Carlo Vinaccia — Vinco Advisory
From a founder-on-every-engagement practice to a productised retainer model. Five years of compound work.
Where Carlo started.
Carlo had built a respected Sydney advisory practice on referrals and personal relationships. The work was good, the clients were loyal — and Carlo was on every engagement. Margin was thin because the operator was the asset. Every new client meant more of Carlo, and the business couldn't scale past whatever Carlo could personally bill.
Four areas, in sequence.
Foundation — pricing reset
Mapped real cost-to-serve per engagement type. Repriced legacy clients on review dates. Held the line on new work.
Productisation
Three retainer tiers built around recurring advisory rhythms. Bespoke work moved to defined "project" pricing with margin gates.
People — bench layer
Hired one senior associate at the layer above where Carlo was burning his own hours. Trained on the retainer playbook, not the bespoke work.
Operating rhythm
Weekly numbers review. Monthly client cohort review. Quarterly portfolio review where retainer mix is the headline metric.
Five years compounded. The retainer model didn't exist in year one — it took eighteen months of pricing courage to even sketch it.
Where Carlo is now.
Outcome narrative pending
Carlo is currently in active coaching with Evolve to Grow. The full "after" narrative — specific outcomes, decision moments, and quotes — is pending direct interview with Carlo, scheduled in the next coaching cycle. We don't publish reconstructed outcomes as case-study fact. Contact us for references in the interim.
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