Strategex

09/23/2026

A huge thank you to our Welcome Sponsors, The Kraft Group, Solenis & Strategex for supporting our 2026 Paws Fore a Cause Golf Outing! 🐾⛳️

We’re so grateful for your generosity and partnership. Your support helps us continue improving youth mental health through the comfort and connection of animals. 💚

09/17/2026

264% increase in company valuation, 1,100% increase in operating income, and 20% increase in orders, all within two years.

A mid-market manufacturer got there by doing less with less.

Less than 6% of their customers generated half of all sales. Roughly 5% of their product portfolio did the same. The other 94% consumed resources and compressed margins.

So leadership made difficult choices: they simplified the customer base by 50% and rationalized the product line by 62%. They redirected commercial teams toward the relationships and verticals where economic value lived. Pricing became a disciplined lever instead of an opportunistic reaction.

Material margins climbed past 70%. Top-quartile customers generated more than 80% of sales and more than 100% of profit. On-time-in-full delivery for those clients consistently hit 98%+.

The Results: A Simpler Business with a Stronger Growth Engine.

Read the full case study on our website: https://hubs.la/Q04xFSSc0
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#8020

09/15/2026

Two hires in one quarter, both joining our Private Equity Solutions team.

Josh Emington and Lisa Moulis bring the kind of experience our PE clients expect: deep commercial research capability, a track record of working alongside deal teams, and the ability to turn customer data into conviction.

Welcome, Josh and Lisa.

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06/11/2026

Most manufacturing CEOs don’t have a growth problem; they have a focus problem.
Complexity builds quietly:
– more SKUs
– more customers
– more exceptions

At first, it feels like growth.
Over time, it starts to drag everything down:
– margins
– speed
– decision-making

We see this often in $1B+ manufacturing companies, especially those that have grown through expansion or acquisition.
The hard part isn’t identifying complexity.
It’s having the discipline to eliminate it.
Where are you seeing complexity creep in right now?
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06/02/2026

Most companies don’t have a demand problem.
They have a commercial focus problem.

We see it all the time:
– too many SKUs
– too many customer segments
– inconsistent pricing

Revenue grows.
But margin doesn’t follow.
Especially in $1B+ manufacturing businesses, complexity creeps into the commercial model long before it shows up in the P&L.
The challenge isn’t identifying it.
It’s deciding what to simplify.
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Where are you seeing this show up most: product, customer, or pricing?

05/21/2026

TAM tells you how big a market is. It doesn't tell you if it's worth pursuing.
Total Addressable Profit (TAP) is a simple extension of traditional market sizing. Instead of focusing only on revenue, TAP estimates the total gross profit available within a market or segment.

Because the biggest market and the most profitable market are not always the same thing.

Read more about TAP, the missing dimension in market sizing, here: https://hubs.la/Q04hrlCm0

TAM shows market size, but not value. Learn how Total Addressable Profit (TAP) helps companies prioritize higher-margin opportunities and drive better…

04/21/2026

Strategex Vice President, John Ahn, breaks down what 50 PE investors are planning to do in 2026, and why conviction is harder to come by than capital. The forecast is gloomy, but there is undoubtedly value to be captured. The path to it just needs a fresh game plan.

Read the observations from our most recent market survey:
https://hubs.la/Q04cTQXC0
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A Strategex 2026 Private Equity Market Survey. SEE THE DETAILED UNDERLYING DATA

04/16/2026

"Gathering insights is worthless without action."
Too many companies hear hard truths from their customers and respond with "We already knew that," then change nothing.

One company chose differently. Three years and an 89-point NPS swing later, they went from at-risk to industry leader.
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https://hubs.la/Q04cfphK0

Companies that ignore customer satisfaction metrics risk falling dangerously behind, but those who measure relentlessly and act on the hard truths can…

04/14/2026

95% of companies investing in AI have seen zero measurable return. Why? They're automating work they should be eliminating. Read the full insight to see how a simple 3-step approach turns AI spend into results.
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https://hubs.la/Q04b-p1Y0

95% of businesses investing in AI have seen zero measurable return. The problem isn't the technology; it's that most companies are automating work they…

03/24/2026

68% of PE value creation today comes from revenue growth and margin expansion. Revenue growth and margin improvement have to do the heavy lifting.
See how 80/20 applies to the 5 value creation drivers: revenue growth, margin expansion, strategic acquisitions, debt paydown, and multiple expansion.
https://hubs.la/Q047XwV50
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80/20 gives lower-middle-market management teams a repeatable way to cut through complexity and act on what actually drives results. Learn how the 80/20…