The deal team is in Manhattan. The portfolio is everywhere else.
Sponsors close from midtown and operate in warehouses, clinics and offices across the country. The plan only works if a senior operator is in the business when the clock starts.
Where portfolio plans slip
Sponsors in New York describe it the same way:
Day one has no owner
The plan starts at completion and the permanent hire starts a quarter later, so the first months run on goodwill.
Reporting is built for the founder
Monthly numbers arrive late and in the founder's format, and the deal team needs the operating view now.
Founder and sponsor see different companies
Each has a point. With no operator in the middle, the difference hardens into friction.
The need has an end date
An add-on integration, a systems rebuild or a carve-out asks for a senior operator over a set period and not for the entire hold.
Operators join portfolio companies in a few weeks on a services agreement, matched to the hold and never pulling against it. The model suits a defined workstream, a bridge before a permanent appointment, or a way to learn what a company needs before a hire is committed.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Deploying a senior operator inside a portfolio company
- Executing a 100-day plan the moment the deal closes
- Value creation through the hold, not another advisory report
- Building reporting, systems and management credibility before an exit
- Operational diligence and leadership-gap assessment before you buy
Not for
- A strategy deck or set of recommendations to hand back
- A business that wants an adviser, not an operator inside it
- Pure diligence with no operator deployed afterwards
- A mandate for oversight rather than hands-on execution
Leadership that matches the hold
A value-creation plan needs an operator inside the company and a structure around them. We provide both, from match to exit.
Governance through the hold
We keep a regular review with management and, where agreed, the deal team. If the plan and the brief diverge, we say so.
The collective behind each asset
Operators in your portfolio can reach our collective of 800+. A finance question that turns out to be about the warehouse meets someone who has run one.
Continuity through our process
We keep each brief current. If an executive steps away, the replacement search opens with the asset's history already on file, and we steer the transition.
Matched to founder and sponsor
An operator who suits both the founder and the sponsor is rarer than one who looks good on paper, so temperament is part of the brief.
Across the PE investment lifecycle
From pre-deal to exit preparation.
Pre-deal: operational due diligence
Embed a Fractional COO or CFO to support your ODD. They identify gaps your model hasn't priced.
Post-acquisition: fill the leadership gaps
Start the search within days of instruction and have the right operator embedded within weeks. No recruitment pipeline, notice periods, or trial risk.
Value creation: operational improvement
Build financial infrastructure, operating cadences, commercial engines, and professional people structures.
Exit preparation: build credibility
A Fractional CFO producing clean board reporting and investor-grade financials is a meaningful credibility signal in any sale process.
The value-creation matrix
Each value-creation lever maps to the operator built to own it. Most plans pull two or three at once.
Portfolio company leadership options
Match the right fractional operator to the specific portfolio company need.
Our operating partners have worked at
