Chief Outsiders

09/16/2026

A 100-year-old construction company had outgrown its own brand. The positioning hadn't kept pace with the value they deliver, and most of the marketing and sales function was still running on spreadsheets and manual process.

Anka Twum-Baah walks through the work: voice-of-customer research, a new messaging matrix, a rebuilt sales and marketing platform, and a brand refresh sharp enough that competitors started mimicking it. The engagement wrapped with the hire of a marketing leader to carry the momentum forward.

For a PE-backed business, that kind of infrastructure is what investors are actually looking for.

Take a look 👀

08/14/2026

Most portfolio companies have more data than ever and less clarity than they need.

Sales data lives in the CRM, marketing data is scattered across five other platforms, and finance works from its own separate view, so no one on the team actually sees the full picture of how growth happens.

Send to the operating partner still waiting on a straight answer from three different dashboards:

Explore the critical importance of data visibility in driving growth and value creation in businesses, and learn how to bridge the data gap for better decision-making.

08/12/2026

A campaign can drive leads. A new seller can create momentum. A pricing move can improve margins. None of it proves growth will survive the exit on its own.

That's the distinction buyers are actually pricing: performance versus the commercial engine producing it.

Our new PE Value Creation Playbook is built around that idea, with a framework for operating partners focused on durable value across the portfolio.

👉 https://bit.ly/4wJmlFk

08/10/2026

There's a version of growth that feels like momentum without actually being architecture.

Revenue is up, the team is busy, and new logos keep closing, but the pipeline is unpredictable, a handful of accounts carry too much weight, and nobody can connect marketing's activity to the revenue it's supposed to produce.

That gap usually traces back to the same root cause: The commercial function that got the business to $10 million was built for that stage, and nobody has gone back to rebuild it for the next one.

Seven signals separate a business built to scale from one that's simply had a good run:

👉 How predictable revenue is
👉 How concentrated the customer base is
👉 Whether growth is accelerating or coasting,
👉 Whether commercial leadership can set strategy and not just execute it
👉 How tightly sales and marketing share a pipeline and a definition of a good lead
👉 Whether marketing owns strategy or just activity
👉 Whether growth would survive losing one key person

Run the business through those seven the way a buyer eventually will. Not the way you'd describe it to one.

Is your business ready to scale? Discover the key signals indicating whether your growth strategy can withstand future pressures and attract investors.

08/07/2026

Consumer research is usually slow and expensive. This client's team needed something faster without losing rigor.

Evan Eckman partnered with them to pilot a new methodology, built for CPG, as one of the first companies to test it.

Here's what came out of it 👇

08/06/2026

Most companies prepare a Quality of Earnings assessment before an exit. Almost none apply that same discipline to the revenue line.

Carol Eversen explains why buyers notice when growth is running on the heroics of one or two people, and what the best exits do differently.

Watch here, then grab the guide: https://bit.ly/4vS33vW

07/27/2026

We've walked into innovative products that customers weren't buying, not because the product was weak, but because the story around it was.

Bob Sherlock breaks down how he was able to assist one equipment manufacturer, and the seven figure result they together achieved.

60 seconds that are well worth your watch.

07/24/2026

Growth without a system is just activity. A durable commercial engine runs on four connected parts:

→ Market insight that tells you where to spend attention and capital
→ Commercial strategy that turns insight into real choices
→ Ex*****on capacity that activates the plan
→ A measurement cadence that keeps the system improving

Miss one and the whole engine stalls, no matter how hard the team is working.

Slade Kobran breaks down each piece in our latest post, plus the exit readiness diagnostic PE firms are using to score their portfolio companies:

A durable commercial engine is a system. Learn the four components PE-backed companies need to capture growth and create repeatable, defensible value.

07/22/2026

Every deal team checks the financials before an exit.

Almost none check whether the revenue engine can run without the current owner in the room.

That's the question buyers are actually asking.

Carol Eversen breaks down what that means for your exit valuation.

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Get the "Strategic Guide: Is Your Revenue Growth Engine Exit-Ready" eBook: https://bit.ly/4hhVEm5

07/20/2026

Uncertain markets don't eliminate growth opportunities. They change where those opportunities exist.

Art Saxby shares great insight on the four moves mid-market CEOs should be making right now, and why the companies that kept moving will be better positioned when demand returns.

Dive in here:

A Practical Playbook for Mid-Market CEOs In my last post, I made the case that mid-market CEOs have more control than the headlines suggest, and that waiting for certainty is a strategy with real costs. Now let's talk about what to do instead.