Capital Allocation + Execution Recovery
For $2-15M revenue companies experiencing post-funding execution drag
The Pattern
Hiring for Growth
You hire for the growth you projected
Growth Slows
Growth comes slower than expected
Misalignment
Cost structure doesn't match revenue
Founder back in every decision
Stall
Execution has stalled
Hiring for Growth
You hire for the growth you projected
Growth Slows
Growth comes slower than expected
Misalignment
Cost structure doesn't match revenue
Founder back in every decision
Stall
Execution has stalled
Decisions don't slow because people are incapable.
They slow because ownership, information, and authority stop scaling as the company grows.
When This Fits
- $2-15M revenue
- Post-seed or Series A
- Team of 15-50
- 12-24 months runway
- Execution not compounding despite hiring
The Intervention
Capital Allocation Reset
- Align burn with actual growth trajectory
- Separate growth drivers from legacy costs
- Extend runway without killing momentum
Execution Constraint Removal
- Remove founder as decision bottleneck
- Narrow priorities to what matters
- Restore decision speed
Most engagements require both.
Week 1–2: Diagnostic
Review P&L, burn, runway, org structure, decision flow, and recurring spend. Interview founder + 3–6 functional leads (product, sales, finance, ops).
Deliverable: Constraint memo that identifies what's actually limiting execution, true burn and runway, and which decisions need to be forced next.
Week 3–4: Priority Reset
Model a few capital allocation paths with clear tradeoffs—no optimism, no theory. Narrow to three near-term objectives with named owners and a weekly operating rhythm.
Deliverable: 30–60 day execution plan with reset ownership.
Week 5–12: Execution Sprint
Two live working sessions per week + decision-forcing between sessions. Focus on removing friction, unblocking decisions, and reallocating spend until execution compounds.
Deliverable: Clean handoff with ownership, cadence, and decision structure in place so progress continues independently.
Fixed 90-day engagement. Clear exit.
Exit criteria: Constraint removed, operating rhythm established, founder no longer in day-to-day execution.
Recent Engagement
(Anonymized)
The Company
$9M ARR · NYC · 28 people
Burn: $165k/month · 18 months runway
Revenue growth had stalled. Costs hadn't.
The team had grown, but execution wasn't keeping pace. Recurring spend had accumulated over years—tools, vendors, contracts—none of it revisited. The founder was still the final call on major expenses, but no one actually owned the full cost picture.
The Problem
Most costs stayed because nothing forced a decision.
Tools remained active long after their purpose faded
Vendor contracts auto-renewed
Spend decisions scattered across teams with no clear owner
Nothing felt urgent in isolation. Collectively, it dragged everything down.
The Work
We restructured how recurring costs got decided—and who answered for them.
Treated recurring spend as a system, not a checklist
Assigned clear ownership for tools and vendors
Removed the founder from routine cost calls
Reallocated capital away from low-return recurring expenses
These weren't hard calls. They just needed someone willing to make them.
Immediate Impact
$35k/month cut from low-return recurring spend
Costs stopped defaulting to "stay"
Ownership became explicit
Runway
28months
from 18
Efficiency
40%
increase in rev/employee, headcount flat
Speed
weeks → days
spend decisions
Why It Stuck
Cost decisions stopped being emotional or historical.
They became owned.
Once that shift happened, the discipline held.
Where This Fits
Founder-led companies with recurring revenue, growing teams, and costs quietly outpacing execution.
For inquiries about this service
ronald@wackermanagement.comInclude company name, revenue range, and current constraint.