Growth Consulting
Strategic retainers for SaaS companies entering the compounding stage of growth. The advisory layer — for teams who already have a growth function but need an external operator to pressure-test the system and chart the next phase.
Internal growth teams hit a structural ceiling
The growth function inside most SaaS companies follows a predictable arc: small team learning by doing, then scaling team learning by execution, then hitting a structural ceiling where the next phase isn’t about doing more — it’s about deciding differently.
That ceiling is hard to break from inside the team. The people who built the current system are too close to it. The leadership is too far from it. The default response is more hires, more channels, more experiments — when what’s needed is architectural decisions about what to stop doing, what to consolidate, and where the next compounding layer comes from. Sometimes you need an operator who can see the system from outside.
Strategic depth without operating overhead
I work with growth leaders, founders, and executive teams as an external operator — close enough to know the system, distant enough to see it. The engagement is structured around quarterly cycles with regular touchpoints in between, not weekly operational involvement.
Each cycle does the same three things: diagnose the current state of the growth system honestly, pressure-test the next-phase plan, and identify the architectural decisions that internal teams systematically miss. Output is strategic, not tactical — but specific enough that someone can act on it.
This is the engagement for teams that already know what they’re doing but want a sharper external lens on what they’re about to do next.
Deliverables
Quarterly system diagnostic
Forensic review of the current growth system — what’s working, what’s decaying, what’s about to break. Delivered as a working document, not a slide deck.
Next-phase pressure test
Critical review of your team’s next-phase plan. The hard questions internal teams systematically avoid. Done before you commit budget.
Strategic recommendations
3–5 specific architectural moves for the next quarter. Each one with rationale, dependency mapping, and a way to measure whether it worked.
Monthly working sessions
2-hour deep sessions with growth leadership. Pressure-testing decisions in flight, surfacing blind spots, escalating risks before they become problems.
Async support & doc reviews
Email and Slack access for the specific things that don’t need a meeting. Doc reviews, hire decisions, strategic questions as they come up.
Annual strategic review
End-of-engagement synthesis — what compounded, what didn’t, and the architecture for the next year. The handover document if we don’t continue.
What 12 weeks looks like
System diagnostic
Full diagnostic of current growth system. Pressure-test the existing plan. Identify the 3–5 strategic moves for the quarter.
Strategic execution
Monthly working sessions with leadership. Doc reviews. Specific decisions pressure-tested in flight.
Mid-engagement review
What’s compounded, what hasn’t. Recalibrate the next-phase architecture. Document the lessons.
Annual synthesis
End-of-engagement strategic review. Roadmap for the next year. Handover if the engagement ends.
Pricing & structure
Quarterly advisory
One quarterly diagnostic + monthly working sessions + async support. The lightweight engagement.
- Quarterly system diagnostic
- Monthly working sessions
- Async email & Slack support
- Doc reviews on demand
Strategic retainer
Ongoing strategic depth — quarterly diagnostics, monthly sessions, weekly async, annual review. The standard engagement.
- Everything in Quarterly advisory
- Weekly async availability
- Annual strategic review
- Strategic hire interview support
- Board / investor prep support
Executive partner
Embedded strategic partner — fractional growth executive equivalent, with deep operating involvement.
- Everything in Strategic retainer
- Weekly leadership sessions
- Direct team access
- Board meeting attendance
- Executive search support
A system in action
A utility-led SEO engine that compounded into 40L+ monthly impressions
“The strategic conversations were as valuable as the architectural work — getting outside perspective on multi-year decisions while staying close enough to execute on the immediate ones.”
FAQ
Get external strategic depth on your growth system.
I take 2–3 Growth Consulting engagements at a time. If your growth team has hit a structural ceiling and you want external pressure on the next-phase architecture, let’s talk.