The Problem We Saw
After three decades of building and scaling technology businesses across multiple continents, I've watched the same pattern repeat hundreds of times:
Talented founder. Compelling vision. Solid technology. Investor backing.
And then... execution stalls. The company struggles not because the idea was wrong or the market disappeared, but because they couldn't build the operational foundation needed to scale.
Revenue growth plateaus despite strong demand. Hiring takes forever. International expansion becomes a cash drain. Sales processes don't exist. Fundraising happens reactively instead of strategically.
These aren't strategy problems. They're execution problems.
And here's what I noticed: the investors backing these companies wanted to help, but couldn't.
Not because they didn't care. Not because they lacked expertise. But because the math simply doesn't work.
An active angel investor managing 15-20 portfolio companies can't provide meaningful hands-on operational support to each one while maintaining their own business, family, and life. Even dedicating 30 hours per month to portfolio support only gives you 90 minutes per company—barely enough for a phone call, let alone actual operational help.
Meanwhile, large VC firms solved this problem years ago by building platform teams: operating partners, recruiters, marketers, finance experts. But that solution requires $500M+ funds with resources to hire full-time teams.
What about angel investors and emerging funds? They're caught in the middle.
They compete for deals against large funds that offer systematic operational support. They want to help their portfolio companies execute. But they don't have the resources for full-time platform teams or the time to do it themselves.
That's the gap Genuine Nexus was built to fill.
What We Do
GNX provides post-investment operational support for angel investors, emerging VC funds, syndicate leads, and family offices.
We serve as your fractional operating partner—providing systematic, hands-on operational support to your entire portfolio without the overhead of hiring full-time teams.
For your portfolio companies, we provide:
Hands-on operational support that moves the needle:
- Sales process design and execution
- International expansion strategy and implementation
- Fundraising preparation and readiness
- Organizational design and scaling frameworks
- Hiring infrastructure and velocity improvement
- Crisis management and turnarounds
- Operational health assessments
For you as an investor, we provide:
Leverage and visibility you can't achieve alone:
- Quarterly portfolio health assessments across all companies
- Early warning systems for struggling companies
- Better visibility into execution vs. just metrics
- More efficient use of your time (focus on strategy, we handle operations)
- Improved returns through better execution
We don't replace you as the investor and advisor. We extend you.
You remain the trusted relationship, the strategic guide, the board member. We become the operational execution layer that helps your portfolio companies actually execute on what you're advising.
Why We're Different
We're operators, not consultants.
Consultants deliver recommendations, create frameworks, produce slide decks. The advice might be excellent, but implementation is someone else's problem.
Operators deliver results. We don't just tell founders what to do—we roll up our sleeves and help them do it. We build the sales process together. We sit in on critical meetings. We work through the messy details. We're accountable for outcomes, not just insights.
Our knowledge is first-hand, not observed.
We've built businesses from zero, scaled teams to 500+, navigated regulatory complexity, survived market crashes, and made the hard decisions that founders face. This isn't knowledge from case studies or consulting engagements—it's knowledge earned through decades of actually doing it.
We provide judgment, not just analysis.
When a founder faces a critical decision—should we pivot? Should we fire this executive? Should we expand internationally now?—they don't need another analysis. They need judgment from someone who's made those decisions before and lived with the consequences.
We focus on systematic support, not ad-hoc advice.
Most operational support is reactive: founder has problem, calls investor, gets advice, moves on. We're proactive and systematic. Regular health checks. Structured assessments. Early problem detection. Consistent engagement over quarters and years.
Who's Behind GNX
I'm Vitaly, founder of Genuine Nexus.
I've spent 30+ years building and scaling technology businesses across telecom, fintech, digital services, and infrastructure. I've been the founder, the CEO, the person responsible for everything—not a VP running a department or a consultant advising from outside.
My background spans:
1990s - Building in Chaos
Started in the early post-Soviet era, building telecom infrastructure and security systems when there was no functioning market economy, no banking system, no legal framework. Everything had to be built from scratch. Learned resourcefulness, execution in uncertainty, and operational resilience.
Late 1990s-2000s - Scaling Digital Infrastructure
Built internet services, ISPs, wireless communications, IP telephony. Scaled operations from 5 to 200+ employees. Navigated the dot-com crash. Learned what survives market crashes: sustainable business models and operational discipline.
2000s-2010s - Building in Regulated Markets
Built payment systems and fintech platforms before "fintech" was even a term. Navigated complex financial regulations, partnership ecosystems, risk management, and compliance operations. Learned operational sophistication at scale.
Multiple Crises and Pivots
Survived the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, regulatory upheavals, and technology platform shifts. Made difficult decisions: cutting costs without killing the business, pivoting when strategies weren't working, restructuring teams during downturns. Learned what works under pressure.
Why Silicon Valley Now
Recently relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area to work with the most ambitious founders and investors, bringing decades of operational experience to the ecosystem that values execution above all.
I bring something different to the Valley: experience building in resource-constrained environments, navigating emerging markets, surviving crises, and scaling companies when capital wasn't abundant. This perspective is increasingly valuable as the market shifts from growth-at-all-costs to capital efficiency and operational discipline.
Our Approach
We start with an assessment.
Before prescribing solutions, we understand the situation. What's working? What's not? What are the real constraints? What's urgent vs. important?
We focus on implementation.
Frameworks are useful, but only if they're actually implemented. We don't deliver recommendations and disappear. We stay engaged through execution, helping teams build capabilities that last.
We transfer knowledge.
The goal isn't to create dependency on us. It's to build internal capabilities so portfolio companies can operate effectively without us. We document processes, train teams, and empower people.
We measure outcomes.
Engagement success isn't measured by hours spent or documents produced. It's measured by actual outcomes: processes that work, teams that execute, companies that scale.
Who We Work With
Ideal investor partners:
Angel Investors managing 10-20 portfolio companies, deploying $500K-$3M annually, wanting to provide real operational value beyond capital and introductions.
Emerging VC Funds ($20-75M AUM) building their portfolios without the resources for full-time operating teams, competing against larger funds on value-add.
Syndicate Leads managing deal flow and co-investors, responsible for portfolio performance, needing to demonstrate post-investment value.
Family Offices making direct startup investments but lacking in-house tech operating expertise.
Portfolio company focus:
We're especially valuable for portfolio companies in:
- Fintech and payment infrastructure (deep domain expertise)
- B2B SaaS operations (sales processes, customer success, scaling)
- International expansion (especially emerging markets and Europe)
- Early-stage operations (pre-seed to Series A where operational foundations matter most)
Our Engagement Models
Portfolio Retainer
Systematic support for your entire portfolio (10-15 companies). Quarterly health checks, on-demand support for urgent challenges, monthly reports, and early warning systems.
Venture/Operating Partner
Embedded operating partner for your fund. Deep engagement with portfolio, participation in investment decisions, due diligence support, and board-level insights.
Project-Based
Specific challenges, time-bound engagements. International market entry, operational restructuring, and fundraising preparation. Fixed scope, clear deliverables.
Custom arrangements available based on your portfolio's specific needs.
What Success Looks Like
For investors:
- Portfolio companies hitting milestones more consistently
- Higher percentage of companies ready for follow-on rounds
- Earlier problem detection and intervention
- More efficient use of your time (focus on high-value activities)
- Better portfolio returns through improved execution
For portfolio companies:
- Faster time to operational maturity
- More efficient capital deployment
- Better prepared for fundraising
- Reduced founder stress and burnout
- Higher probability of success
Our Philosophy
Capital without execution support is incomplete.
The era of "write check, make intros, give occasional advice" is over. The best investors are building systematic operating capabilities—not as an afterthought, but as core to their investment strategy.
Operational excellence drives returns.
Your returns don't just come from picking winners. They come from helping good companies execute well enough to actually win. Operational support is the lever that turns potential into performance.
Small funds can compete with large funds.
You can't afford a 10-person platform team. But you can provide better hands-on operational support than most large funds actually deliver to their portfolio companies. That becomes your competitive advantage.
Execution trumps strategy.
Most founders know what they should do. The constraint is execution: building the processes, making the hard decisions, and implementing the systems. That's where we focus.
Ready to Work Together?
If you're an angel investor or emerging fund manager who wants to provide systematic operational support to your portfolio, let's explore whether there's a fit.
Start with a conversation:
We'll discuss your portfolio, your goals, and the specific challenges your companies are facing. No sales pitch—just an honest assessment of whether GNX can add value to your situation.
If there's alignment, we typically start with a pilot: 2-3 portfolio companies, 4-6 weeks, specific deliverables. You see results before committing to ongoing engagement.
📧 Email: vitaly@gnx.vc
🌐 Website: gnx.vc
📍 Location: San Francisco Bay Area
The Bottom Line
After 30+ years building businesses, here's what I know:
Great ideas are common. Capital is abundant. Strategic advice is everywhere.
What's rare is experienced, hands-on operational support that actually helps companies execute and scale.
That's what Genuine Nexus provides.
Not advice. Not analysis. Not another framework.
Actual operational execution support that helps your portfolio companies win.
Because at the end of the day, your returns come from helping good companies execute well enough to succeed.
Let's make that happen.
- Vitaly
Founder, Genuine Nexus
