My first PE backers sent someone in to help
Two days a month became a day a week. I mistook supervision for support, in real time.
Insights
What I learned in the CEO seat, written down.
Board confidence, sponsor trust and the first 90 days, for CEOs of PE-backed businesses. Drawn from my own time as a PE-backed CEO.
The scorecard you can't see
A business can be performing well and the assessment can still be moving against you.
The P80 answer: honest about probability, heard as hedging
I said yes to my numbers, then added it was a P80. Precise and honest. Heard as hedging.
EBITDA up 35% year on year. And I could still feel something was off.
Five years, revenue doubled, every metric green. When COVID came, the performance did not protect me.
The belief that ends more PE CEO careers than any board decision
Self-reliance got you here. In one specific situation, it is the belief most likely to cost you the role.
Start with one confidential conversation.
One conversation. No pitch. We establish whether the pattern you are seeing is one I can help you change, and you decide from there.