The Promise
We diagnose the structural gaps slowing your portfolio companies down — not founder suspicion, but evidence from structured interviews and data. Then we fix one gap completely and hand the business a working artefact. Fixed scope. Fixed timeline. No ongoing commitment.
Who This Is For
Portfolio operators managing multiple companies who want to bring operational clarity across their holdings.
These are investors or operators who see the same patterns repeating: founders stretched thin, unit economics unclear, operating systems that live in one person's head. They want a structured way to diagnose and fix these gaps without adding permanent headcount or committing to open-ended advisory.
This is not for startups looking for a fractional COO. It's for people who oversee several companies and need a repeatable method to strengthen operational foundations across their portfolio.
The North Star: Operational Momentum
Every engagement is anchored to a single question: is this company building organisational capacity at the same rate it is building physical capacity? When the answer is no, operational fragility accumulates — invisibly until capital is deployed. Arclight names exactly where the system is failing before that capital stress arrives.
This is the question your IC memo cannot currently answer with evidence. The diagnostic produces that evidence. The artefact closes one of the gaps it names.
The 44-Day Shape
Days 1–14
Diagnostic
Intake, 5–7 interviews, evidence gathering, bottleneck identification.
Day 14
Readout
Named structural gaps with evidence. One recommended first fix.
Days 15–44
Quick Clear
One fix, one artefact, weekly checkpoints with the founder.
Day 44
Handoff
The team owns the artefact. Operating rhythm established.
What the Founder Gets
- Three bottlenecks with evidence—not opinions, documented findings.
- One concrete artefact: an SOP workflow, a decision-rights map (RACI), or a unit economics model.
- A rhythm for what happens after we leave—weekly and monthly cadences the team can maintain.
What the GP Gets
- A summary of known risks and blind spots—the questions a Series A investor will ask that the company can't currently answer.
- Confirmation the artefact is in the portfolio company's hands and in active use.
- A short roadmap: what comes next, indicative timing—suitable for IC memos and LP updates.
What This Is Not
We stay in our lane:
- Not strategy advisory
- Not fundraising support
- Not cap table or CFO work
- Not HR compensation design
- Not ERP implementation
Commercial Shape
The founder signs the engagement. The GP refers and receives outputs as a courtesy. Fee discussed in proposal. 50% on signature, 50% at Quick Clear commencement. No success-based pricing.
High-Touch, Founder-Executes
This is a high-touch engagement: real interviews, evidence-based diagnosis, weekly checkpoints, hands-on artefact development. But the execution depends on the founder and their team.
Arclight's job is to make everything simple, clear, and actionable—then hand over something the team can own and run without us. The artefact outlasts the engagement.