Independent operating partner
for industrial scaling
Vendla Sandström
12 years with McKinsey, focused on B2B industrials
Co-led McKinsey Private Capital – Industrials JV
M.Sc. Physics & Applied Mathematics
Partnering with founders scaling from the pilot to large-scale production.
Deep industrial expertise
Hands-on experience helping industrial and deep-tech products achieve growth targets — from prototype to volume on new product lines, tackling industrialization, product and cost engineering, building the organization and strengthening the commercial approach.
Lean, hands-on approach
Practical support embedded alongside your team to get things implemented — part-time over a longer timeline so you keep full ownership. Working in English, Swedish, Finnish and Dutch.
Proven track record, skin in the game
10+ years driving growth and operational performance for industrial companies; open to working with part of the fee at risk.
The hard part isn't the science —
it's the scale-up.
From bench to line
Pilot results rarely survive contact with volume — yields, tolerances and unit cost all shift once you leave the lab.
Cost is designed in, not negotiated out
Margins at scale are won in Design for Manufacturing & Assembly and the supplier base — long before the factory is full.
You need an organisation, not just headcount
Scaling means building an operating model that scales, and adapting leadership for a new reality.
I work alongside founders through exactly this transition — hands-on, part-time, with you keeping the wheel.
What I do
Hands-on support across the journey from pilot to large-scale production.
Scale-up roadmap & readiness
A concrete, sequenced plan from current pilot to target volume — milestones, capex, team and the key questions to answer along the way.
Fundraise & investor story
Building the story to raise the next round, supported by data-based market insights and a business model that gets investors excited.
Product & cost engineering
Design-to-value and design-for-manufacture to hit target cost and quality at volume — engineering and sourcing support to industrialize the design.
Building the organization
Designing the scaling organization, core processes and performance management — and standing up the operating rhythm that keeps execution on track.
Commercial scaling
Sharpening offering, pricing and go-to-market to win at volume — landing the first large industrial customers and partnerships that prove the model at scale.
Interim leadership
Short-term, part-time hands-on ownership of one area: operations & industrialization, commercial & GTM, product & engineering, or supply chain set-up.
Topical embedded support
Working alongside the management team on top-of-mind topics — e.g. end-to-end process improvements, reporting and performance management.
Board / advisor role
An industrial advisor seat on your board through the scaling journey.
Experience
80+ projects across industrial segments.
Project types
- Due diligence & M&A
- 20+ industrial DDs, 5 VDDs, target scans and M&A pitching.
- Strategy
- Carve-out strategy renewal, growth and partnership strategy.
- Value creation
- 10+ full-potential diagnostics, bottom-up value creation plans, PMO-backed transformations across commercial, engineering and product.
- Organization
- Industrial org design for stronger customer / P&L orientation; commercial, engineering and CoE (re)design; organizational health and culture.
Industries
- —Aerospace & defence — aerospace suppliers, shipbuilding
- —Automotive — commercial vehicles, automotive suppliers
- —Industrial electronics & machinery — building tech, machinery, components
- —Semicon — capital equipment
- —Process industries — chemicals, steel
- —Construction & engineering — pre-fab, building components
Core activities I can support with
Performance analytics
Hands-on analytics and independent reporting on current status and its implications.
Strategy sharpening
Simplifying strategic choices, conceptualizing core questions and building a clear narrative.
Hands-on project management
Interim leadership of scale-up projects or improving day-to-day operations for a set period.
Executive coaching
Coaching of founders and senior managers on operational and performance topics as the team scales.
Workshops & ideation
Facilitation of workshops to drive a specific agenda forward — including prep and documentation.
Market research
Externally focused research on market outlook, competitors and customer preferences.
Let's talk.
If you're taking an industrial product from piloting to large-scale production, I'd be glad to compare notes.