Private equity · Commercial value creation

The thesis is sound. Is the commercial system ready to deliver it?

I’m David De Smedt. I work with investors and management teams of PE-backed B2B companies to find where commercial growth is being constrained

I align leadership around the right choices, and turn those choices into measurable progress, inside the hold rather than after it.

Discuss a portfolio situation
Discuss a portfolio situation
Find your moment in the hold
Find your moment in the hold

Diagnosis in weeks, not quarters · Led personally, end to end · Benelux & European mid-market

Trusted by leaders at:

30
%
Annual growth

Kantar
Bain Capital-backed

Kantar office
10
Acquisitions in one year

Integrated into one go-to-market
AXI

10
Days

To a strategic go-to-market plan
Spacewell

27
+
Countries

On one sales system
DS Smith

What strong organisations do

Commercial priorities change as the investment changes

The need is rarely a generic growth plan. It is the right commercial interventionfor this moment in the hold, sized to the time you have.

01

Pre-deal · thesis stress-test

Will the commercial growth case hold up in operating reality?

TYPICAL ENTRY
Workshop
02

First 100 days · Post-diligence activation

How do post-diligence findings become afocused commercial activation plan — and who owns what happens first?

TYPICAL ENTRY
90-day sprint
03

Early hold

How does the value creation plan becomeday-to-day execution?

TYPICAL ENTRY
Embedded Commercial Value Creation
04

Mid-hold reset

Why is the expectedgrowth not materialising?

TYPICAL ENTRY
Workshop > Sprint
05

Buy-and-build

How do several businesses become one commercial platform?

TYPICAL ENTRY
90-Day Sprint
06

Exit readiness

What commercial proof will buyers see, and will it hold up?

TYPICAL ENTRY
Sprint > Embedded Commercial Value Creation
David De Smedt profile photo

The pre-deal stress-test complements formal commercial due diligence

It is an experienced operator’s read onwhether the commercial system can deliver the thesis, not a market model.

Book a 30 min call
Book a 30 min call
Take the Pulse
Take the Pulse

Core Distinction

An investment thesis is not yet anoperating model.

01 · INVESTMENT THESIS

The value creation logic

Where to play. Which customers and markets matter. Whichsources of growth should create enterprise value.

02 · COMMERCIAL OPERATING MODEL

The execution logic

How those choices become shared priorities, clear ownershipand a rhythm the organisation actually runs on.

I lead the analysis and working sessions. Your leadership team contributes context, tests the findings and makes decisions. We agree the participation needed before we start.

A thesis is the architect’s drawing. The operating model is thebuilding site: the place where the drawing either becomes astructure, or quietly stays on paper.
WHAT PROGRESS IS MEASURED AGAINST
Win rate
Price realisation
Net revenue retention
Sales cycle length
Pipeline coverage
Cross-sell & attach rate

THE ALIGNMENT MATRIX · DIAGNOSE

Where is the thesis getting stuck?

LOW CLARITY · LOW ALIGNMENT

Fragmented Engine

What it looks like

  1. Conflicting messages
  2. Sales and marketing disconnected
  3. Activity without traction
Book a 30 min call
Book a 30 min call
Take the Pulse
Take the Pulse

HIGH CLARITY · LOW ALIGNMENT

Strategy locked in slides

What it looks like

  1. Strong positioning on paper
  2. Weak adoption in the market
  3. No translation into sales motion
Book a 30 min call
Book a 30 min call
Take the Pulse
Take the Pulse

LOW CLARITY · HIGH ALIGNMENT

Efficiently wrong

What it looks like

  1. High activity, low impact
  2. Teams aligned… around the wrong story
  3. Pipeline looks busy, not effective
Book a 30 min call
Book a 30 min call
Take the Pulse
Take the Pulse

HIGH CLARITY · HIGH ALIGNMENT

Precision Growth Engine

What it looks like

  1. Clear, differentiated narrative
  2. Fully aligned GTM execution
  3. Scalable, repeatable growth
Book a 30 min call
Book a 30 min call
Take the Pulse
Take the Pulse
HIGH SHARED CLARITY LOW LOW EXECUTION HIGH Efficiently wrongAligned intent,weak execution Precision Growth EngineAligned System Fragmented EngineStalled Strategy locked in slidesActive butfragmented

The Clarity Engine

From diagnosis to
aligned execution

The Flywheel is not a standalone theory.
It is the alignment model within the wider Clarity Engine.

See how the full system fits together
See how the full system fits together
Take the Clarity Pulse
Take the Clarity Pulse
01 Diagnose

Find the constraint

The Alignment Matrix exposes where commercial logic, customer understanding, ownership or execution is breaking down.

Take Alignment Matrix
Take Alignment Matrix
02 Align

Reconnect the system.

The Alignment Flywheel reconnects Strategy, Product, Marketing and Sales around shared customer reality, priorities and decisions.

The Alignment Flywheel
The Alignment Flywheel
03 Activate

Make direction executable.

Turn clarity into coordinated execution that compounds.

The Clarity Engine Staircase
The Clarity Engine Staircase

TYPICAL SITUATIONS

When commercial value creation becomes urgent.

The work usually starts at a specific point of friction, not with a request for moreactivity.

01

Growth has stalled

The original plan is intact, but commercialmomentum is not.

02

A new CEO needs a reset

The organisation needs a shared,evidence-led starting point.

03

Buy-and-build is fragmenting

Several businesses need one customerand go-to-market logic.

04

Sales is carrying the system

Demand, proposition and delivery are notreinforcing it.

05

The strategy is not landing

Functions read the priorities differently,and progress becomes local.

06

Exit needs commercial proof

Commercial performance must becredible, repeatable and demonstrable tobuyers.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Commercial transformation where the stakes are real.

Private equity ownership, acquisition-led growth and leadership transitions: threesettings where the commercial system had to catch up with the ambition.

From disconnected marketing to 2x B2B revenue.

Marketing

Sales

Product

Local marketing was disconnected from real sales conversations. Customer insight, sales, product and marketing were connected into one system.

Read Case Study
Read Case Study
2x
revenue in one year
Samsung office

Kantar’s SaaS business was growing. The commercial system had to catch up.

Scaling

Execution

Market Research & Consulting

A fast-growing platform business needed a more repeatable commercial system without losing the strengths of consultative selling.

Read Case Study
Read Case Study
€100M+
Turnover

Rebuilding Marketing without losing the quarter

Messaging

Q4 execution continued while the marketing plan, team structure and operating rhythm were rebuilt for the incoming leadership team.

Read Case Study
Read Case Study
10 days
strategic go-to-market plan

AXI planned for 2 acquisitions. Then 10 happened.

Alignment

IT Services

An inbound brief evolved into a scalable growth engine as ten acquisitions reshaped the organisation and its commercial opportunity.

Read Case Study
Read Case Study
10+
acquisitions < 1y

WAYS TO START

Sized to the
‍moment in the hold.

David De Smedt
David De Smedt
David De Smedt
David De Smedt

You work with me. Not with a team you never met.

I lead every stage personally - from interviews and diagnosis to alignment and activation.

David De Smedt profile photo

I’m David De Smedt, founder of B2B Clarity Engine, based in Belgium andworking across Benelux and Europe

I lead every stage personally, from interviews and diagnosis to alignment and activation. More than 20 years inside the functions I now help align, rather than observing them from the outside.

SALES

Sold to complex B2B buyers

Product

Built and managed commercial propositions

Marketing

Led European and Global marketing

Leadership

Worked as VP, CMO and CRO

Learn more about me
Learn more about me

START WITH THE SITUATION

Bring one portfolio company situation. Leave with a clearerread on it

A 30-minute portfolio situation call to identify where the commercialsystem is holding the thesis back, and whether a Workshop, Sprint orEmbedded Commercial Value Creation engagement fits the moment.

Discuss a portfolio situation
Discuss a portfolio situation