Recurringfailurepatterns.Proveninterventions.
Composite case studies illustrating the deal-failure patterns we encounter most often.
Illustrative patterns, not client engagements. These are composite scenarios drawn from the founder's experience of how enterprise deals stall and recover. They show the method. Real, redacted case studies will replace them as engagements complete.
Case 01: The Silent Champion
A Series C cybersecurity vendor had been negotiating a €1.2M three-year contract with a multinational retail group for nine months. The technical evaluation was complete, the security review had passed, the commercial structure was agreed. Then their internal champion stopped replying.
The Diagnosis
- →The champion had been moved sideways in an organisational restructure six weeks earlier.
- →The new economic buyer had a different risk framework and was conducting a parallel review the vendor had not been briefed on.
- →A competing vendor had inserted itself into the procurement process via the CRO's personal network.
The Intervention
Simuka delivered a Stakeholder Reactivation Plan, an Executive Re-engagement Pack, and a Competitive Counter-Brief.
Case 02: The InfoSec Wall
An AI/ML vendor selling into a European banking group had been blocked at InfoSec for six weeks. The standard security questionnaire had been returned with 47 follow-up questions. The vendor's existing security pack didn't answer 31 of them.
The Diagnosis
- →The block was not technical but documentation-shaped.
- →The bank's InfoSec function required answers in a specific format aligned to ECB and NIS2 frameworks.
- →The vendor's documentation was written for US enterprise procurement and used a different vocabulary entirely.
The Intervention
Simuka produced a complete InfoSec Response Pack within 24 hours, addressing all 47 questions in the bank's preferred framework.
Case 03: The Unequipped Champion
A Series A DevTools vendor had an enthusiastic internal champion but the purchase required CFO sign-off. The champion didn't know how to make a financial case to executives whose language was operating margin and capital efficiency.
The Diagnosis
- →The champion was selling capability; the CFO needed to buy outcome.
- →The gap was not engagement but vocabulary.
- →Every time the champion presented internally, they reverted to product language, causing executive listeners to tune out.
The Intervention
Simuka produced a Champion ROI 1-pager and Executive Memorandum, written entirely in the buyer's financial language.
Case 04: The Invisible Pattern
An observability SaaS had lost eight enterprise deals across the prior 12 months. Leadership suspected a systemic cause but had no way to prove it.
The Diagnosis
- →The Pattern Analyst ran a forensic post-mortem on all eight deals.
- →Six of eight losses had the same triggering event: an unmapped InfoSec review that escalated to a CISO.
- →Once escalated, the deals never recovered because the CISO hadn't been briefed early.
The Intervention
Restructured discovery to engage the CISO on day one and produced a CISO-targeted overview deck.
Case 05: The Investor-Defensible Pipeline
A Series B vertical SaaS was three months from its Series C raise. Founders wanted to know what investor diligence would find in their "advanced-stage" pipeline.
The Diagnosis
- →11 deals were genuinely closeable; 4 were structurally broken.
- →5 deals were salvageable with targeted intervention.
- →The flagship deals were in the "broken" category but hadn't been recognised as "Silent No" outcomes.
The Intervention
Simuka produced a Pipeline Credibility Report restructuring the company's narrative around closeable and salvageable deals.