How to Notify Stakeholders When You’ve Made the Decision to Wind Down
Deciding to wind down a project, business, or operation is difficult. Communicating that decision to stakeholders is harder. When handled…
When uncertainty creeps into a leadership team, it rarely stays contained. We help founders and their closest advisors navigate complexity, reconnect with purpose, and reset the ground game.
We work closely with founders and senior teams facing hesitation, internal tension, or difficult terrain. Whether you’re recovering from operational shocks or preparing for a strategic shift, we stabilize momentum and reestablish leadership confidence.
Even the most competent founders hit friction they can’t resolve alone. These moments aren’t failures—they’re signals that conditions have changed, and the current strategy isn’t fit for them.
These signals show up before the real damage is visible on a P&L. We come in early enough to prevent long-term drift—and late enough to move fast.
Featured Case Study
The founder was silent, the board was worried, and no one knew what would happen next. Pholus intervened, diagnosed the disengagement, and helped revive execution without igniting a power struggle.
The mission never changed. The approach did and it saved the company.
Founder Reset After Market Shock
When the market turned, my team went quiet. Internal trust eroded fast. Pholus stepped in, reset communication norms, and helped us address the elephant in the room. No drama—just traction.
COO
Navigating a Major Pivot
We were pivoting to a new customer segment, and the exec team had wildly different views. Pholus brought clear thinking and tactical facilitation. It kept the mission intact and morale high.
Co-Founder
Leadership Fatigue & Drift
I wasn’t burned out—I was numb. My board didn’t know how to help. Pholus recalibrated how I engaged with the company. Within two weeks, I had a plan and a voice again.
Founder
We don’t just advise. We help move things forward.
Intervened when a founder’s rapid emotional shifts started destabilizing team dynamics and investor relations. We built in stabilizers, reframed pressure points, and restored strategic rhythm without removing them from leadership.
Supported an idea-heavy founder with a system to translate concepts into execution. Prevented team whiplash, created prioritization scaffolds, and kept the vision from becoming a distraction.
A founder–investor conflict risked derailment. We restructured advisory access, clarified lines of input, and helped the founder regain footing without damaging long-term investor relations.
We’ve handled plenty of scenarios that fall outside these headings. If it’s complex, we’re comfortable.
A four-stage structure for containing drift, restoring coherence, and protecting legitimacy under pressure.
You know something’s off but not everyone agrees, and no one’s naming it. Our initial diagnostic helps surface early signs of drift before they harden into reputational, stakeholder, or internal damage.
Once the signals are clear, we help you articulate what’s breaking down — and why it matters. Our written brief gives decision-makers a neutral, actionable framing they can use internally or externally.
With the right framing in place, we help you reset structure, message, and trust. Our short alignment sprint creates forward motion under pressure — without triggering alarm or resistance.
When the dust settles, we stay engaged as a quiet strategic presence. Through a discreet retainer or board role, we help anchor decisions and protect legitimacy through the next cycle.
Want a deeper look at how each phase works? See more here.
Start with a private, confidential diagnostic call. We’ll help you see what’s shifting — and what still holds.
We help you see what spreadsheets miss and bring structure to environments that feel unpredictable.