value creation plan: the hold-period playbook
The sponsor’s roadmap to higher enterprise value. Most VCPs are detailed on cost and add-ons, and give marketing one line.
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what a typical private equity VCP contains
The plan starts in diligence and is locked in the first 100 days. It turns the investment thesis into workstreams, each with an owner, a KPI and a deadline.
The board reviews it quarterly. What’s in the plan gets capital and people. What isn’t gets cut when results slip.
a value creation plan template, part by part
Most VCPs follow this structure. Marketing’s place is marked.
- (01)
investment thesis
Why the sponsor bought the company, and what has to be true at exit.
- (02)
baseline and EBITDA bridge
EBITDA today, the target at exit, and which initiatives close the gap.
- (03)
initiatives
Pricing, procurement, operations, buy-and-build, talent and commercial. Marketing sits here, with its own targets for pipeline, CAC and its contribution to retention.
- (04)
ownership
One named owner per initiative, a reporting cadence, and a board that holds them to it.
- (05)
KPIs and milestones
What each initiative reports, and when. Marketing reports pipeline, CAC payback and revenue growth, defined the same way in every portco so the sponsor can compare them and allocate capital.
- (06)
exit narrative
The growth story the next buyer will diligence, and the evidence behind it: revenue by source, CAC by channel and pipeline history.
why the marketing workstream is usually weak
The commercial section is usually written by people who know pricing and sales comp. Marketing ends up as “improve digital presence.” No baseline, no owner, no target.
That’s a planning gap, not a marketing problem. And it costs growth for the whole hold.
signs marketing is missing from your VCP
- No marketing baseline was set at close
- Nobody can tie spend to pipeline
- Marketing reports clicks, not CAC
- There’s no marketing leader, or only an interim one
- Add-ons still run their own sites and CRMs
- The agency, not the company, holds the ad accounts and data
get the baseline your plan is missing
The free Portfolio Marketing Audit is a first pass at marketing’s baseline: a leak report built from what’s visible from outside (site, search, ads, reviews, response speed), with an estimated cost where the evidence supports one 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.
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when marketing enters the value creation plan
The earlier it’s in, the longer it has to compound.
diligence
test the commercial thesis
Pressure-test the growth assumptions behind the deal before they become targets.
first 100 days
set the baseline and the owner
Marketing gets a named owner, real targets, and a defined line on the EBITDA bridge.
every quarter
report like every other workstream
Pipeline, CAC and CAC payback in the board pack. Outcomes, not activity.
12 to 24 months out
build the exit narrative
EY finds sponsors that prepare 12 to 24 months ahead of exit report about twice the uplift in value1. Marketing’s part is what diligence asks for: revenue by source, CAC by channel, retention by cohort, and how each number was calculated. If it’s documented across the hold, you assemble it rather than reconstruct it.
questions, answered
Something we didn’t cover? Ask it on the audit form.
The sponsor’s roadmap for raising enterprise value between close and exit: the initiatives, who owns each one, the targets and a timeline the board reviews across the hold.
The investment thesis, a baseline and EBITDA bridge, initiatives with named owners, KPIs and milestones, and the exit narrative. Commercial and marketing belong inside the initiatives, not off to the side.
The sponsor’s operating partner or value creation lead usually owns the plan, and the portco CEO owns execution. Each initiative has its own named owner.
Most sponsors use a similar structure: thesis, baseline, initiatives, ownership, KPIs and the exit narrative. The detail varies by firm and by deal.
As its own initiative inside the commercial workstream, with a baseline set at close and targets for pipeline, CAC payback and its contribution to retention. If it has no number, it doesn’t get capital or people.
keep reading
- value creationPrivate equity value creation now runs on EBITDA growth, not leverage. Where marketing contributes, and how to test if it can deliver the plan. Free audit.read more
- value creation leversThe four value creation levers marketing contributes to in a PE-backed company: brand, acquisition, retention and exit readiness. Get a free audit.read more
- 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
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