Operating playbook
Value creation.
Four phases that govern every portfolio company, regardless of strategy. The playbook is owned by the value creation team and delivered through dedicated operating partners.
- 01
First hundred days
0-3 months
Audit the operating baseline before changing it.
- Install the quarterly reporting package and a single source of truth for revenue, gross margin, and cash
- Run a price-waterfall audit (distribution) or a customer-cohort audit (software)
- Re-tier the customer base by gross margin and identify the bottom quartile
- Confirm the management team's own three-year plan, separate from the deal model
- 02
Operational modernization
3-12 months
Replace the systems that hold the next phase of growth back.
- Modernize pricing systems and move to a monthly catalog cadence (distribution)
- Stand up a CRM and a quarterly sales planning rhythm (software)
- Replace a single legacy ERP or asset management system, end-to-end
- Open a new branch, region, or go-to-market office tied to a defined pipeline
- 03
Build-out
12-36 months
Compound through additions and adjacent expansion.
- Acquire one to three add-on companies in adjacent geographies or product lines (buyout)
- Hire and onboard the first chief revenue officer and the first VP of Customer Success (software)
- Build the second or third facility, plant, or network region (infrastructure)
- Move the company from founder-led sales to a repeatable, manager-owned motion
- 04
Exit preparation
36+ months
Engineer the exit across multiple windows instead of a single auction.
- Move reporting to a public-company cadence six quarters before exit
- Engage independent directors and an audit chair twelve months before exit
- Prepare a vendor due diligence pack and refresh environmental and safety audits
- Plan a controlled exit across multiple buyers and windows rather than a single auction
In practice
Three company timelines.
Select a company to see the value creation milestones from year entered to today.
Operating partners
Who delivers the playbook.
The value creation team is led by Partner Helen Markson and staffed by operating partners with prior P&L responsibility in distribution, software, and infrastructure operations. Each portfolio company is assigned a dedicated operating partner at close.
Operating partners sit on portfolio company boards, lead the first hundred-day audit, and own the quarterly value creation plan. They do not source deals and they do not replace the chief executive. Their job is to make the chief executive's plan succeed.