How I work
A PE value-creation lens, close to the CEO and the sponsor. I push hardest before the meeting, so the meeting can be a decision and not a performance.
About
25 years of learning how boards actually decide.
I'm Willem Baralt. I chair and advise private, sponsor-backed and founder-led companies where deep technology, regulation and capital collide in healthcare, technology and AI.
Throughout my career, I have worked with companies and boards, first as an advisor, then as an investor, and more recently as a CEO, CFO and entrepreneur. I have worked across multiple industries and geographies including telecoms, financial services, property and health care, in the US, Europe and the Gulf. This gives me a diverse range and breadth of experiences to draw upon.
Currently I chair the Oxford-based 3D radiology company, Adaptix, and the wetlab automation software company, Synthace, and run board-level advisory through Light Beam Strategy.
The thread that runs through all of it: helping a board make a hard call well, under pressure, with incomplete information, and usually faster than anyone would like.
Over the years, I have had the privilege to work with a variety of charities and foundations: the Peace Corps, the Venture Partnership Foundation, Changing Faces, World for Libya, Kellogg Alumni Council, and the Chesterton Foundation.
Currently I live in London with my wife and two children. I'm a keen traveller, a recuperating guitarist, a wannabe nutritionist, and an avid reader.
What I take on
A handful of chair and non-executive seats, plus short advisory engagements — leadership stabilisation, capital discipline, regulatory execution, AI deployment and exit readiness.
What I won't do
Rubber-stamp, add governance theatre, or take a seat where I can't be useful. If it isn't a fit, I'll say so in the first conversation.