Growth | Legacy | Ironclad

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Experienced Leaders

Nathan Fewel

Co-Founder | nathan@ironcladgrowth.com

Nathan grew up in SoCal and St. George, Utah. Both of his parents worked in small businesses. His mother worked as a small business accountant and his father was a maintenance manager in the auto industry. These examples showed all the good that businesses can do in a local community, and inspired him to follow suit.
Nathan went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and then served as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy after graduating. On a sub out of the Pacific Northwest, Nathan managed dozens of people. He developed a love of leading teams to get hard jobs done, and learned how to do it well on high-stakes missions.
Nathan considers it a huge honor and privilege to have served his country in the U.S. Navy. He loves to share stories with fellow Veterans.
After leaving full-time Navy service, Nathan wanted to build something in the private sector, so he went to business school at Stanford. There, he focused on translating his military experience to the world of small business. This is where he met Chapman.
Nathan loves running and, like Chapman, watching underperforming baseball teams (the Los Angeles Angels to be specific). Come May each season, he is already looking forward to next year and whining about poorly structured contracts.
He loves spending time with his wife, Maren, and their young son, Alexander. Nathan and Maren met while they were both working in the DC area.
They all live near Boise, Idaho.
- All things baseball
- Traveling the world
- Submarines and airplanes
- Trader Joe’s Crackers
We love talking about what we’re reading and always appreciate book recommendations
- Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
- Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy
- Chip War by Chris Miller
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- The Upswing by Robert D. Putnam

Chapman Ellsworth

Co-Founder | chapman@ironcladgrowth.com

Chapman was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. His parents instilled within him a love for scrappy creativity and high-integrity civic engagement. His dad ran a one-man law practice while his mom worked in grassroots local politics. From a young age, Chapman wanted to be an entrepreneur and saw firsthand the challenges (and joys) of starting something.
Chapman studied at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and then started his career in strategy consulting at L.E.K. in Los Angeles. His itch to get closer to entrepreneurs led him to Marlin Equity Partners where he talked to and helped numerous software founders and leaders.
He saw what good business leaders could do for their organizations (and communities) and confirmed that he wanted to build something of his own.
To start his own entrepreneurial journey, Chapman went to Stanford to get a business degree, which is where he met Nathan. They became fast friends, and both focused on entrepreneurship and growing small businesses.
Chapman doesn’t particularly love running. But, like Nathan, he does adore baseball. He is an irrationally diehard fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks and LOVES to talk about the highs and lows of baseball fandom.
He met and married his wife, Kimberly, while they were at BYU. They have a talkative toddler, Owen, and a precious baby girl, Addie.
They all live near Boise, Idaho.
- Arizona Diamondbacks baseball
- Boise State Broncos college football
- Writing overly detailed March Madness and Fantasy Football recaps
- Company beach kickball leagues (niche, ask him about it)
We love talking about what we’re reading and always appreciate book recommendations
- John Adams by David McCullough
- Chip War by Chris Miller
- Red Notice by Bill Browder
- And There Was Light by Jon Meacham
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Moneyball by Michael Lewis
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Our “official” story begins at a picnic for parents before the first day of school. Chapman was the first person that Nathan saw (both of us were attempting to feed our young sons at the time). In a stroke of great luck or divine intervention (your call), our small families lived within a baby monitor’s range length of each other. And what started as last-minute babysitting quickly turned into a close friendship and an ironclad bond of trust.

We love working together, and have sought out every opportunity to do so. From studying for exams to tossing a baseball to playing with our toddlers, our working styles complement each other well. What’s better, we share a true passion to grow and build a small business and lead teams. We want to build a company together and are excited for this journey.

Our Values

Talk is cheap; we expect our actions to demonstrate our core values

Fair

We believe in paying a fair price. We’re not cheap or bottom-dollar. We treat others as we would like to be treated if the table were flipped.

Forthright

We operate honestly and directly. We are decisive and act quickly so we don’t waste your time—we know your #1 job is to run your company, and we don’t want to get in your way.

Steadfast

If we say we’ll do something, we do it. We are faithful in our conduct in business and in our personal lives, and take our duties seriously. We operate with integrity and are true to our word.

Not PE | Not VC

We know you get unsolicited outreach from PE/VC firms all the time—the price you pay for building a great business. Ironclad is not a PE or VC firm looking to add your life’s work to our portfolio of assets. To be clear, we are not building a portfolio. When you work with Ironclad, it’s always personal.

That means no Excel jockeying from a Manhattan high-rise that makes your day-to-day busier than it already is. When you partner with Ironclad, we’ll be running the business full-time, working directly with your employees… building upon the great culture and organization that you’ve built. That lets you transition into whatever you want to do. What that often means is you’ll leave the day-to-day to us and then focus on building product / technical-focused role, an advisory role, retirement, or some other type of arrangement. We’re flexible, and want to provide the transition that’s best for you.

And don’t worry, when we say “partner” that doesn’t mean 100% buyout. We love it when founders want to keep a stake in the business to benefit from the next stage of growth, but rolling over is certainly not required.