Commercial leader — Amsterdam

Dana
Cheragwandi

15 years building the commercial systems that turn strategy into predictable growth. Revenue architecture, GTM design, and pricing — SaaS and non-SaaS, across EMEA and the US.

Dana Cheragwandi
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About

Getting the architecture
right early

I care about execution, but my real strength is getting the commercial architecture right early — because downstream performance compounds from those decisions.

My background spans revenue model design, go-to-market strategy, pricing, operating cadence, and building commercial teams from scratch across EMEA and the US.

The architecture I use, the Winning by Design Bow Tie, was built for SaaS. I adapt it for non-SaaS commercial models too. Recurring revenue in a SaaS business comes from subscriptions. In retail, eCom, or B2B services it comes from reorders, contract renewals, or expanding scope with an existing account. Same architecture, different mechanics.

I work with early-stage and growth/scale companies, roughly €1M to €20M in revenue, SaaS or not, that need to grow past the founder-led stage but don't yet have the commercial infrastructure to support it. The constraint isn't effort, it's the absence of a scalable system. I take these on fractional or interim, depending on what the business needs.

Outside commercial work: chess, and building small products at the intersection of AI and brand communication.

Revenue architecture GTM strategy Pricing Channel sales RevOps SaaS & non-SaaS International expansion Sales leadership
15+
Years in commercial leadership
17+
Markets built for global scale
86%
Partner-led revenue at Prepr
14
FTE commercial team at Aquablu
13%→19%
Win rate improved at Aquablu

Services

Design

Revenue Architecture & GTM Design

I map the full commercial model, from first touch to expansion, including pricing and partner strategy as core components, not separate workstreams.

DeliverableA Bow Tie architecture with clear ownership, leading KPIs, and entry/exit criteria per stage.

Build

Revenue Operations, Forecasting & Tech Stack

I set up the operating cadence, pipeline governance, and forecasting method a commercial team runs on, and I implement and document the CRM and tooling that carries it.

DeliverableA working system, cadence and stack together, not process without the tools to support it.

Commercial Team Build, Hiring & Coaching

Every commercial leadership role I've held has meant building the team, not just running it. I hire against the operating model rather than backfilling headcount, and I coach the people already in the seat.

DeliverableA team structure, a hiring plan tied to the model, and a coaching approach that builds capability, not dependency on me.

Run

Direct Sales Execution

I don't run sales in isolation. When I work deals myself, whether solo or as part of an existing team, it's to pressure-test the architecture stage by stage, Attract, Qualify, Convert, Activate, Expand, Retain, against real conversations, not just the close. When I manage a team, I stay in deal-closing as a first-line manager participating in deals, not from the sidelines.

DeliverableDepends on the stage under test: a validated ICP and messaging at Attract, a working qualification framework at Qualify, a proven pricing and negotiation approach at Convert, a repeatable onboarding motion at Activate, a functioning expansion trigger at Expand. Whatever the deliverable, the point is the same: find where the model breaks before it's rolled out at scale.

How I work

A practical framework for designing the architecture, building the system, and proving it in the field.

01
Diagnose the constraint
Map the full commercial journey, lead to renewal: pipeline stages, deal reviews, handoffs, forecasting inputs. Capture what actually happens, not what's assumed, to find the real constraint — volume, velocity, or conversion.
02
Design the architecture
Apply the Revenue Architecture Bow Tie, Attract through Expand, with pricing tiers and partner incentives built in, not bolted on. Every stage gets one owner, one KPI, and entry/exit criteria — the same structure for SaaS and non-SaaS.
03
Build the operating system
Implement the operating cadence — pipeline reviews, forecasting cycle, deal desk — and the CRM and tooling that carries it, fully documented. A system others can run, not knowledge that lives only in my head.
04
Build the team
Match team capability to the architecture before execution starts: who's ready to run each stage, where the real gaps are, what capacity the pipeline actually needs. This is where the design becomes a team that can execute it, not just a document.
05
Pressure-test with real execution
Work deals myself, solo or as a first-line manager inside an existing team — testing messaging at Attract, qualification at Qualify, pricing at Convert. Real conversations surface what the model missed.
06
Hand over a system that runs without me
Document the playbook, assign ownership per stage, and hand over a system that's repeatable and measurable, one that keeps compounding on its own after I'm gone.

A working commercial system

Faster time to value

Revenue growth that compounds

A team that runs without you

Let's
talk

Email dna.cheragwandi@gmail.com LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/dnacheragwandi Phone +31 (0)6 44 43 47 18
Location Amsterdam, Netherlands