DeFonseka
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DeFonseka
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DeFonseka is a Chicago-based advisory that embeds inside founder-led companies as an operating partner — owning financial governance, the KPIs that matter and a weekly OKR reporting cadence — and, for established companies entering complex or regulated categories, acts as a strategic market-development partner, drawing on a deep bench of investor, clinical and institutional relationships to move faster than any single team could alone.
Financial governance, KPIs and weekly OKR reporting — carried by a named principal inside your operating cadence, not recommended from outside it. Deployed in two weeks.
For companies building new categories or entering new markets. We bring the position papers, the go-to-market frameworks and — critically — the relationships: a standing network of investors, clinicians, institutional leaders and regional partners, built over years of work with groups like Keiretsu Forum, that we activate on a client's behalf.
In our work with a leading medical device manufacturer's interventional MRI division, we built the go-to-market strategy for a new luxury concierge-medicine ecosystem — and accelerated market entry by drawing directly on our existing network of physicians, real estate partners and regional media relationships.
Client name withheld at the manufacturer's request; engagement details shared with permission.
Leveraging existing relationships bypasses the noise and gets to decision-makers directly. We open the door, make the introduction on your behalf, and stay in the room for what follows.
A curated team is assembled for the initiative itself. No legacy priorities competing for its attention, no reallocation of the people already carrying your core numbers.
Financial, clinical, commercial and institutional capability arrive together, at the fraction of the calendar the work requires — and stand down when the initiative is delivered.
The culture and structure layer of an operating-partner engagement. Culture change fails when it is treated as a communications campaign. It succeeds when leaders align four interdependent elements with ruthless intentionality.
The compounding effect comes from alignment across all four elements — and that alignment is a CEO deliverable.
Why the company exists, stated plainly enough that a new hire can repeat it in week one.
The few choices that matter, and the ones deliberately not being made this year.
Commercial, not decorative — behaviours tied directly to strategy execution.
Roles, rights and reporting lines that let the strategy actually be run.
·The CEO personally owns the culture journey — it is not delegated to HR.
·Culture must be commercial, tied to strategy execution.
·Emotional commitment, not rational understanding, is the real unlock.
·Leaders go first — modelling the behaviours they expect.
Ninety days from unstructured financial operations to structured financial governance — the phases, and what is true at the end of each.
Strategic partnershipsAn ecosystem of companies serving the same customer from different angles — co-developed offers, shared channels and pooled credibility.
Working formatDedicated time on one specific problem. Nobody leaves until a solution is ready for testing — then it is tested, and the outcome iterated.
Every engagement is led by a principal. We are selective on both sides of the table: clients engage us for judgement and access that cannot be hired quickly, and we take on fewer, better situations so that both stay undivided.
Led by Dhamitha Arsakularatna, Principal.
DeFonseka works two ways. As operating partner, the firm embeds a named principal inside founder-led and growth-stage companies to own financial governance, KPIs with named owners and weekly OKR reporting. As a strategic market-development partner, it helps established companies enter complex or regulated categories through position papers, go-to-market frameworks, and activation of a standing network of investors, clinicians, institutional leaders and regional partners.
Consultants recommend; DeFonseka owns outcomes and brings relationships. Every engagement is led by a principal who sits inside the business and carries deliverables — and on market-development work the firm activates existing relationships to reach decision-makers directly rather than routing through outbound.
The operating-partner track covers the finance leadership layer, but it is scoped as financial governance rather than a fractional CFO seat: board packs and forecast discipline, KPIs with named owners and thresholds, and a weekly OKR report read against margin and cash flow.
In-house staff are optimized for the business that already exists. A team curated for a specific initiative carries no legacy priorities, arrives with the finance, clinical, commercial and institutional capability the initiative needs, and stands down once it is delivered. Clients buy the bench, not the headcount.
Typically within two weeks. Operating engagements begin with the 90 Day Sprint; market-development engagements begin with the position paper and the first tranche of introductions.
Engagements are scoped per client, so pricing follows the discovery call rather than a rate card. The call itself is free and takes thirty minutes.
Chicago, Illinois, United States. Engagements are delivered internationally.