David Lahey

I advise growth-stage SaaS CEOs at the inflection points that determine enterprise value.

Acquisitions, pivots, scale moments, go-to-market resets, and the AI disruption reshaping how software companies grow. I have been in the room for these decisions six times over, once as a founder and five times as an operating executive on teams that went on to exit.

6
Exits, as founder and operator
118%
Net revenue retention at Talix
60%
YoY direct B2B sales growth at WeVideo
3
Platform shifts navigated firsthand
When CEOs Bring Me In

The moments where enterprise value is won or lost.

AI is rewriting the model

The product, the go-to-market motion, or the customer value proposition is shifting, and the operating model has to change with it. I have lived through two platform shifts before this one.

Growth has slowed

The board wants operating leverage rather than more spend, and someone has to find it without breaking the team in the process.

A deal is underperforming

The acquisition closed, but the integration is not producing the value it promised.

The model is shifting

B2C to B2B, SMB to enterprise, or product-led to sales-led. I've led pivots while holding 90%+ customer retention.

The company is not broken. The old model is no longer enough.

I have seen this movie six times. Once as a founder. Five times as an operator.

My judgment is not theoretical. It was earned across six exit journeys, from multiple seats at the table: founder, operator, executive team member, and advisor.

That experience taught me which decisions compound value, which create hidden drag, and which quietly increase execution risk. It is a practical view of value creation that a CEO cannot get from someone who has only read about it.

It also gave me something rarer: pattern recognition across the major software platform shifts. I started as a teenager keeping my father's books on a teletype connected to the Dartmouth Time Sharing System. From there to PC-based business software, to cloud SaaS, to today's AI-native operating models.

That is why CEOs bring me in on AI. I am not approaching it as my first major technology disruption. I have seen what happens when a platform shift separates the companies that adapt their operating model from those that keep optimizing the old one.

I advise AI-native and growth-stage companies on go-to-market strategy, operating cadence, customer lifecycle transformation, and the high-stakes calls that inflection points demand.

The work is helping CEOs clarify priorities, align their revenue engine, and decide well under pressure, without burning out their teams or breaking what is already working.

I take on a small number of engagements at a time, by design.

Contact

Start a conversation.

If your company is facing a value-defining inflection point, please reach out and share a little context with me.

While based in the greater Los Angeles area, I work globally, am open to travel, and only engage with a small number of clients.

I review inquiries personally. Your details are never shared.

Message received.

Thank you for reaching out. I review inquiries personally and will respond if there is a clear fit for a conversation.