The Premise
Most growth problems aren't strategy problems. They're diagnosis problems. The team knows something is wrong. They can name the symptom — low conversion, high churn, flat expansion. What they can't do, while also running the company, is sit with the data long enough to find the actual cause.
I embed inside SaaS teams for ninety days. I don't advise from a distance. I sit in the Slack, read the cohorts, run the interviews, and stay until the number moves. Then I write everything down so the team can run it without me.
The page below is a case study of how that works — the exact frameworks, the specific interventions, and the measured outcomes. Read it as due diligence.
The Argument
Most SaaS teams have enough data. What they lack is someone who can read the cohorts, name the leak, and stay long enough to watch the number move.
Phase 01 / Weeks 1–2
Diagnosis: Reading the Cohorts
The Problem
The team has a Mixpanel dashboard and a conversion rate. What they don't have is a clear picture of which cohort segment is dragging the average down, which activation event actually predicts retention, and whether the pricing tier structure is creating false floors in expansion.
Before
2.8%
After
—
Baseline established
Frameworks Applied
"The problem is almost never where the team thinks it is. The symptom is low trial-to-paid. The cause is usually a mismatch between the activation event and the actual value moment."
Measured Outcome
A written diagnosis memo: the two or three highest-leverage interventions ranked by expected impact and implementation cost. No roadmap theatre — just a clear call on where to spend the next sixty days.
Phase 02 / Weeks 3–6
Remodel: Restructuring the Funnel
The Problem
Onboarding flows are usually built by the first engineer who joined, extended by whoever was closest to the complaint, and never audited as a system. The result is a funnel that reflects the product's history, not the user's job.
Before
34 days
After
11 days
Time-to-value
Frameworks Applied
"Pricing is the highest-leverage variable in SaaS and the most consistently under-optimised. Most teams set it once, then treat it as infrastructure."
Measured Outcome
A remodelled onboarding sequence live in staging, revised pricing tier architecture with expansion triggers, and a set of activation experiments with pre-defined success criteria.
Phase 03 / Weeks 7–10
Instrument: Making the Invisible Visible
The Problem
Most growth teams are flying on lagging indicators. By the time churn shows up in the dashboard, the customer has been disengaged for sixty days. The instrumentation layer needs to surface leading signals — usage drop-offs, feature abandonment, expansion readiness — before the revenue impact arrives.
Before
88%
After
124%
Net Revenue Retention
Frameworks Applied
"A health score that no one acts on is just a vanity metric with extra steps. Instrumentation is only valuable when it changes a human's behaviour within 48 hours."
Measured Outcome
A working health score model integrated into the CRM, automated expansion triggers firing to the CS team, and a weekly metrics ritual the team can run without external support.
Phase 04 / Weeks 11–13
Transfer: Embedding the System
The Problem
The most common failure mode in consulting engagements isn't bad strategy — it's strategy that lives in a deck. The last three weeks are about encoding everything into processes, templates, and rituals that the team can own and extend independently.
Before
18%
After
41%
Expansion Revenue %
Frameworks Applied
"The sprint ends when the team can run the next experiment without me. That's the only definition of done that matters."
Measured Outcome
A complete growth playbook, a prioritised experiment backlog for the next quarter, and a trained internal owner who can run the system. The engagement closes with a 90-day retrospective call.
Who This Is For
Three situations. One intervention.
Series A / B Founder
Trial-to-paid flatlined at 3%
You closed your round on the activation story. Twelve months later the number hasn't moved. The board deck is in six weeks and you need a credible narrative — or a real fix.
VP Growth — Inherited Funnel
Someone else built this. Now you own it.
You joined three months ago. You've audited the funnel, spotted six leaks, and need an outside strategist who can validate the diagnosis and run the fix — without becoming a full-time headcount line.
PE Portfolio Operator
Five platforms. One growth lever each.
You're managing a portfolio of mid-market SaaS assets. Each one needs a different intervention. You need a specialist who can parachute in, move the metric, and hand off a repeatable system before the next hold period.
Anonymised Outcomes
The numbers that moved.
Every figure below is from a completed engagement. Client names are withheld by default; references available on request.
Trial-to-paid
Net Revenue Retention
Average Contract Value
Time-to-value
Expansion Revenue %
Seat expansion rate
Primary Path
Book a Diagnosis Call
Sixty minutes. I'll map your activation funnel live, identify the two or three highest-leverage interventions, and tell you whether a sprint makes sense — no pitch deck, no follow-up sequence.
Secondary Path
Download the Activation Audit Template
The exact spreadsheet I use in Week 1 of every engagement. Cohort decomposition, activation event mapping, and a friction inventory. Free. No drip sequence.
What's inside