Not a Rebrand. A Recognition.

Time for a Change

We started this project in early Q4 of last year, thinking we just needed a refresh. New colors, maybe. Cleaner layout. Something to make the site feel less like 2014. Once we started asking the obvious questions—what do we want people to feel when they land here?—we realized a coat of paint wasn't going to cut it.

What We Built The First Time

When we designed our original logo, we weren't thinking about marketing, we were thinking about meaning. The interlocking P's weren't just letterforms—they were a nod to partnership itself. The wave-like shape came from something we both share: a love of the ocean. The symmetry was intentional too. The blue and gray felt right at the time; Established, trustworthy. The kind of colors that belong in rooms where serious decisions get made.

The Why Behind the Work

When we started talking about updating our website, the initial goal was simple: modernize. Our look had gotten a bit stale. What felt crisp in 2014 felt static in 2024. The copyright date on the site still said 2022, we were past due.

But the more we dug in, the more the conversation shifted. We didn't just want a new coat of paint. We wanted to ask ourselves harder questions. What actually moves us? What's our why?

Those aren't the kinds of questions you answer in a design meeting. We had to sit with them; Share stories and go back to the beginning.

For Chris, it traced all the way back to his uncle's basement—reading investment memos as a twelve-year-old while the other kids were running around upstairs. Small businesses making interesting products. Families building something. People at the center of every deal, even when the numbers made it look like something else.

For Edwin, it was the realization that after all the seats we've sat in—analyst, board member, operator, advisor—what kept us going wasn't the deals themselves. It was the people on the other side of the table. A second-generation owner who's never done M&A but can see all the opportunity out there. A founder who's either excited or exhausted by their business and finally ready to do something about it. Being part of a once in a lifetime transition for an owner who spent decades building something valuable and now has a chance to fund not just his retirement, but his family's future.

That's the stuff that gives us goosebumps. Always has.

Refined Evolution

As we explored new visual directions, something unexpected happened. We didn't land on a refresh—we landed on a new concept entirely. Not because the firm has transformed. But because the original intent has been confirmed.

A decade of deals, partnerships, and lessons has taught us what we believe and how we work. What we now call the Pillsman Way isn't a new invention—it's a recognition. Of the way we've always operated, of the tension we've always navigated.

We provide a classic solution—capital for business owners who want to grow—but we do it in a bespoke, progressive manner. We need to be credible in a room full of institutional investors managing billions of dollars and relatable in a conversation with a family business owner making the biggest decision of his career.

Threading the needle. Between suits and jeans. Between established and entrepreneurial. Between professional enough and human enough.

Same Meaning, New Expression

The logo still means what it always meant. But visually, it had started to blend in. In private equity, everyone chooses blue. Everyone talks about "trusted partnerships" and "transparency." Every website looks the same.

We wanted to stand out—but still fit in. Not to come across as contrarians, but as approachable. As people you'd actually want to have a conversation with.

The new palette—teal and mint rather than blue and gray—positions us outside the visual clichés of financial services. Not for its own sake. But because our work isn't generic, and neither should our identity be.

The new mark honors the original concept—partnership, unity, the interlocking P's—while making it cleaner, more legible, more modern. The symmetry is still there. The meaning is still there. It's just sharper now.