Private Equity
Technology theses that must produce evidence inside a hold period.
Value-creation plans often depend on software that the portfolio company has no realistic capacity to build.
What we hear
Recognizable situations, not abstractions.
- Diligence identifies a technology thesis nobody can execute post-close.
- Add-on integration work absorbing the entire technology budget.
- Operating partners without an independent read on a large implementation estimate.
The operating constraint
Operating leverage has to appear soon enough to matter inside the hold period.
The question is not simply whether the software can be built. It is whether meaningful operating leverage can appear early enough in the investment horizon to change the plan — and whether what is built once can be reused across the portfolio rather than rebuilt company by company.
- The same operating problem repeats across portfolio companies.
- Built once against a bounded problem, the capability can be reused rather than re-procured.
Examples of problems suited to the model
Where the model tends to apply.
- Post-close operational systems and data consolidation
- Commercial applications supporting the value-creation plan
- Integration tooling across acquired entities
- Independent review of proposed technology commitments
Listed as problem types suited to this delivery model. No prior client work is implied.
Questions buyers raise
The objections are reasonable. They deserve direct answers.
- Can this produce evidence quickly?
- Proof Before Scale is designed to produce a decision-grade signal early in the hold period.
- What happens at exit?
- We favor architectures, documentation, and practices that preserve practical options for whoever owns the asset next.
- Is the estimate credible?
- A Second Opinion examines the delivery model behind the number, not only the number.