Aerospace & Defense Contractor Software | CEO Transition

The Challenge

A company that technically existed — but still needed to be built.

The business had just emerged from a divestiture. What remained was the software, a handful of existing customer contracts, and the professional services and engineering teams. Everything else — go-to-market resources, sales tools, an active pipeline, a prospect database, a defined sales process — was gone. No one inside the business was responsible for generating new revenue.

The problem extended beyond sales. The leadership team had spent their entire careers operating as a division inside a larger enterprise, executing strategies handed down from above. Overnight, they were responsible for building and leading an independent company. The operational structure, leadership cadence, and commercial direction all still needed to be created.

How We Got There

Three workstreams. Twelve months. Zero revenue engine to fully operational.

Workstream 01

Governance & Leadership

Before the company could grow, it needed a foundation — clear accountability, visible metrics, and a leadership team ready to own their function rather than just run it.

Established operational discipline using an EOS-based management framework, including annual planning, quarterly rocks, and weekly leadership meetings — building the cadence and structure an independent company requires.
Introduced functional scorecards so each leader owned measurable outcomes within their department, creating visibility and accountability across the organization.
Provided executive coaching to help the management team transition from department execution to enterprise leadership — shifting from completing tasks to owning strategy, prioritization, and decision-making for their teams.

Workstream 02

Commercial Rebuild

Building a revenue engine from scratch meant getting the right person in place, learning from existing customers, and rebuilding the pricing model to reflect actual market value.

Recruited a salesperson with deep industry and product expertise to lead business development — the right profile to rebuild credibility and pipeline in a specialized market.
Conducted direct outreach to existing customers to understand how the market perceived the product, where they saw the greatest value, and how the offering should be positioned competitively.
Used those insights to develop a revised go-to-market strategy and a new pricing model. Executed a company-wide pricing initiative across the recurring revenue base while the new sales leader simultaneously rebuilt the pipeline with ongoing strategic guidance and executive support.

Workstream 03

Permanent Transition

A fractional engagement done right ends with the business stronger and self-sufficient — not dependent on the person who built it.

Identified, recruited, and onboarded a permanent CEO through a structured search process, ensuring the incoming leader had the commercial instincts and operational experience to continue building on the foundation that had been laid.

The Results

A $14M pipeline. A functioning company. A permanent leader in place.

Built a qualified sales pipeline from zero to $14M within 12 months.

Increased recurring revenue 15% year over year through pricing optimization and strategic price increases.

Implemented a fully operational governance and accountability model capable of running independently.

Transitioned the management team from departmental execution to ownership of company strategy and direction.

Recruited and onboarded a permanent CEO who immediately began closing new customer contracts and expanding the marketing function.

A company that technically existed — but still needed to be built.

Three workstreams. Twelve months. Zero revenue engine to fully operational.

A $14M pipeline. A functioning company. A permanent leader in place.

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