The Portfolio Partnership

How to Create Higher Margins

by Ian Smith | Nov 22, 2023 | Business Models, Economics, Execution Tips

Let’s be clear. Losses are not sustainable for any company. Amazon founded in 1994 made its first profit in Q4 2001. For years the eCommerce giant made losses. In fact Bezos famously stood up at an analysts meeting to announce Amazon had made a profit but then said I...

Exiting to Private Equity Vs Strategic Buyer

by Ian Smith | Nov 15, 2023 | Exiting your business

I was inspired to write a short article by a recent event I attended at Katahdin’s CEO club, where we discussed the issues surrounding exiting to a PE firm compared with selling out to a strategic. These thoughts are based on my own experience and I make some...

Are You a Driver or a Passenger?

by Ian Smith | Nov 8, 2023 | Compelling Stories, Competitive analysis, Saleability Test

As the owner of a private company, are you in charge of your own destiny or are you sitting in the passenger seat? Perhaps you’re tired? Or perhaps you have lost interest in the cause that got you so excited, all those years ago? Whatever the reason it is never too...

The Shocking Odds of Exiting Your Business (and how to change them)

by Ian Smith | Oct 18, 2023 | Scaling, Selling Out

Approximately 90% of companies are not ready for primetime. These companies will attract little interest and are highly likely to see buyers walk away long before due diligence. The main reason lies in the owner’s flawed approach to building value. Bigger is not...

Why Budgets Are Not Forecasts

by Ian Smith | Oct 10, 2023 | budgets

Most public company executives and private company owners arrive at the annual budget season with the wrong mindset. They believe a budget is some type of forecast and that sinking feeling comes over them. Why bother? The good news here is that it is not a forecast....

Why Companies Are Not Ready for Sale

by Ian Smith | Oct 3, 2023 | Execution Tips, Exiting your business, Saleability Test

As you build your business each year with higher revenue and hopefully profitably, it may seem a reasonable assumption that the value is constantly increasing and that you could sell it one day. You would be mistaken. Approximately 90% of private companies coming to...

Why Budgets/AOPs Fail

by Ian Smith | Sep 20, 2023 | budgets

As we rush towards fall and Q4, every business enters budget season. Large and small businesses alike, we dive deep into the annual ritual of agreeing an operating budget. You’ll see a million blog posts on how to create them. So instead I thought I’d...

The Secret of Serial Successful Acquirers

by Ian Smith | Sep 13, 2023 | Acquisitions, post-acquisition integration

Most PE backed portfolio company CEOs need to execute successful acquisition programs. Every VP of Corporate Development is trying to design a process that delivers value. Family offices are investing in a wide range of diversified assets including scaling by...

Debunking Overnight Success

by Ian Smith | Sep 6, 2023 | Acquisitions, podcast, Scaling

This week I’d like to share an interview I did with Todd Westra from the Growth and Scaling Podcast. It was a great discussion on the some of the myths of entrepreneurship. We discussed a few huge challenges in the market – firstly over 90% of companies...

How will AI Transform M&A?

by Ian Smith | Aug 29, 2023 | Acquisitions

In this post TPP founder Ian Smith walks us through the TPP M&A playbook and invites Kalle Kilpi to predict how AI will transform it. Kalle’s remarkable bio gives him a distinct edge to help us understand the impact. He brings a uniquely relevant background to...