OPERATOR-LEVEL ADVISORY
I help mid-market SMEs get their deals and integrations right
Two-week pressure-test before you sign. A 100-day plan when the integration is already slipping. Ongoing sparring for CEOs scaling through acquisition. I run a company myself - so the advice has to work on Monday.
2–3 active clients at a time · EN · NL · FR
WHO IS THIS FOR
This is for you if -
01 - PRE/POST DEAL
You just signed the LOI
The model works on paper. Your team i strong on operations but thin on M&A reflexes. You want an outside read before the board meeting.
02 - POST CLOSE
You're 90 days past a close and synergies arent landing
Integration is slipping. IT cutover is stuck, key people are wobbling. You need a plan the team can actually execute.
03 - ONGOING
You're scaling through acquisition and want a peer in the room
PE-backed platform, buy-and-build thesis, 2-5 bolt-ons a year. You want operator discipline without a Big 4 price tage
THE SHIFT
Operator advice beats framework advice - if the operator is still in the seat
Most M&A work goes fine until the deal closes. Then the real work starts - and that is where mid-market companies lose thirty to fifty percent of the value they paid for. I know, because I run a company and I have lived it.
I am the CEO of SOD.DEL. I run it full-time. Through LIDI I take two or three advisory engagements a year - no more - where my operator seat, my M&A reflexes, and my digital-lever experience are actually useful. The clients I serve are owners, group executives, and PE-backed platform CEOs facing a transaction, an integration, or a growth inflection.
I do not sell time. I sell fixed-scope engagements with written outputs a team can act on. I do not build decks. I do not run integrations - I architect them. And I keep the client list short enough that when we talk on Monday morning, the conversation is useful.
HOW I ENGAGE
Three fixed-scope engagements.
SERVICE 1 - LAND
Deal Pressure Test
A written pressure-test before you sign, or a 90-day recovery plan when the integration is already slipping
2 weeks · fixed €10–12K
memo + readout
SERVICE 2 - CORE
Integration Architect
I design the 100-day plan and chair the steering committee. Your team executes. I am the architect, not the builder
4–6 months · €15–18K/month
1 day/week
SERVICE 3 - ANCHOR
CEO's Deal Partner
An ongoing sparring partner for CEOs scaling through acquisition. Monthly working sessions. Board-level input when it matters.
12 months rolling · €6K/month
2 day/month
.png)
ABOUT
An operational CEO with a deliberately narrow advisory practice
I'm Ruben Claessens. I run SOD.DEL as CEO - full-time. Through LIDI I take on two or three advisory engagements a year, almost always at the intersection of M&A, post-deal integration, and AI leverage.
Before SOD.DEL, I worked in the United States and completed a Global Executive MBA at INSEAD. I operate in English, Dutch and French. My practice is deliberately small so the engagements I accept are the ones where an operator's eye actually changes the outcome.