Fellstead Case Studies

See the work.

Detailed examples of how Fellstead approaches two kinds of business questions: understanding what is happening inside an existing company, and designing what should come next.

The library includes both client work, when publishable, and clearly identified illustrative cases created to demonstrate Fellstead's methodology and work product.

Diagnosis / Design / Evidence


Two directions

Company Diagnostics examines the business that already exists — its Vision, Value, Market, System, and Momentum — to identify contradictions, structural weaknesses, risks, and questions that require validation.

Business Design develops the business that needs to exist next — connecting the customer, offer, economics, revenue model, go-to-market, operating model, processes, organization, and measures into one coherent system.

01 / Company Diagnostics

Understand what is really happening.

These cases demonstrate how The 5 Signals™ is used to look across the company rather than treating visible symptoms as isolated problems.

Harborline Systems, Inc. · The 5 Signals™ · B2B SaaS

Growth Without Economic Progress

A fictional Series A B2B SaaS company whose revenue is still growing while the economics, repeatability, and operating quality underneath that growth are deteriorating.


Detailed case study · PDF

Northstar Fieldworks, Inc · The 5 Signals™ · B2B SaaS

The Company That Outgrew Its Original Model

A fictional vertical software company that successfully expanded beyond its original product and customer base, but continued to operate with assumptions, roles, pricing, processes, and decision paths designed for a much smaller business.


Detailed case study · PDF

About these cases

Much of our work involves confidential company information and is not suitable for public disclosure. The cases below are illustrative and use fictional companies and simulated data. They are designed to show the kinds of problems we work on, how we structure the analysis, and what a Fellstead engagement can produce — without representing any specific client or confidential engagement.

02 / Business Design

Design what should exist next.

These cases show how Fellstead turns an opportunity, transition, or unresolved business question into a coherent business product before major resources are committed.

Asterlane AI · Business Design · B2B SaaS

Designing the Business Behind an AI Product

A fictional founder-led AI company is considering a product that helps B2B software teams complete enterprise security, procurement, and compliance questionnaires using a verified company knowledge base and source-linked AI answers.


Detailed case study · PDF

Cedarstone Group· Business Design · B2B

From Services to a Productized Business

A fictional professional-services firm with strong client relationships and recurring analytical work, but a business model still dominated by custom projects, senior labor, founder involvement, and engagement-by-engagement delivery.


Detailed case study · PDF

About these cases

Proof of work, not marketing summaries.

Each PDF shows the depth and structure of a Fellstead engagement: the starting situation, evidence and assumptions, analysis, proposed design or diagnostic findings, unresolved questions, risks, and what to validate next.

Illustrative cases use representative company scenarios. They are not presented as client engagements and do not claim fabricated outcomes. Their purpose is to demonstrate how Fellstead thinks and what the work product can look like.

Have a similar business question?

Bring us the situation. We’ll determine the right starting point.

You do not need to decide whether you need a diagnostic or Business Design before contacting Fellstead. Start with what is happening, what is changing, or what you are trying to build.

A clearer view changes the next decision.

Start from higher ground.

Complete the assessment, add any useful materials you already have, and receive a structured diagnostic across the five signals.

© 2026 Fellstead

The 5 Signals™ is a proprietary framework developed by Vitaly Solten