A joint practice

“Most portfolio companies have a growth strategy. Few have a commercial system capable of executing it.”

Alicia Dietsch · Fortis Innovators

Growth Strategy & Commercial Execution Partners. From growth plan to measurable results.

Fortis Innovators × SME Cybersecurity

Discuss a growth engagement See the questions we ask

Where we work

The plan held at close. Then the model met reality.

Eighteen months later, the value-creation plan is behind, revenue synergies haven't materialized, and the exit timeline is starting to slip. The commercial organization is executing, just not against a model that can deliver the outcome.

This is where we work: at the point where strategy meets execution, early enough that the answers can still change the result.

Two failure modes

Both are visible earlier than most firms act.

Wrong leadership in place

The leader who got the business to acquisition is running the old playbook. The capability gap and the alignment gap tend to show up together, and go unaddressed longer than they should.

The commercial engine isn't built

The revenue plan was credible at underwriting. But what it assumed didn't exist: clear segmentation, aligned coverage, unambiguous account ownership. The business wasn't structured to deliver it.

What we do that others don't

Board-level standing and operational specificity, in one engagement.

Operating partners are spread across portfolios. Consultants diagnose and step away. Interim executives execute but aren't positioned to challenge the plan itself.

We work together inside a single engagement: the standing to challenge the plan, and the specificity to hold management to it. Strategy tested against how the commercial system actually performs before capital is committed. Execution tied to value-creation outcomes before the exit clock runs out.

Most sponsors haven't had both in the same room.

The principals

Two operators who have lived both sides of the problem.

Growth Strategy & Commercial Execution Partners is a joint practice of Fortis Innovators and SME Cybersecurity, formed by Alicia Dietsch and Mike Thompson.

Alicia Dietsch

Fortis Innovators

Led commercial operations at AT&T Business, a $35B B2B organization. Advises on where growth plans break in execution, across marketing, sales, pricing, and customer retention.

Mike Thompson

SME Cybersecurity

Built and scaled a company through PE exit. Advises PE and VC firms on where assumptions break under ownership, with a focus on acquisition strategy, diligence, and value creation in cybersecurity and technology services.

The questions that don't get asked early enough

At every stage of the deal arc, a few questions decide whether the growth plan holds.

Most don't get asked until performance has already diverged. We ask them early, when the answers can still change the outcome.

Before capital is committed

Is the business winning in the segments the model depends on, or in adjacent ones that won't scale the same way?
Is pricing structural, or a reflection of relationships and legacy positioning that won't survive new ownership?
Can the leadership team execute what is being underwritten, and will they?

During hold

Is the business still winning in the segments the growth plan depends on, or has the mix shifted?
Is ownership of growth clear, or is accountability spread so thin no one owns whether the plan delivers?
Which assumptions is the plan dependent on, and which are not holding in practice?
Where integration is part of the plan, do the businesses sell to the same buyer with the same motion?

Before exit

Is underperformance a strategy problem or a commercial execution problem? The intervention differs.
What can still move within the exit window, and what should be stopped so it doesn't consume resources?
What does the commercial story look like to an acquirer, and can it be underwritten?

Growth plans rarely fail on intent. They fail where strategy meets execution.

How we engage

Structured to fit the situation.

We are introduced through deal teams, operating partners, or portfolio company leadership when growth risk is visible, or before it is underwritten.

Engagements are scoped to the moment: defined-scope projects, an ongoing retainer, or embedded support. We work with PE sponsors and portfolio companies across North America and Europe.

How it fits: this practice is sector-agnostic and focused on the commercial system. For cybersecurity and identity-specific diligence, M&A, and value creation, see SME Cybersecurity advisory.