Before you scale, raise, or lock in a key hire – I help you make sure the decision actually holds up.
Independent decision advisory for moments where reversibility quietly disappears.
Most expensive strategic mistakes don’t start as obvious errors.
They start as reasonable decisions made under momentum – when everything looks aligned, but something feels off.
When people reach out
Scaling the business.
A senior or executive hire.
A fundraising round.
An acquisition or structural shift.
On paper, things look fine.
The deck makes sense. The numbers add up. The team agrees.
And yet, something doesn’t sit right.
Assumptions stop being questioned.
Conversations start looping.
Decisions feel reversible when they aren’t.
This is where risk begins to accumulate quietly – long before it shows up in metrics.
What I do
I work independently with founders and investors to pressure-test decisions that are hard to reverse.
The work focuses on:
- surfacing hidden assumptions
- stress-testing the logic behind the decision
- examining second-order effects
- checking alignment between narrative, numbers, and operational reality
The goal is not to create a better story.
The goal is to understand whether the decision itself can survive contact with reality – before commitments are made and momentum takes over.
How the work is structured
Engagements are short, focused, and decision-driven.
Typically, the work centers around one specific decision and unfolds over a limited timeframe.
There is no long-term retainer, no implementation phase, and no ongoing process ownership.
My role ends before execution begins – at the point where being wrong is still containable.
What this is – and what it is not
This is not coaching.
Not long-term consulting.
Not strategy theater.
I don’t manage teams.
I don’t run execution.
I don’t replace internal leadership.
I provide independent judgment when internal alignment is fragile, and the cost of error is structural.
Background
My background includes building and operating infrastructure and technology businesses, often in environments with limited capital, unclear rules, and high operational risk.
I’ve built companies, run field operations, designed infrastructure, and advised founders and investors across a range of operational and investment contexts.
Over time, I learned to focus less on frameworks and more on signal quality – identifying which assumptions actually matter, which ones are noise, and whether a decision can withstand pressure.
That perspective shapes how I work today.
Contact
If this resonates, the best way to reach me is by email:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitalysolten
© 2026 Vitaly Solten. Strictly Confidential.