A founder-led tech business was growing quickly and attracting increased investor scrutiny. The board needed to evolve from “founder + friends” to a professional governance structure that could support the next phase.
The challenge
The business (£15m ARR, Series B-funded, SaaS) had grown fast but was showing strain:
- Unit economics deteriorating: CAC payback at 24 months, LTV/CAC ratio at 2.1x. Growth was impressive but increasingly expensive.
- Founder-CEO stretched across product, sales, and fundraising. No COO, no VP Sales, no CFO.
- Board composed of two investor directors and one “friend NED” with no SaaS operating experience.
- Investors signalling that Series C would require improved governance, clearer unit economics, and evidence the business could scale without the founder doing everything.
My role
I joined as an independent NED with a specific commercial mandate: improve unit economics, support founder transition to scale-up leadership, and upgrade board composition.
- Challenged unit economics: led a forensic review of CAC, LTV, and payback by segment. Identified two segments destroying value and recommended strategic pivot to profitable customer segments.
- Supported founder transition: worked 1-on-1 with the founder-CEO on delegation, hiring senior operators, and transitioning from heroic individual contributor to leader who scales through others.
- Upgraded board composition: recommended adding a CFO-level NED and replacing the friend NED with an operator who had scaled SaaS businesses internationally.
The outcome
18 months post-engagement:
- Unit economics improved (CAC payback down from 24 months to 14 months; LTV/CAC ratio up from 2.1x to 3.8x).
- Revenue growth moderated to 45% YoY (from 80%) but margins improved 12 percentage points.
- Founder-CEO successfully transitioned (hired COO, VP Sales, CFO; delegated operational execution).
- Board composition upgraded (2 new NEDs with operational depth).
- Series C funding secured at higher valuation (investors cited improved governance and unit economics as key drivers).