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From Plateau to Acceleration: A PE Playbook for Unlocking Predictable Financial Growth
In a recent episode of Dream and Soar with Chuck and Friends, Chuck sat down with Craig Levinsohn, Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer at Chief Outsiders, to unpack one of the most pressing questions in private equity today:
“How can portfolio companies achieve their next phase of growth—and do it predictably, consistently, at scale, and profitably?”
Top 5 Challenges Portfolio Company CEOs Face
May 6, 2019 3:15:59 PM — Chief Outsiders does a lot of work with private equity, which means I’m usually talking with at least 3-4 private equity investors each week. At the same time, I often talk with an equal number of PE-backed portfolio execs each week, mostly CEOs. While these discussions have given me insights into their business needs, challenges, and strategies to create value in pursuit of outsized returns, we haven’t spent much time talking about the opportunities and challenges they face in working with each other. I recently attended an operating partner-focused conference and got to hear a lot on the topic from the private equity side. You can read about that in my blog post, “What Operating Partners Have To Say About Working With Their Portfolio Companies.” As I did not have a similar forum to get the other side of the coin - how portfolio company executives feel about working with private equity, I reached out to a group of PE-backed CEOs and asked them. While my outreach was not a scientific survey, it was instructive in highlighting portfolio executives’ thoughts on working with Private Equity.
What Operating Partners Have To Say About Working With Their Portfolio Companies
Apr 25, 2019 3:22:50 PM — Since the Operating Partners are responsible for working with portfolio companies to increase value, I was particularly interested in hearing their thoughts at a recent Capital Roundtable conference: Best Practices for Creating Value. As you might imagine, there was a lot of talk during the sessions and our networking breaks about the opportunities and challenges associated with their jobs. Here’s what I heard.
Is Socially Responsible Investing Part of Your Playbook?
Apr 22, 2019 8:00:00 AM — I’ve been reading a lot about responsible investing. While it’s not a new concept, it’s one that has seen increasing acceptance in the private equity space of late. PwC goes so far as to say ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) issues have “moved from niche to mainstream,” with 81% of respondents to the firm’s recent survey having adopted a responsible investment policy. In addition, the PwC survey finds that more private equity firms are not only concerned about ESG issues, they are turning that concern into action - 91% of respondents either have or are developing a responsible investment policy, according to the report. It’s becoming a business imperative.
Portco Growth: Marketing as reality check
Apr 18, 2019 10:00:00 AM — For many middle market companies, the vision that founded the enterprise can’t take it to the next stage of growth. So we spoke to Chief Outsiders’ Dawn Werry about how a market-based reality check can set an enterprise up to grow in new, and sustainable ways. Founding a company takes an uncommon kind of vision, talent and drive. But often guiding the company to the next stage of growth requires a different skill set than the one that built the business from scratch. Private equity firms understand this, and often show up with the capital and resources to make a great small company into an even better, and bigger enterprise. Sometimes the founder can adapt for that next stage, and other times, they struggle. After all, the founder’s approach took them this far, why can’t it take the business even farther? The answer sometimes requires a reality check about the company’s current status and what it takes to grow from there. Few people expect marketing to provide a reality check, but the marketing discipline needs to accurately assess the actual competitive landscape.