portfolio company marketing, diagnosis first
We find where growth leaks, fix what matters and run it, in accounts the company owns.
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- Pipelineon track
- CAC payback (months)on track
- LTV:CACon track
- Revenue growthon track
one set of definitions across the portfolio
most portcos come with growth nobody can measure
Spend spread across several vendors. A CRM nobody trusts. Every channel reporting its own version of the truth, and nobody owning the handoffs between them, which is usually where growth leaks. Meanwhile the hold-period clock is running.
Hiring a CMO takes months, and most leadership changes at PE-backed companies happen in months three to six1 anyway. We start with the diagnosis and a working team on day one. Every account and document is in the company's name, so a new leader, or a new agency, doesn't start over.
the first 100 days
Diagnose, rebuild, run, report. A portfolio company marketing strategy built on the deal team's targets, not a separate wish list.
days 0–30
diagnose the system
Where acquisition, conversion and measurement break, what each break costs, and whether it's isolated or structural. Spend, funnel conversion, the CRM, lead response, website, search, brand. The failure usually sits between channels, not inside one.
days 30–60
rebuild measurement and conversion
CRM and attribution first, in accounts the company owns, on the same definitions as every other portco. Then the website and lead handling, so more of the demand you already pay for converts.
days 60–90
run what the diagnosis calls for
Only the channels this company needs, and only once they can be measured: SEO, paid media, content, brand.
day 100
one set of numbers to the board
Pipeline, CAC, CAC payback and revenue growth, tied to the value creation plan. Then put capital behind what works.
day one starts with the audit
The free Portfolio Marketing Audit is the outside view before the diagnosis: where marketing appears to lose money from what's visible outside (site, search, ads, reviews, response speed), an estimated cost where the evidence allows, and what we'd validate first inside the business. No call needed.
how much is marketing adding to EBITDA?
The free audit starts the answer: where marketing is likely losing money, what each leak may cost, and what to validate first.
Free Delivered by email No call needed
proof, not promises
Four results from one portfolio company: U.S. Waterproofing, backed by Rotunda Capital Partners.
u.s. waterproofing · paid and organic search, run together
3 months
Booked out, with more customers asking than the crews can serve (reported by the company)
Paid and organic search, run together
read the case studyu.s. waterproofing · google local services ads
25.6x
Pipeline per $1 of ad spend across four markets · 669 won of 2,524 opportunities
$451K of Local Services Ads, $11.5M of pipeline
read the case studyu.s. waterproofing · seo and turning visits into leads
+157%
Leads from organic search (1,105 → 2,843)
157% more leads from organic search
read the case studyu.s. waterproofing · local seo and google business profiles
636
Leads from Google Business Profiles (Maps listings)
The same local set-up for every new location
read the case study
we run it.you own it.
Three commitments a sponsor should ask any marketing partner to put in writing. Here are ours.
- (01)
every account in the company's name
Ad accounts, analytics, CRM data, email lists and creative files are set up in the portfolio company's name from day one. We work inside them as users, never as owners. What you pay to build stays with the company and goes with it at exit.
- (02)
one set of numbers across the portfolio
Pipeline, CAC, CAC payback and revenue growth, defined the same way in every portco every month: one CAC definition, one attribution rule, one monthly report. Your operating partner can compare portcos side by side and allocate capital to where marketing pays.
- (03)
a documented engine at exit
Revenue by source, CAC and payback by channel, pipeline history, retention, and the organic vs paid mix. Each with a one-page note on how it's calculated and who owns it. Written down as we go, so exit prep means assembling the record, not reconstructing it. Growth a buyer can validate is easier to underwrite.
rebuild only what matters
We don't sell a bundle of channel retainers. We fix what the diagnosis points to, run it in-house, and report to the CEO and your operating partner.
The bar has moved. Bain2 puts the EBITDA growth now needed for a 2.5x five-year MOIC at 10 to 12% a year, up from about 5%. Debt and rising exit multiples used to do much of that work. Today they do less, so more of the growth has to come from the company itself. Marketing has to carry its share.
what the diagnosis may call for
- The diagnosis, and a 100-day plan built on the VCP
- CRM and attribution rebuilt in company-owned accounts
- Website and lead handling, so more demand converts
- SEO, paid media, content and brand, where the diagnosis says they pay
- A monthly board report on the same definitions in every portco
- The documented engine, written down as we go
hiring a marketing leader vs a diagnosis and a team on day one
Time to start
hiring a marketing leader first
A search, then months to ramp
portfolio support
Diagnosis in the first 30 days
Starting point
hiring a marketing leader first
A new hire's first read
portfolio support
A documented diagnosis of where growth leaks and what it costs
What you get
hiring a marketing leader first
One person who still needs a team
portfolio support
The diagnosis and the people who rebuild and run it
If leaders change
hiring a marketing leader first
The plan often starts over
portfolio support
Accounts, definitions and records stay with the company
Reporting
hiring a marketing leader first
Built from scratch
portfolio support
On portfolio definitions by day 100
Later
hiring a marketing leader first
Stays
portfolio support
Hands over to your hire, or you keep us
questions, answered
Something we didn’t cover? Ask it on the audit form.
An outside marketing team that diagnoses a portfolio company's growth system, rebuilds what the diagnosis says matters, runs it and reports against the value creation plan. The capability stays in the company: its accounts, its definitions, its records. It fits portcos with a thin marketing team or none at all.
No. We're a marketing team, not an interim executive. We bring the diagnosis and the people who do the work, and we report to the CEO and your operating partner. When the company hires a CMO or marketing leader, we work alongside them or hand the program over.
Diagnose the growth system in the first 30 days, rebuild the CRM, attribution and website, run the channels the diagnosis calls for, and report to the board by day 100. The free audit comes first, from the outside. The same sequence works at any point in the hold. Closer to exit, we focus on the evidence the buyer's diligence team will test.
Yes. We can fill gaps, run the program, or support a new CMO through ramp-up. The diagnosis decides which.
Monthly, against the value creation plan: pipeline, CAC, CAC payback (how fast gross profit recovers what it cost to win the customer), LTV and revenue growth. Every portco is reported on the same definitions, so you can compare them. If we can't rebuild a number the same way twice, it isn't in the report.
The portfolio company does. Ad accounts, analytics, CRM data, email lists and creative files are set up in the company's name from day one, and we work inside them as users. If we stop working together, there is nothing to hand back.
keep reading
- portfolio company value creationFor portco CEOs, CMOs and operating partners: what marketing should deliver from close to exit, and how to compare it across the portfolio. Free audit.read more
- value creation planWhat goes in a private equity value creation plan, a section-by-section template, and where marketing belongs with a baseline, owner and target. Free audit.read more
- SEOSEO for PE-backed companies: organic search and AI answers that can lower blended CAC over the hold and compound as an asset. Free marketing audit.read more
see where marketing is losing you money.
the free audit
what you get
- (01)
Where demand leaks
Search, the website, speed to lead and paid media: the leaks visible from outside the business.
- (02)
What each one may cost
An annual cost estimate wherever the evidence supports one, with the assumptions shown.
- (03)
What to fix first
Fixes ranked by likely payback for the work involved.
- (04)
What we’d validate inside
The CRM, ad and revenue data we’d check first to turn the estimates into numbers for your value creation plan.
what lands in your inbox
how much is marketing adding to EBITDA?
The free audit starts the answer: where marketing is likely losing money, what each leak may cost, and what to validate first.
Free Delivered by email No call needed