Field notes from inside stalled funded-tech engagements.
The walking dead pattern, decision-first finance, and how stalled Series A and Series B portcos come back. Updated weekly.
Start here.
A field guide to spotting stalled portcos before the next raise
For VC operators, LPs, and independent directors: the 12 signals that tell you a Series A or B portco is walking dead two quarters before the raise stalls, and what to demand when you see them.
Read →Walking dead recovery: day 1 to day 90
A ninety-day sequence to pull a stalled post-Series A or Series B company out of the walking dead pattern. Day-by-day, dollarized, with exactly who owns what.
Read →The walking dead portco: what it is, how to spot it, how to come back
A walking dead portco looks alive on the cap table and dead in the forecast. Here are the Six Trap Diagnostic™, the three paths out, and the $22,500 to $30,000 of forward-reallocation potential most Diagnostics surface in 14 days.
Read →Decision-first finance: the methodology behind the recovery
Decision-first finance is the CFO methodology built around the five decisions that actually move a funded tech company's trajectory. Here's what it is, how it differs from fractional CFO work, and what 90 days of it looks like.
Read →The full library.
The down-round conversation: how to time it
Most down rounds get decided six months later than they should have been. Here is how to recognize the window, who raises it first, and how the conversation should actually run.
Read →The independent director's playbook for a drifting portco
Independent directors have an asymmetric seat when a portco starts to drift. Here is the three-move playbook for using it well.
Read →How to read a deck that is hiding the stall
A stalled post-Series A or Series B deck has specific tells: forward-looking slides up front, a logo parade in the middle, a pricing-page reshuffle at the back. Here is the investor's reading guide.
Read →What GPs should ask at the next board meeting
Three questions, in order, that take a drifting board meeting and restore operating posture inside forty-five minutes. With the expected answers and the follow-ups.
Read →How GPs spot walking dead portcos early
The early tells are in the monthly update, the board deck, and the way the CEO answers a specific follow-up question. Here is the GP playbook for early detection.
Read →How the stalled raise actually happens
Stalled raises almost never fail at the partner meeting. They fail at a specific sequence of soft signals 120 days earlier. Here is the anatomy of the stall and the 30-day move that reverses it.
Read →The CEO/investor fracture: the silent break in year two
A specific fracture opens between the CEO and the lead investor around month fourteen of the Series A. Here is what it sounds like, why it happens, and how to repair it before the raise stalls.
Read →The board question shift: when softer questions are the real signal
When your board stops asking sharp operating questions and starts asking gentle orientation ones, your company has already been diagnosed. Here is what the shift looks like and how to respond.
Read →The CFO mirage: when a competent hire is the wrong hire
A competent CFO in a walking dead portco can look like a performing CFO for two quarters before the mismatch shows up. Here is how to spot the mirage and what to do about it.
Read →What the first 14 days of a Diagnostic actually look like
Day-by-day, inside the $22,500 to $30,000 trapped-capital scan. What gets touched, what does not, and what the client actually sees by the end of week two.
Read →The Financial Rhythm System: what a monthly cadence looks like
Three instruments, one page each, run monthly, produced before the close deck is written. Here is what the Financial Rhythm System is and why it replaces retrospective finance.
Read →Why retrospective finance fails growth-stage companies
Close the books, build the deck, walk the variance, repeat. Here is why that cadence breaks a Series A or Series B company and what to install instead.
Read →The ratio mirage: when your metrics stop tracking reality
Gross margin, LTV/CAC, net revenue retention, all inside acceptable bands, all uninterpretable. Here is how the ratio mirage forms and how to break it in 14 days.
Read →The one-page decision slide every board should see
Five lines, one page, one decision. The Decision Slide is the single most useful artifact a board can receive in a growth-stage company. Here is the template and how it runs.
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