Mile Marker case study | Crunched

Mile Marker

How Mile Marker Advisors Accelerated Transaction Advisory Services with Crunched

Core metrics

About the client

"We chose Crunched because it is purpose-built for transaction workflows, and not just another generic AI assistant"
CD
Caleb Dean
Principal at Mile Marker

Executive Summary

Mile Marker Advisors uses Crunched to dramatically accelerate core transaction advisory workflows - particularly complex financial modeling, financial spreads, and standardized deep research - without changing their existing Excel templates or review standards.

By deploying Crunched directly inside Excel, Mile Marker reduced modeling and analysis tasks that previously took hours or days to minutes, enabling analysts and senior consultants to iterate faster and spend more time on judgment-driven work rather than manual Excel labor.

Across Mile Marker's workflows, Crunched delivered meaningful time savings (days down to hours) on necessary yet time-consuming core tasks, while maintaining full auditability and Excel-native outputs.

The Challenge

High-stakes modeling under tight deadlines

Like most transaction advisory consultants, Mile Marker Advisors operates under constant time pressure. Analysts and associates spend the majority of their time in Excel performing:

These tasks are:

Clients often request additional analysis - more scenarios, deeper diligence, tighter narratives - but the marginal cost in analyst hours sets a cap for the capacity and scope.

The Solution

Crunched the AI Excel analyst

Mile Marker deployed Crunched, the AI Excel analyst built specifically for transaction advisory workflows.

Crunched works directly inside Excel and is designed to operate the way experienced analysts do:

Crucially, Crunched augments Mile Marker's existing templates and processes - it does not replace them. It allows all Mile Marker associates to have their own analyst in Excel, of which they are the expert reviewers.

Focus Area

Modeling first, write-ups second

Crunched delivered step-change improvements for Mile Marker's most time-consuming Excel tasks. Crunched automated specific workflows, and the primary value came from accelerating modeling-heavy workflows, with write-ups layered on top.

Workflow

What the work typically includes Why it can take a long time How Crunched helps in practice Impact*
Complex financial modeling projects Multi-tab models, sourcing and linking data, trend/variance analysis, benchmarking to public comps/peers (where available), and iterative discussions with management Inputs arrive in waves, assumptions evolve, source data needs cleaning/reconciliation, and model structure often changes as insights develop Rapidly scaffolds the model framework, organizes assumptions, accelerates early analysis, and helps generate first-pass outputs that our team refines
Financial spreading Converting varied formats (PDFs/exports/unstructured) into structured schedules, mapping to chart-of-accounts logic, tie-outs to source documents, and consistency checks Data is inconsistent across periods/entities; reconciliation and mapping decisions require judgment and documentation Speeds structuring and mapping, produces reviewable schedules faster, and helps identify questions/edge cases earlier
Target Research analysis and write-ups (model-driven) Synthesizing model outputs with business overview, KPIs, trend drivers, key risks/opportunities, and discussion-ready talking points Research and summarization take time; aligning narrative to model outputs and engagement objectives is iterative Produces an initial structured narrative and summary points that we edit, validate, and tailor to the engagement
Industry write-ups Defining industry scope, gathering credible sources, identifying market structure, growth drivers, competitive dynamics, and key metrics Heavy reading and synthesis; sources vary in quality and relevance; scope needs continual refinement Accelerates synthesis into an editable draft and helps surface key themes and data points for review
Economic write-ups Macro context relevant to the engagement: rate environment, inflation, employment, sector headwinds/tailwinds, and implications for forecasts Wide source set; requires filtering for what's relevant and translating macro to engagement-specific implications Speeds compilation and synthesis into a draft that our team refines and aligns to engagement objectives

*The cycle-time impacts above are directional and based on internal experience and historical workflow comparisons – not minute-by-minute timekeeping records. Results vary by engagement scope, data readiness, complexity, and review requirements. All outputs are reviewed and validated by the Mile Marker team prior to use or delivery.

Mile Marker together with Crunched identified highly manual, long-lasting tasks, and have automated specific workflows entirely. A human is still critically needed to review and iterate on the output, and there are still plenty of tasks where a human has the edge. Crunched augments the person modeling and enables the human to build a deeper, more rigorous model - it does not replace them.

Implementation

How Crunched works in practice at Mile Marker

  1. Complex financial modeling
    Crunched builds, edits, and validates multi-sheet financial models directly inside Excel. Analysts use it to:

    • Construct models from structured inputs
    • Link assumptions correctly across sheets
    • Update scenarios without breaking logic
    • Catch linking and methodology errors before review
      Tasks that previously required hours of careful manual work now complete in minutes - without sacrificing rigor.

  2. Financial spreads and normalization
    Crunched accelerates financial spreading by:

    • Structuring raw financials into standardized Excel formats
    • Linking outputs directly into valuation and transaction models
    • Maintaining traceability back to source data
      This reduced one of Mile Marker's most labor-intensive analyst tasks from a full day to roughly one hour.

  3. Model-driven write-ups
    For company, industry, and economic write-ups, Crunched:

    • Pulls data from analyst-approved datasets
    • Writes directly into templated Excel outputs
    • Maintains formula-level links to underlying assumptions
      This ensures narratives stay synchronized with the model, eliminating manual copy-paste errors and rework.

The Decision

Why Mile Marker chose Crunched

Caleb highlights several key differentiators that made them choose Crunched:

Crunched's forward-deployed approach allowed rapid tailoring to Mile Marker's specific modeling standards and formats.

The Results

Faster deals, deeper analysis

Quantifiable outcomes

Qualitative impact

Crunched effectively made previously "nice-to-have" analysis economically viable within standard deal timelines. This allows Mile Marker to deliver top-tier quality work to all clients regardless of size.

Broader Impact

Why this matters for other transaction advisory firms

For most TAS consultants, the constraint is not ideas - it is execution capacity.

Crunched allows firms like Mile Marker to:

In an environment where speed and accuracy directly impact project outcomes, Crunched becomes a force multiplier for elite TAS teams.

About Crunched

Crunched is an AI Excel analyst built by and for Excel power users in investment banking, private equity, and management consulting. Backed by First Round Capital, Y Combinator, 20VC and others, Crunched integrates advanced AI models directly into Excel to automate modeling, error-checking, research, and templated outputs - without breaking existing workflows.

The goal: automate Excel grunt work, one high-impact pain point at a time.