Plate I. — DKEarly-stage
companies don't
need a consultant.
They need an operator who can build.
I embed in growing companies as a fractional leader, bringing clarity to the organization, structure to the revenue motion, and execution to whatever comes next.
A few patterns
I run into
again and again.
The team isn't sure who owns what
There's a plan, and most people can describe it. But when something needs a decision, it sits. The same questions come up in the same meetings, and progress depends on whoever happens to push hardest that week.
Revenue is harder to predict than it should be
Pipeline looks fine on the surface, but the forecast moves a lot and nobody can really say why. Reps are working hard, the deals just don't close the way they're supposed to, and there isn't a clear read on the motion underneath it.
The company has outgrown how it's run
What worked at ten people doesn't work at thirty. The founder is still in every decision, the tools were chosen a long time ago, and the next phase — a hire, a raise, a new market — keeps getting pushed because the foundation isn't quite ready for it.
I'd rather be in the work than around it.
I've owned the number
Before I was building the systems, I was the one carrying quota and sitting in deal reviews. I closed over a hundred investments at a fintech startup before moving into GTM strategy, so when I look at a revenue motion now it's from the seat — not from the outside.
I've grown with the team
I've helped build GTM functions through some of the hardest stretches of growth — once as a team scaled from 25 to 75, and again supporting a sales org from around 40 to over 100 reps. Different companies, similar pattern. I know what tends to break at each stage and what to get ahead of.
I connect the whole org
I work with executives setting the direction and with the people actually in seat doing the work. The most useful thing I do is sit in between them — getting to the bottom of where things are breaking, untangling the handoffs, and making sure the whole org is moving in the same direction even when it feels chaotic.