Felisa Palagi
Services
Experience
Experience
GR
Growth Ravens
Fractional CxO | Founder
Feb 2023 - Present
Providing Fractional COO and CFO support to consulting and service-focused SaaS firms navigating inflection points—whether it’s time to reset strategy, streamline operations, strengthen leadership, or prepare for scale.
I work directly with founders and executive teams to:
• Refocus strategy to meet changing market demands
• Reduce operational drag and delivery complexity
• Shift founders out of day-to-day execution and into high-leverage leadership
• Use financial insight to guide decision-making and support growth
• Coach leadership teams to operate with clarity, accountability, and momentum
In addition to fractional executive roles, I serve as a strategic advisor and board-level partner for organizations seeking experienced, high-trust input on growth, team structure, and performance management.
I only take on two clients in a fractional capacity at a time so I can stay deeply engaged, accessible, and focused on meaningful outcomes.
Vicasso (formerly Internet Creations)
Chief Executive Officer
Apr 2020 - Feb 2023
Advanced to this role to lead sweeping change, transforming perception of dated Internet Creations website development company into Vicasso, offering Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Experience Cloud solutions. Strategically direct organizational performance, capitalize on successful strategy and impressive growth trajectory, and promote continuous app innovation. Overhauled sales. Introduced formal marketing strategy. Empowered leaders to execute, freeing up owner to cast vision and strategically refocus the business. Instrumentally guided organization to deliver strong continuity through COVID-19 by activating core operational principles of stability, continuity, communication, and transparency.
► Strategically drove profitable, double-digit growth, largely by initiating Vicasso’s 1st genuine marketing campaign, and leveraging presence on Salesforce App Exchange.
► Forecasted EBITDA 2x the 2022 target and revenue, highest in Vicasso’s 25-year history, by introducing high-margin outsourcing, and by raising billability from 56% to 72% through augmenting consultants’ expertise.
► 3x’ed average deal size by delivering organization’s 1st ever sales methodology and training. Also steered initiative to coach sales team on best practices in identifying, capturing, and growing strategic accounts.
Vicasso
Chief Operating Officer
Dec 2017 - Mar 2020
Orchestrated pivot onto Salesforce Service Cloud as core focus, sparking new revenue growth. Cultivated environment of employee inclusion and engagement.
► Defined new business strategy targeting consumer goods and manufacturing sector clients, empowering employees with tools to deliver perfect service experience every time.
► Skyrocketed revenue growth from 13% to 31% in 1 year, raising Apps ARR 52% and providing new leadership over Professional Services (Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Experience Cloud).
► Instrumentally guided launch of R&D’s innovation days, sparking innovation on existing apps.
PTC
Interim Division Lead (GM) | Vice President, Global Strategy & Operations Excellence
Jan 2016 - Jan 2017
Promoted to spearhead strategic growth and transformation phase, with dual objectives of deepening market share for core solutions and enabling early adopter OEMs with IIoT and AR solutions. Provided leadership to 1,000 staff.
► Integrally guided initiative to position SLM as the Industry 4.0 digital transformation service leader, leveraging IIoT and AR, which proved instrumental to increase stock price to highest level in 17 years.
► Solidified SLM as recognized leader by increasing market share of core solutions: delivered 58% year-over-year growth, constituting exponentially more than industry average of 8%.
► Provided key leadership to capture largest deal in divisional history and 1st of its kind multi-million-dollar agreement for phase 1 of multi-year agreement with government agency.
PTC
Vice President, Global Product Marketing
Jan 2015 - Jan 2016
Merited fast-track promotion in just 5 months.
► Pivoted entire enterprise from perpetual license model to subscription model delivering recurring revenue and raised subscription mix to 68%, well exceeding 28% target.
► Achieved lowest escalation level in 12 months, by placing sharp, consistent focus on addressing and resolving escalations.
PTC
Vice President, Global Market Success
Jan 2015 - Jan 2015
Recruited to breathe new life into stagnant CAD OEM by steering go-to-market for enhanced product suite leveraging IoT and mixed reality (AR/VR). Scope encompassed defining marketing strategy, messaging, and targeting; structuring and executing marketing campaigns; and driving lead generation and sales. Provided leadership to sales specialists, deepening their core competencies regarding use cases demonstrating how to leverage IoT, AR, and VR to achieve virtually zero downtime.
FieldOne from Microsoft
Vice President, Professional Services │ Client Experience
Jan 2014 - Jan 2015
Principally guided organizational turnaround, impacting operations, processes, and methodologies of Professional Services; overhauling client experience; and cultivating a culture to stem the tide of high employee turnover.
► Provided instrumental leadership in accelerating FieldOne’s acquisition by Microsoft, slashing planned 3-year timeframe to just 1 year.
► Drove all 9 stalled client implementations through to completion so FieldOne could demonstrate the viability of its core solution in the marketplace.
► Conferred with every implementation employee, project manager, and client to identify project gaps, remediate those, address escalations, and deliver the solution.
ClickSoftware
Director of Professional Services, Strategic Accounts and Activities
Jan 2008 - Jan 2014
Merited fast-track advancement through higher roles. As Director orchestrated most complex implementations, expansion opportunities into LATAM, and strategic partnerships. Represented Clicksoftware globally, delivering presentations and executive-level education programs.
► Integrally contributed to 3x’ing revenue in Americas region, which proved essential to positioning Clicksoftware for lucrative acquisition by PE firm.
► Delivered highest profitability and revenue per employee company-wide by assuming ownership of multiple high-profile and highly-complex implementations.
► Established partnership model to grow ecosystem with both boutique and large firms including SAP and Accenture.
As Portfolio Project Manager (2012 – 2013) guided full-cycle project development, leading matrixed team of 80 across US, UK, Brazil, India, and Israel. As Manager, Business Analysis (2010 – 2010) developed global business analysis operations and executive education for clients. In Senior Business Analyst role (2009 – 2010) led client requirements gathering workshops enabling architects to innovate solutions aligning with clients’ vision. Recruited as 3rd Business Analyst (2008 – 2009) to join the company and develop Business Analysis methodology.
UT
Uptown Tails
Founder & CEO │ Business Start-up │ Emerging Market
Jan 2006 - Jan 2008
Launched startup and strategically guided growth to 2nd location within 18 months. Led business planning; operational policies, procedures, and execution; administered systems, and recruited and directed 24 employees.
Hitachi Consulting (formerly Celerant Consulting)
Senior Consultant │ Operations Analyst │ Supply Chain Optimization
Jan 2000 - Jan 2005
Advanced to this role to advise strategic operations advice to executive clients. Previously, distinguished as 1st employee to merit promotion from entry level to Operations Analyst (2000 – 2003) analyzing data from ERP systems including SAP to identify multi-million-dollar savings opportunities. Pinpointed $6.7M in annual distribution and logistics savings for leading global chemical company. Delivered $4.9M inventory cost reduction for Fortune 100 company.