential businesses

This work is for small-to-midsize businesses and the people who own them. Live events and entertainment are a natural home. Owners in other industries who want a partner — from someone who has bought, grown, and exited — are equally welcome.

Systems and Production Design

The rig is a business decision.

For groups that need someone who has actually hung the steel and mixed the show — not just specified it from behind a desk. When an operation depends on audio, video, lighting, staging, and rigging working as a system, design choices show up in the P&L.

Ryan consults on permanent and temporary system integration and production design. His philosophy is to approach every challenge as a unique opportunity to create successful events for all audiences. Whether he is designing a system for a small school, a civic auditorium for thousands, a touring show, or a large outdoor venue straddling permanent and temporary install demands — Ryan has done it all and is ready to help you.

Jake Owen on stage at Great Park Live — outdoor amphitheater designed by Ryan Steidinger and the PCE team. Photo: PCE

Audio
System design and integration that serves the venue and the audience — not a spec sheet in a vacuum.
Video
LED Videowall, projection, cameras and switching as a functioning system, not a pile of boxes.
Lighting
Fixture and control choices that hold up in rehearsal, show, and strike.
Staging
Deck, Truss, and scenic that keep talent, crew, and audience where they belong.
Rigging
Points, loads, and trim as craft — because the show hangs from the decisions made here.

Principal

Ryan Steidinger

An operator who has bought, grown, and exited — not a theoretician.

Ryan has spent more than thirty years in entertainment. He began in broadcast television, where his work earned Emmy nominations and industry awards in the early 2000s, then moved onto the live floor.

He went on to run Pacific Coast Entertainment (PCE), a full live-event production company. A minority partner until 2016, he assembled a group, raised the funds, and bought out the majority owner. Under that ownership PCE grew roughly five times in gross revenue and roughly ten times in EBITDA margins, returning about fifteen times to investors. He also steered the company through COVID and a difficult California economy.

Beyond PCE, Ryan has owned companies and sat on boards in entertainment and outdoor adventure. That mix — operator, buyer, seller, and board member — is why owners bring him in on the problems that do not fit a slide deck: business challenges, sales-cycle challenges, and successful exits.

Away from the work

Ryan is married with three kids. He loves the outdoors and travels the western U.S. with his family in their camper. Off the clock you will also find him deep in U.S. history and railroad history, often with a documentary on. He builds model trains too — including an Fn3 layout (F-scale, 3-foot narrow gauge).

years as an entrepreneur: 30+
gross revenue growth at PCE: ~5×
EBITDA margin expansion: ~10×
investor returns: ~15×

Contact

Let's talk.

Send a note with a little context, or call. Ryan will reply to set a time.

Call(714) 310-6680

Next step: a conversation. If there is a fit, the engagement is shaped around your needs. All pricing is curated to your specific project.

Ryan Steidinger’s signature — Ryan Steidinger

An operator in your corner — through growth, and through the close.

Practical consulting, scoped to the problem in front of you.

Coaching and consulting for the business you are running.

Business management consulting

Executive & one-on-one coaching

Sales coaching & training