01
Challenge the leadership
We work with you and your leadership team on the decisions that actually matter: strategy, priorities, trade-offs, decision rights and the conversations nobody else in the room is willing to have.
Transformation partners · Amsterdam · Working globally
Transformation doesn't happen to an organisation. It happens through its leaders.
We partner with senior leaders in PE-backed portfolio companies, Tech and R&D organisations to turn strategic ambition into lasting change: how leadership decides, how the organisation operates, and how teams work. Hands-on, in the room, alongside you.
The problem
You probably don't have a strategy problem.
You have a translation problem.
The strategy is clear. The transformation programme is funded. The roadmap exists. The organisation has the tools, processes, OKRs and agile teams.
And yet the organisation keeps behaving the same way.
Decisions still come back to you.
Leaders agree in the room, then revert to old behaviour.
Teams wait for permission instead of taking ownership.
The transformation becomes another programme to manage.
Six months later, you're having the same conversation again.
Our thesis
The real unit of transformation is leadership behaviour.
Most transformation efforts start too low in the organisation. New tools. New processes. New structures. New rituals. But if leadership continues to make decisions in the old way, the organisation eventually follows.
When transformation doesn't stick, go one layer deeper.
Don't add a tool when the problem is the process. Don't redesign the process when the problem is decision rights. Don't train people when the leadership system still rewards the old behaviour. Find the layer that's actually holding the organisation back, and change that.
What we do
We work with the leader and the system.
Not executive coaching on one side. Not transformation consulting on the other. We combine the two.
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Change the operating system
We turn leadership intent into mechanisms that shape behaviour: structure, incentives, metrics, cadence, resource allocation and ways of working.
03
Work alongside the organisation
We don't disappear into a boardroom and return with recommendations. We work inside the organisation with leadership, product, engineering, R&D and the people doing the work.
04
Make it yours
The goal isn't dependence on us. We build the new rhythm with your people, then progressively step back.
The difference
A transformation partner is not a consultant. And not just a coach.
Consultant
Tells you what to do.
Useful when the problem is knowledge. But transformation rarely fails because nobody knows what the answer should be.
Executive coach
Helps you change yourself.
Powerful. But changing one leader isn't enough if the system around them keeps producing the same behaviour.
Interim leader
Takes responsibility for the function.
Useful when there is an execution gap. But they can become another person the organisation depends upon.
Transformation partner
Works with you to change the system itself.
We challenge. We coach. We operate. We help make the difficult decisions and make sure the organisation learns to operate differently without us.
Coach + Operator + Challenger. That's the Value First role.
Recognition
You might recognise yourself here.
“I'm becoming the bottleneck.”
Too many decisions still come to the top. You want empowered leaders, but you're still making the important calls.
“Everyone agrees, then nothing changes.”
The leadership team is aligned in meetings. Then everyone goes back to their old priorities.
“We've transformed the teams. Not the organisation.”
Agile rituals are running. Product managers have titles. OKRs are everywhere. The underlying decision-making hasn't changed.
“The plan says product-led. Sales still runs the roadmap.”
Every big customer promise becomes a priority. The team never gets to pursue an outcome, only to deliver a list.
“We have the data. It never changes a decision.”
Dashboards everywhere, analysis challenged on method, big bets still made on conviction. The data team has become an audit function.
“We've done this before.”
Another transformation programme. Another roadmap. Another kick-off. Eventually everything went back to normal.
One of our lenses
Decision quality is not outcome quality.
A good decision can produce a bad outcome. A bad decision can get lucky. Transformation requires leaders to become better at distinguishing the two.
“Gut writes the hypothesis. Evidence sizes the bet.”
01
From
Opinion to Hypothesis
02
From
Confidence to Evidence
03
From
Debate to Experiment
04
From
Outcome to Learning
05
From
Escalation to Decision rights
What changes
The measure of transformation isn't activity. It's what becomes different.
Fewer decisions escalate to the CEO
Leadership teams make more decisions without waiting for permission.
Resources move when evidence changes
Strategy becomes visible in actual resource allocation.
Teams own outcomes
People solve problems rather than simply delivering outputs.
Learning cycles get shorter
The organisation finds out sooner what to stop, continue or scale.
Leadership conversations get more honest
Disagreement becomes useful rather than political.
Transformation survives us
The organisation owns the rhythm instead of depending on the partner.
Our work
We've been inside organisations where transformation actually has consequences.
CarNext PE-backed
Product Transformation Lead
The problem. Leadership wanted an empowered product organisation; the company was still steered centrally.
What we did. Worked with the CTO, CPO, Head of Engineering and CHRO to move product and engineering to a product-led operating model: strategy, team topology, decision-making and leadership behaviour together.
HeadFirst Group PE-backed
Global Head of Product Management
The problem. Scale across the UK, North America and APAC was creating coordination overhead rather than leverage.
What we did. Product strategy, roadmap, quarterly OKR cadence, product-engineering team topology, and the coaching and hiring of product managers.
CSL
Agile Coach & Leadership Advisor, R&D
The problem. Long development horizons and complex dependencies made conventional planning a constraint.
What we did. Designed and tested a new agile R&D way of working across Europe and Australia, from lab automation to early clinical trials, and supported the sa-mRNA COVID vaccine programme.
Albert Heijn
Product Transformation Lead, Strategic Store Innovations
The problem. Launch strategic store innovations to help grow the Albert Heijn business.
What we did. We successfully shipped new store innovations like WINK in 1000+ AH stores and set up the technical integration and rollout for the 100+ AH To Go's in BP Tankstations in The Netherlands.
CSLAEGONCarNextHeadFirstAlbert HeijnABN AMRORabobankRandstadSchiphol
Private-equity-backed engagements include CarNext, HeadFirst-Impellam, Login VSI and Usabilla.
Recommendations from CTOs, CPOs and R&D leaders we've worked with are on LinkedIn. Named references are available on request.
Who we are
Two transformation partners.
Different backgrounds. Same obsession.
Timo Mulder
Transformation Partner · Product · Technology · R&D
14 years working inside product, engineering and R&D organisations across biopharma, technology, retail, fintech and SaaS.
His strength: seeing where strategy, product, technology and organisational design collide.
Kees van Nunen
Transformation Partner · Leadership · Innovation · Organisation
300+ teams coached across corporate innovation, product and marketing, working with senior leaders on strategy, structure, leadership and momentum.
His strength: helping leaders change the system around them, not just themselves.
How we engage
Transformation doesn't need to start with a 12-month commitment.
Start with the problem. Earn the right to go deeper.
2 to 4 weeks
Transformation Diagnosis
Understand what is actually preventing change from sticking.
- Leadership behaviour
- Decision-making
- Operating model
- Team behaviour
- Incentives & metrics
You get A clear picture of which layer is holding the transformation back, and where to intervene first.
3 to 6 months
Transformation Partnership
Work alongside the leadership team to change the system.
- Coach
- Challenge
- Operate
- Change
- Measure
You get Visible change in a few lighthouse teams or companies, with the evidence to show it.
6 to 12+ months, only when needed
Institutionalise
Build internal capability and make the new operating rhythm self-sustaining.
- Transfer capability
- Embed the model
- Build ownership
- Step back
You get A transformation that continues after we leave.
Our point of view
Some things we believe strongly.
Empowerment without decision rights is theatre.
Most delivery problems are leadership problems two levels up.
Small batches beat big plans.
Make the real work visible.
Transformation must survive the people who started it.
Gut writes the hypothesis. Evidence sizes the bet.
Let's talk
Something needs to change.
But you're not sure what's actually holding it back.
Let's figure it out. No pitch. No transformation deck. Just a conversation about what's happening inside your organisation, and whether we can help.