Top 50 Global Practice
An international law firm had built a technology product that worked. Real users, real value, real demand. But it could not live inside the regulated law firm structure. Running a SaaS company requires different capabilities, governance, and metrics than running a partnership.
They needed to spin it out as a separate business, build the operating model from scratch, pass security certification, and get it in front of paying clients. The firm had never done anything like it before. They brought Purple in to figure it out.
What started as a four-week operating model engagement grew into something bigger. Each phase was earned by delivering the previous one. The firm kept asking us to stay because the work was good.
Designed the Target Operating Model for the new entity from scratch. Structure, governance, shared services, regulatory separation, talent strategy, and interfaces with the parent firm. Everything a new technology business needs to stand on its own two feet.
The firm asked us to stay. We stepped in as fractional COO to run the pilot phase - providing strategic, governance, and operational guidance one day a week plus async support. Security certification, commercial validation, product readiness, and preparing the investment case.
When the previous CEO departed, we stepped up to lead the team directly. Full accountability for product, engineering, sales, and delivery. Managing the team day to day, unblocking technical decisions, leading the sales narrative, and running live client pilots.
You cannot build a scalable software business on top of a law firm's existing structure. We designed every function from scratch - what the new entity owns, what it procures from the parent, and how the two work together without stepping on each other.
Entity design, board composition, decision rights, and reporting lines between parent and subsidiary.
Which functions the new business owns vs. procures from the parent. Product, engineering, ops, sales, support.
Finance, HR, IT, legal, compliance - who does what, who pays, and how it scales.
Clean separation from the regulated law firm. IP licensing, data handling, and ethical guardrails.
Revenue model, pricing options, go-to-market strategy, and preliminary financial modelling.
Scalability architecture, external capital readiness, and future investment scenarios.
When the previous CEO left, we did not hand over a transition document. We stepped in the next week. Full accountability for the team, the product, and the commercial outcome.
Managing the engineering lead and development team. Setting direction, unblocking decisions, and ensuring the MVP ships on time and to the right standard.
Leading the sales narrative alongside the client success team. Pitching to prospective pilot clients, refining the commercial model, and driving conversion.
Guiding the team through security certification, penetration testing, and the policy suite needed to sell to enterprise clients.
Cross-workstream coordination, risk management, budget tracking, and SteerCo reporting. Keeping everything moving.
The engagement grew three times because each phase proved the value of the last. Advisory became operational. Operational became executive. That only happens when the work is good enough to earn it.
What started as a product inside a law firm is now an independent technology business with its own team, its own clients, and its own future.
A new subsidiary operating independently with its own governance, team, and technology stack. Clean regulatory separation from the parent.
Real clients using the product. Real feedback. Real data for the investment decision. Not a proof of concept - a business.
Enterprise-grade security certification. Penetration tested. Policy suite in place. Ready to sell to the clients that matter.
A data-backed investment case for the partnership. Not speculation. Evidence from live pilots that answers the question: should we scale this?
We help law firms turn internal products into independent businesses. From operating model to live pilots. We do not just advise - we run it with you.