In private equity, the phrase “we’re hands-on” gets used a lot. But too often, it simply means weekly check-ins, board slides, and a sense of urgency without the mechanisms to truly change the trajectory of a portfolio company.
What’s missing? Operational value creation that is designed, executed, and sustained inside the business.
What Operational Value Creation Really Looks Like
Over the past 20+ years, I’ve worked alongside founders, CEOs, and deal teams to drive performance in complex environments—from carve-outs and founder transitions to scaling industrial tech and restructuring legacy operations.
What I’ve learned is this: value isn’t unlocked in strategy decks, it’s built in the commercial engine, the shop floor, and the weekly sprint rhythms of leadership teams.
True operating partners don’t just advise from the edge. They:
- Architect GTM strategies that convert pipeline into cash
- Translate value creation plans into real-world P&L results
- Mobilize management teams around “must-win battles”
- Build operating dashboards, not just KPIs
- Know how to interact with staff and work with them, because that’s where trust (and insight) lives
Over the years, whether in energy transition, B2B tech, or industrials, I’ve led operational transformations that moved the P&L, improved cash, and got teams focused on what really matters.
From strategy to EBITDA, the playbook is clear:
This is not theory, it’s what I’ve actually implemented in past years and with portfolio companies across B2B, energy transition, and industrials.
Why Now?
Private equity is evolving. Financial engineering and bolt-ons are no longer enough to consistently outperform. LPs are demanding more. And management teams are overloaded.
The firms that will win the next decade are the ones who can inject real operational muscle into their portfolio strategy. Not as an afterthought, but as a core lever of investment alpha.
The best firms will outperform by embedding hands-in operators, not just hands-on advisors.