Practice
Consulting.
The practice advises growth-stage companies, their boards, and their investors. Mandates fall into four categories: US market entry; fundraising; corporate development and M&A advisory; and CEO coaching. Engagements typically run four to eight weeks for a defined diagnostic, with retained advisory work continuing thereafter. Few senior operators have worked all sides of the international trade flow. I've taken 190 technology companies into the US from Ireland and twenty other countries, set up 120 international companies in Ireland, and established legal entities across the EU. The cumulative figures over the period of practice stand at over €200m in resulting client sales, over €125m raised, and over $400m in M&A advisory across more than four hundred companies in twenty-plus countries.
Four service areas
US market entry.
Direct, practical guidance for European technology companies opening US operations: positioning, pricing, channel choice, recruitment, the sequencing of the first eighteen months. Buyer and partner networks span the US, Ireland, the UK and the EU, built on eleven years in Silicon Valley with Enterprise Ireland, US Market Access Center and FirstCapital.
Fundraising.
Preparation, investor positioning, introductions, and process management for Series A through later-stage rounds. Cumulative client fundraising to date: in excess of €125m.
Corporate development and M&A advisory.
Buyer engagement and deal origination drawing on the FirstCapital years as Managing Director, Head of Origination, and the wider career in corporate development. M&A advisory to date exceeds $400m, with career exits including acquisitions by Cisco, Expedia, Criteo and Royal Mail.
CEO coaching.
One-to-one work with first-time and second-time chief executives at growth-stage companies. Quiet, regular, candid conversations about the things they cannot raise on their own board.
How I work
Personally led.
Every engagement is led by David Smith directly. No junior team, no associate dilution.
Evidence over opinion.
Every recommendation stands on direct experience or specific case data, not generic frameworks.
Speed with rigour.
Typical mandates run four to eight weeks for a defined diagnostic, producing a board-ready output.
Project pricing tied to outcomes.
Engagements are priced as fixed-scope projects or monthly retainers, aligned to the value of the strategic outcome rather than time spent.
Who I work with
If you're a CEO six months from a US launch, I can tell you what the first eighteen months will actually look like. If you're a founder or CFO raising a round, I can tell you how the investors on the other side of the table are reading you. If you're a chair weighing an approach from a buyer, I can tell you how the other side is thinking. And if you're at a fund or a corporate development team with a specific question, the structured enquiry on the Engage page is the fast route to a direct answer.