Semiconductors · Optical Transceivers
NeoPhotonics
From research lab to product company. $75M in revenue growth directly attributed to Risk Up Front execution.
The Challenge
NeoPhotonics was making the difficult transition from small startup to commercial supplier of telecom products. The company had strong technology but needed to build a world-class product development organization that could deliver coherent optical products to market before competitors arrived.
The Intervention
Risk Up Front became the execution framework across multiple product lines and geographies, including teams in the US, China, and Japan. Over 100 people across three cities in China alone were trained and coached. The focus was accelerating product development, building a culture where risks are surfaced early, and systematically preventing the late-stage crises that kill market windows.
$75M
Revenue growth directly from early market entry
4x
Revenue growth Year 1 to Year 3
Yr 1
Sole supplier advantage from on-time delivery
"Our product development execution using Risk Up Front for coherent receivers resulted in $75 million in revenue growth that we would otherwise not have enjoyed. This directly resulted from being an early entrant and rapid scaler of this key communications product."
Tim Jenks, President & CEO, NeoPhotonics
Financial Technology · Trading Systems
SunGard Trading Systems
Multi-product integration across US and India. 93% of critical success measures achieved.
The Challenge
A global enterprise software company consolidated several financial technology businesses under a single organization and launched a new brand intended to enable cross-selling and a more integrated offering. Organizational charts, marketing materials, and announcements were completed. Nearly a year later, day-to-day operations had not shifted. Cross-selling was limited, product development and customer support remained fragmented, and employees still identified with their prior organizations. The integration had stalled.
The Intervention
A business leader launched a time-boxed execution-risk sprint using Risk Up Front. A cross-boundary project team was assembled to intentionally span silos, functions, business units, and geographies. Small working groups of no more than five people tackled specific areas that needed to be fixed, simplified, or eliminated. A weekly cadence forced clarity on progress, risks, and commitments. A formal commitment phase locked the plan early enough to create real execution pressure.
93%
Of 42 critical success measures achieved
Unified
Multi-product sales offering and cross-functional processes
"Celerity's approach has transformed the way we approach and execute projects. It has improved the way we engage each other on a daily basis by providing a common language that brings individual concerns 'up front' and ensures people know what is expected of them."
John Krog, Vice President, Product Management, SunGard
Enterprise Software · Telecom Analytics
LavaStorm Analytics
200 people down to 22. Nine months of runway. The product shipped and the company survived.
The Challenge
The telecom bubble had just burst. LavaStorm Analytics, a telecom billing reconciliation software company, had cut from 200 people to 22. The company had roughly nine months of runway remaining. There was no room for a missed deadline, no budget for rework, and no margin for the kind of late-stage surprises that kill startups. The remaining team needed to ship a product that worked, on time, or the company was done.
The Intervention
Risk Up Front gave the surviving team a framework to focus on what mattered and stop spending energy on everything else. With 22 people doing the work of 200, every commitment had to be real and every risk had to be surfaced immediately. The methodology forced clarity on scope, ownership, and sequencing in an environment where there was no room to recover from a missed call. The team shipped the product within the window.
Shipped
Product delivered under existential pressure with 22 people
90%
Workforce reduction survived through focused execution
3 companies
Alumni carried the methodology to PKWARE, Vivint, and Cyfeon
"We would not be a successful company today without Adam's help. He brought us a new process that produced results with a minimum of excess overhead. He showed us how to manage risks and raise visibility into problems earlier in our process."
Rich Boccuzzi, Chief Technology Officer, LavaStorm Analytics
"He has turned maddening confusion and looming failure into success more than once. The Celerity process is something I cannot do without, and even when he's not directly working with us, his presence is felt. I quote him word-for-word all the time."
Ted Czotter, Chief Technology Officer, LavaStorm Analytics
Financial Services · Investment Banking Technology
Goldman Sachs
Shared execution language now used across dozens of teams. Two decades of partnership.
The Challenge
Goldman Sachs needed to define and deliver operational objectives across the IBD Strats group and Marquee group, launching their first technology tools and customer-facing analytics toolset. The challenge involved complex cross-functional coordination in a high-stakes environment where failure to deliver had immediate business consequences.
The Intervention
Over a multi-year partnership, Risk Up Front was installed as a shared execution language across the IBD Strats and Marquee groups. Teams were coached on structured risk identification, accountability, and commitment-driven delivery. The methodology became embedded in how teams define objectives, surface risks, and drive execution across the organization.
100+
People trained across multiple business units
Adopted
Risk Up Front installed as shared execution language
20+ yr
Continuous partnership spanning leadership transitions
"It was hard, but that turned out to be the point. If you're moving fast, managing complexity across partners and markets, and planning to scale or pivot at speed, you need this kind of muscle around risk, integrity, and execution."
R. Martin Chavez, Board Director, Alphabet (Google); Former CFO, Goldman Sachs
"Risk Up Front finally provided a framework that felt both realistic in dealing with the challenges complex projects face as well as transformative in terms of the organizational dynamics it helps create. More than one team member remarked that the project Adam coached us on was the most effective project they had ever been part of."
McKay Hyde, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
Semiconductors · Equipment Manufacturing
Lam Research
From a single struggling team to the foundation of a global product development process. Risk Up Front embedded across three phases of company growth.
The Challenge
Lam Research was facing compounding pressures: a flagship product losing market share, profitability under stress, and an organization that needed to execute faster with fewer resources. As the company scaled through tremendous growth and acquired Novellus, it also needed to integrate development organizations across geographies while maintaining delivery discipline.
The Intervention
The engagement began with a single business unit leader who needed to turn around a struggling team. Risk Up Front provided the framework for visioning, risk analysis, and team accountability. When that leader was given responsibility for the company's flagship product line during a period of deep cuts, he carried the methodology with him. Over three distinct phases, Risk Up Front principles were embedded into Lam's formal Product Development and Release process. Over 500 engineers and project leaders were trained across the combined Lam/Novellus organization, including teams in the US, Austria, and India. The methodology became the foundation for how Lam defined objectives, surfaced risks, and drove execution through a period of transformative growth.
500+
Engineers and project leaders trained globally
PDR
Embedded in formal Product Development and Release process
3 phases
Partnership spanning company growth and the Novellus integration
"You can do all the Gantt charts and work breakdown structures and have a disastrous product development activity. But if you get the leadership part right, the risk management right, you have a really good chance of creating a winning product and a winning team."
Richard Gottscho, Executive Vice President, Lam Research
"These efforts changed personal and organizational behavior, increased accountability, and ultimately yielded measurable improvements in team and product performance."
Wayne Nobles, Corporate Vice President, Global Product Operations, Lam Research