| Fractional CMO

Portfolio Company Marketing at the Speed of Now

Oct 28, 2019 4:50:31 PM | Posted by The Chief Outsider

Several trends in the private equity landscape demand GPs focus on accelerated growth initiatives to drive returns, which requires an infusion of marketing expertise, says Karen Hayward of Chief Outsiders.

Private equity’s long boom is proving to be mixed blessing. According to Prequin, deal making through the third quarter of 2019 is matching that of 2018. GPs are still raising record levels of capital, meaning the competition for deals, reflected in the high price of assets, won’t be subsiding anytime soon. More concerning is that the pace of exits has been slowing, with 2019’s exits looking to fall short of 2018’s numbers, a situation that has yet to dampen LPs enthusiasm for the asset class… yet.

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In Pursuit of Growth: What the Numbers Don’t Say

Nov 21, 2018 10:55:49 AM — Too many GPs rely on raw sales numbers rather than seek out the root causes of growth issues at a portfolio company, and that hinders their ability to develop effective strategies beyond rote solutions. And given today’s competitive landscape, those simply aren’t sufficient. In private equity circles, the industry is well beyond the point of relying on mere financial engineering to generate returns. But we’re fast approaching a point where operational tinkering alone won’t do the trick either. Today’s assets don’t come cheap, and require real growth to produce an adequate ROI.

The CMO Download: Sharon Spooler

Oct 18, 2018 6:05:19 PM — As part of an ongoing series at this blog, we’re speaking with fractional CMOs to discuss their philosophy and experiences creating value for their clients. This week, we sat down with Chief Outsiders’ Sharon Spooler. Given the high prices of assets, growth is a top priority for private equity GPs. This has them looking long and hard at marketing tactics, which can feel like the real nuts and bolts of increasing sales, but without a well-informed strategy, there’s no guarantee those tactics will do any good. It’s a lesson that Sharon Spooler learned before joining Chief Outsiders, and that insight-driven marketing is key to how she, and the rest of her firm, view their discipline.

Portfolio Matters: 5 Reasons Growth Stalls

Sep 24, 2018 2:57:03 PM — For private equity firms managing small and mid-cap companies there are five common reasons that growth gets stuck in first gear. But that doesn’t mean it has to stay there. Given the high prices of assets these days, GPs need full-fledged growth at portfolio companies to generate the returns that will bring LPs back for the next fund. So we sat down with David Vroom of Chief Outsiders to discuss the five most common challenges small and mid-cap companies have with growth. Vroom speaks from experience, having interacted with hundreds of such companies over his career as a CMO. Since joining Chief Outsiders, he’s dealt with over a hundred PE firms as well, helping them spark the kind of the growth that can be all too hard to generate at these enterprises. Here are the 5 most common challenges he’s seen.

3 Keys for Increasing Odds of M&A Success

Sep 21, 2018 4:19:46 PM — Solid due diligence on ALL aspects of the business and a fast start on value creation are needed to reach the end-point of a strong ROI for the investors at exit Recently, I was visiting with a colleague from my days at Waste Management Inc. (WM) reminiscing about a major industry roll-up of which we were a part. Waste Management had decided to create value for shareholders by acquiring and consolidating companies in the very fragmented pest control and lawn care business, creating new national players in the industry. We were part of the acquisition team – several of us having been owners of acquired companies, plus a long-time WM executive. In two years, our team directed the acquisition and consolidation of over 150 companies, resulting in a roll-up of about $200 million in annual home services revenue. The entire consolidation was eventually sold to ServiceMaster, owner of Terminix. Fast forward to current days, when many of the old problems with M&A are the same, but there’s a new twist. In the world of Private Equity, today’s sky-high valuations require making even smarter decisions when buying a company. Solid due diligence on ALL aspects of the business and a fast start on value creation are needed to reach the end-point of a strong ROI for the investors at exit.

Private Equity Blog

Portfolio Company Marketing at the Speed of Now

Several trends in the private equity landscape demand GPs focus on accelerated growth initiatives to drive returns, which requires an infusion of marketing expertise, says Karen Hayward of Chief Outsiders.

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3 Keys for Increasing Odds of M&A Success

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