The situation

PGS Software is a publicly-traded IT company based in Poland, with offices in the U.K. and Germany, with aspirations to expand into North America, specifically the U.S. market. 

Bonaventure helped PGS Software formulate a business plan with a go-to-market strategy to land higher-margin, larger deals in the U.S. market. 

We helped them build foundational elements, including introductions to Google, AWS, and other large tech organizations, that played a role in an eventual acquisition by Xebia.

Xebia has closed its largest acquisition in history, with the purchase of PGS Software.

Listen in for an incredible story on how the CEO and founder of Bonaventure partners turned around a wireless carrier.

I formulated a business plan around where their strengths were, and those were in telco, pharma, biotech, fintech, banking, and insurance. 

And having identified those verticals, I immediately went to one of the greatest value propositions of Bonaventure, which is a professional networking and access to C-suite executives, using my board affiliations. 

Because of the reputation of Bonaventure, we were able to get that access fairly quickly for PGS.

PGS has an incredible reputation in the marketplace; high value, great quality of work, and a great loyal team

I traveled a few times to the headquarters in Poland to talk with the engineering and marketing teams, the founders, and the key executives in the company, just to get a sense of who they are and their reputation in the marketplace. 

And from those interviews and meetings, I was able to put together a go-to-market strategy. So when I got back to the U.S., I knew exactly where to go.

Our initial meeting was in Silicon Valley, where we launched the company to the U.S. market. 

And again, to the strength of Bonaventure, we were able to put together quite a few introductions immediately, with companies like Google, and we were very well received. 

We also met with AWS, and incidentally, PGS is an AWS premier partner. They weren't at the time, but they recently achieved that status, which is a huge win for the company. 

We started in the Bay Area, did a roadshow, and in talking to various companies in different markets, we created a buzz of a nearly 20-year-old company, publicly-traded, that was kind of a light infantry unit. 

They were high-end, good quality, and very responsive, and there's a huge void in the market for that.

My role was to grow accounts and also be an advisor. 

PGS's greatest challenge was having so much business that they didn't have enough bandwidth to support it all. So they got acquired by a much larger entity. 

But now that they have this extra headcount, a truly global brand awareness, and infrastructure to support these clients, I am extremely optimistic about what the future holds for PGS.

The key attributes of Bonaventure were greatly highlighted in this engagement, and that's the ability to take on a project, identify what the needs are quickly, assess, and triage. 

Bonaventure's greatest strength is quickly adapting to the situation and identifying where you need to go. 

I may not initially have the answer, and my team may not have the answer, either. 

However, we know where to go, we know where to ask questions, we know where to find the resources. And I think the final point is the go-to-market strategy.

What Bonaventure is looking at going forward is a hand to the market and to our clients that need help with the unknown, and a trusted partner that will navigate them through some of this unknown because we've proven it in the past. Whether it's in manufacturing, or pharma, or insurance, these are all consistent themes across the board.

Bonaventure Takeaways

Start and end with strengths
PGS didn’t need a growth hack or a new strategy. They needed to focus on their strengths, and that’s what Bonaventure did. Bonaventure focused on their strengths and made sure PGS did as well. 

A strong network built over 30+ years can solve a lot of problems

The only currency we have is our name. PGS built a strong reputation of being a trustworthy, reliable, and excellent software partner. Bonaventure built a reputation of helping others and driving results since its inception. When you combine two trusted entities to drive results, great things happen.

Enjoy the journey

Every journey has its ups and downs. But what’s most important is enjoying every aspect of the roller coaster ride. For Bonaventure, this journey was an incredible experience, and since we were able to utilize our strengths, it made every second worth it.

WILLIAM J. O'CONNELL

PRINCIPAL PARTNER

William is an ultra-competitive senior leader with experience leading Fortune 500 divisions and entrepreneurial ventures as an operator, advisor, and investor. He’s a creative, tenacious practical leader with deep, diverse experience in solving difficult challenges. If there is a problem, Bill solves it. Plain and simple.

Bill is also a former amateur boxer and accomplished marathon runner. Will has a strong ability to help clients grow sales, evaluate management teams, and improve operational efficiency.