Finance · 12 min
Mini-MBA Part 3: What was never on the syllabus
This series argued that a general management programme changes three things: what you can compute yourself, what you stop trying…
Read Mid-market M&A · BE · NL · LU · FR · Remote
A narrow advisory practice, run by an operating CEO.
Two to three mandates a year, alongside a full-time CEO role at SOD.DEL. Acquisitions, integration, and the decisions in between.
2–3Mandates a year
EN · NL · FRIncluding written work
Fixed feesNo success fee, no equity
How to work with me
Four engagements. One conversation to start.
Not a ladder you have to climb – four different shapes of problem, each with one fee agreed before anything begins. Most people arrive at the second one.
01
Integration
The hundred days after you sign. A written plan with named owners and decision gates, a steering committee I chair, and your own manager coached to run the next one without me. Also used for carve-outs and post-merger reorganisations.
€85,000fixed · 100 days
Details – Integration
02
Screening
One scoped question, answered in writing. A deal before signature, a cost base nobody has taken apart, a business unit that is not performing, or where AI actually belongs. Analysis, options, and a named recommendation.
€9,500fixed · 2–3 weeks
Details – Screening
03
Retainer
For work that cannot be scoped up front: a buy-and-build programme, a board being rebuilt, a management team being professionalised. A standing commitment and written output every month – not a timesheet.
€7,500 / month6-month minimum
Details – Retainer
04
Advisory board
A named seat on your advisory board, or on your board of directors where the structure calls for it. Four to six meetings a year, papers commented before the meeting rather than skimmed in it, and one written note a year to your shareholders.
On requestannual mandate
Details – Advisory board
All four start with the same thirty-minute conversation, which is free and stays free. If I am not the right person, you will leave it with the name of someone who is.
Working with a fund rather than running a company? Operational due diligence before the deal, and portfolio support after it, are described separately.
For Funds 
About
An operational CEO with a deliberately narrow advisory practice.
I run SOD.DEL full time. Alongside it I take two to three advisory mandates a year – no more, because the value of the advice depends on the day job still being real.
Before that, three years as Digital Director at Carmeuse in the US mining sector, which taught me three things I have never unlearned: a business case is only true if it survives the floor, deal economics hide in the earn-out and the working capital, and integration planning starts before close, not after.
Operator truth beats framework truth. Narrow beats broad. Honest capacity beats vague availability.
Field Notes
Written from the operator's chair.
Operator Chair · 11 min
Mini-MBA Part 2: Fair process beats being right
Part one of this series argued that a general management programme changes what you can compute yourself. Part two is the second…
Read
Finance · 13 min
Mini-MBA Part 1: The numbers I stopped outsourcing
A general management degree does not make you a better manager. It changes three specific things: what you can compute yourself…
Read Questions
Frequently asked
What does LIDI Partners do?
LIDI Partners is the advisory practice of Ruben Claessens, a sitting mid-market CEO. It works with owner-managers, acquirers and private equity funds on acquisitions, integration and the operational decisions around them. Four engagements: a €9,500 fixed-fee Screening, an €85,000 hundred-day Integration programme, a €7,500 monthly Retainer, and an advisory board seat with remuneration agreed per mandate. Every one of them starts with a free thirty-minute conversation.
Why hire an operating CEO rather than a consultancy?
Because the advice is current rather than remembered. What I tell you about replacing a managing director or holding a synergy case together, I did last quarter in my own company. The trade-off is capacity: two to three mandates a year, and I will tell you honestly when I am full.
Do you take a success fee or equity?
No. Fixed fees and a monthly retainer only. If my income depended on your deal closing, my opinion would be worth what every other opinion in your process is worth.
Why is there no day rate on this site?
Because a published day rate turns advice into a timesheet. It lets a buyer divide every fixed fee by it, argue about hours instead of outcomes, and compare me to a firm selling bodies. What you are buying here is a finished piece of thinking with my name on it, so that is what is priced.
What geography and languages?
Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern France are the ground I cover in person, from Brussels – close enough to be in a room on short notice, which is where most of the value in this work sits. Beyond that I work remotely and gladly: a data room, a management team and a board pack do not care where I am, and I have run cross-border work for years. Engagements and written deliverables in English, Dutch or French.
Start with thirty minutes.
No charge, no obligation, and nothing you have to disclose before you are ready. Pick a slot that suits you.