Amber Coster
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Transformation & Portfolio Adviser

I love the work you hate.

The difficult conversations. The decisions that keep coming back. The feeling that something isn’t working, without quite knowing why.

I help scaling B2B tech companies find the problem under the problem—and work with their leaders to do something about it.

Bring me in before the answer is obvious.

Tell me what’s going onHow I can help →

A few lines or a voice note is plenty.

Unmind: Unmind: Reduced burn by 58%, tripled ARR:FTE. 

AppDynamics: Helped scale EMEA from 6 to 360 people.

ClickUp: Founding EMEA leadership hire.

Where I work

The problem under the problem.

I help scaling B2B tech companies through inflection points - when the business has changed, but the organisation hasn’t caught up.

Often people sense there's a problem, but fear can prevent voicing it. Sometimes everyone agrees there's a problem, but nobody quite agrees what it is. 

  • Strong leaders, struggling together.

    The leadership team is individually capable but isn’t operating effectively as a team.

  • Too much rests with too few people.

    Context, decisions and responsibility keep coming back to the same people.

  • The business has moved on.

    The organisation was built for an earlier version of the company.

  • Difficult change needs to happen.

    A restructure, efficiency programme or major change needs to land without breaking what works.

  • The obvious fixes haven’t fixed it.

    Something feels stuck, and nobody can quite explain why.

I work across people, structure, decisions and execution - the problems that don’t sit neatly in one box on the org chart.

I get to the bottom of what’s really happening, help the leadership team unite and make difficult decisions, and work with them to drive action and results.

Diagnostic Sprint

Find the problem. Know what needs to change.

A focused diagnostic for scaling B2B tech companies where something isn’t working, but the real issue is hard to pin down or hard to say out loud.

What you leave with

A clear assessment of what’s getting in the way, the consequences for the business and where to intervene first. Get clarity on the decisions the leadership team needs to confront, what needs further investigation and practical recommendations for moving forward.

£12,000 fixed fee · Delivered over two to three weeks

We’ll start with what feels stuck and follow the evidence to understand why.

Discuss a diagnostic
What’s included

  • Investor perspective, where relevant.

    A conversation with the sponsoring investor or portfolio operator to understand their concerns and what they’re seeing.

  • CEO insights.

    A conversation to understand what feels difficult, what’s been tried and what they think should change.

  • A closer look.

    Up to six interviews with relevant employees, alongside a focused review of business information. I compare perspectives, test assumptions and examine how decisions and work happen in practice.

  • Findings and recommendations.

    A concise written assessment of the underlying issues, the evidence behind them and their business consequences. Prioritised recommendations explain what to address first and why, with uncertainties made explicit.

  • A findings readout.

    A discussion with the CEO and, where agreed, the sponsoring investor to examine the findings, answer questions and discuss next steps.

The fee includes the CEO and, where relevant, investor conversations, plus up to six employee interviews. Additional interviews are £500 each, including preparation, analysis and incorporation into the findings.

What happens next

The company can take the recommendations forward independently or commission further support:

Leadership working session

Work through the findings together, address disagreement and make decisions on priorities, ownership and action.

Implementation support

Work alongside the leadership or functional teams to put those decisions into practice and address what gets in the way.

Both are scoped and priced separately.

For investors

When the answer isn’t in the board pack.

When a portfolio company is harder to run than it should be, the answer isn’t always clear from the board pack.

I work with founders and leadership teams to understand what’s stuck and help them move it forward.

Start with a focused diagnostic in one company. Where useful, I can also work across a small portfolio, giving leadership teams access to senior operating experience at the moments they need it.

Is there a company in your portfolio where something feels stuck?

Send me a messagePrefer an email introduction?
Outcomes over output

Work that’s worked

Unmind

Helped lead a transformation that reduced burn by 58%, tripled ARR per employee and increased employee engagement.

  • 58% burn reduction
  • 3× ARR per employee
  • Employee engagement increased
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Helped reshape how the company operated — rebuilding operating rhythms, sharpening commercial discipline and moving the business from facilitating demand to creating it, while protecting the culture through difficult change.

AppDynamics

Helped scale EMEA from 6 to 360 people across 16 countries through hypergrowth and a $3.7bn acquisition.

  • 6 → 360 people
  • 16 countries
  • $3.7bn acquisition
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Helped build and evolve the operating infrastructure behind rapid international expansion — supporting leaders as they scaled teams, launched markets and held execution together through IPO readiness, acquisition and integration.

ClickUp

Helped establish, build and scale the EMEA operation through rapid growth.

  • Founding EMEA leadership hire
  • Hired during 233% EMEA growth
  • PLG → Enterprise transition
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Helped establish the EMEA operating foundations across Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Professional Services, HR and Recruiting — bringing structure, alignment and execution to a fast-growing regional organisation.

Amber Coster
About Amber

I’m an expert at quickly understanding a business and the people within it, and making difficult organisational changes from inside the business.

My strength is finding the human and organisational problem that's often hiding beneath too much context, and understanding what it takes to change it.

I’m there to work out what’s really going on, say the difficult thing when it needs saying, and help the business move.

Calm in complexity
I’m drawn to the bits that keep people up at night. Simplifying, clarifying, removing the drama.
Warm but direct
You’ll be challenged, not bulldozed. Performance-led without losing heart.
Serious about the work, not myself
High standards, low ego—the hard truth and a laugh in the same meeting.

I believe high performance shouldn’t come at the expense of people.

Board & advisory opportunities

I’m also available for Non-Executive Director, Independent Chair and Board Advisor opportunities, bringing an operator’s perspective to founder-led and investor-backed boards.

Explore Board & NED work
A quick honesty note

We’ll do good work together if…

You want to understand what’s really getting in the way, are willing to hear different perspectives and have an appetite to act on what we find.

You don’t need to arrive with the answer. That’s part of the work.

Hustle culture doesn’t make my heart sing, but high standards and high performance do. If you’re after 24/7 working and company tattoos—I’m not your gal.

Start a conversation

Tell me what’s going on.

A few lines or a voice note is plenty. You don’t need to know what the problem is yet.

Message Amber on WhatsApp

Prefer email? amber@ambercoster.co.uk

Ready to talk? Book a call.