I'm Ruben Claessens. I run SOD.DEL as CEO, full-time. Every Monday I walk into the same decisions most of my clients face: a P&L to protect, a board to report to, key people to retain, deals to evaluate. LIDI is where, two or three times a year, I take on an outside mandate — in the territory where my operator seat, my M&A reflexes, and my digital experience actually change the outcome.

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INSEAD - the grammar.

I read for my MBA at INSEAD. It is the best degree I know for someone who intends to run a company rather than advise one: relentlessly cross-border, unapologetically case-based, focused on executing decisions rather than framing them on slides. I left with a network that spans most major PE houses and operator circles in Europe - and with a discipline that still shapes how I work.

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US mining - the deal education.

Before SOD.DEL, I spent 3 years in the United States, working as a Digital Director at Carmeuse. Mining is not a polite industry. Capital is heavy, operations are brutal, no one on a site is impressed by a framework. Three lessons still guide me: a business case only matters once you have walked the floor; earn-outs and working-capital adjustments are where the real price hides; integration starts on day minus thirty, not day one. In a negotiation, clarity is the highest form of respect.

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What I stand for.

• Operator truth beats framework truth. 

• Narrow beats broad.

• Honest capacity beats vague availability.

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What I bring.

If you are an owner, a group executive, or a PE-backed CEO facing an acquisition, a stuck integration, or a growth inflection - I can be useful. I read data rooms and flag the five things the team is missing. I architect 100-day integration plans and chair the steerco while your team executes. I sit monthly with CEOs to pressure-test the decisions that matter. And I tell you, honestly, when I'm not the right fit.

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- Ruben