Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if we’re a fit?
I am usually most useful to founders, CEOs, and boards facing a consequential shift: investor pressure, board expectations, global clients, AI transformation, market expansion, operating scale, or a founder bottleneck. The best fit is a company that has built something real and now needs senior judgment to move through the next stage.
How is this different from a consulting firm?
Consulting firms often bring a team. Pelios brings direct senior judgment. You work with me, not a junior analyst. The work is high impact, closer, more confidential, and scoped around the problem rather than a large consulting process.
Is Pelios only for emerging-market companies?
The center of gravity is emerging markets and the Global South, but the real pattern is “two worlds”: local operating reality on one side, global expectations on the other. That can show up in diaspora-founded companies, frontier operations, Western-backed scale-ups, and companies serving international clients from non-Western markets.
What does fractional executive mean here?
It means senior operating capacity without a full-time hire. I step in for a defined period or scope when the business needs executive judgment, operating rhythm, transformation leadership, or COO-style support.
How does pricing work?
Pricing is scoped to the problem, not billed by the hour. Advisory work is typically structured as a monthly retainer. Project work is scoped around milestones. Fractional executive work depends on role, duration, intensity, and expected outcomes.
Do you work with local SMEs?
Sometimes, but Pelios is usually best suited to companies with enough scale, capital, client pressure, or strategic urgency to use senior advisory or fractional executive support well. If the need is real but the budget model is not, I may explore sponsored, institutional, or lighter-touch options separately.
How do you work — remote, on-site, time zones?
Mostly remote. But whenever presence matters — board session, key stakeholder meeting, critical moment, initial discovery, major governance — I’m there. I’ve worked across multiple continents throughout my career; the time zones and travel are second nature.
What about confidentiality?
We sign an NDA, as a baseline, always. Beyond that: I don’t discuss clients, don’t name them without permission. Three-client limit means I’m unlikely to work with anyone in your space.
I only keep three clients at a time.