PORTFOLIO COMPANY MARKETING

i run marketing inside the hold period, not next to it.

private equity marketing turns a portfolio company marketing function into one thing. an owned, forecastable line in the value creation plan. i run that function directly. i report it the way the sponsor reads it.

prior-career proof

The first three figures are MacroFab prior-career results. Fifteen years is career breadth.

$200M

MacroFab prior-career marketing-sourced pipeline

$24M → $53M

MacroFab prior-career ARR

92%

MacroFab prior-career forecast accuracy, three years

15 years

career breadth leading B2B marketing

what portfolio companies get wrong in the first 100 days

the first 100 days after close is when marketing gets decided by default.

nobody sets out to defer it. the operating partner is busy with the finance stack. the CEO is defending the plan. marketing is the one function with no obvious owner in the room.

so it gets handled the cheapest way available. an agency gets hired against a channel brief. a demand-gen manager gets promoted into a role with no forecast attached. spend continues at the pre-close run rate because nobody has evidence to change it.

six months later the diligence question comes back around. what did that spend produce. and the answer is a slide, not a number.

i have watched this from inside twice. the pattern is consistent enough to name.

marketing is scoped as a channel budget instead of a revenue system.

the reporting line goes to a CRM dashboard nobody trusts, so the board gets a narrative.

lead volume is the reported metric, which is not a metric the sponsor underwrites.

the CRM object model is never fixed, so every later attribution answer is guesswork.

an agency owns the execution and nobody owns the number.

the first real forecast lands in month nine, which is a third of the hold period gone.

the value creation plan lens

a value creation plan is a set of levers with owners and dates. marketing belongs in it as a lever, not as a cost line.

the useful framing is simple. marketing either changes what EBITDA looks like at exit, or it does not. most portfolio company marketing is not built to answer that.

it changes EBITDA in two directions. it grows the top line through sourced pipeline that converts. and it changes the cost of that growth. sourced pipeline at a bad ratio is a margin problem in a growth costume.

i do not model multiples. i have never seen a marketing plan that could honestly claim one. inventing a number is how a sponsor learns to stop reading your reporting.

what i will claim is what i have carried. at MacroFab I owned marketing and complete revenue operations together. that produced $200M in marketing-sourced pipeline at roughly 10:1 ROI. the team was three people. ARR moved from $24M to $53M. that was an Edison Partners-backed board reading the reporting every month.

at TCP Software, a Providence Equity-backed business, marketing ran through a sale. the number that mattered there was whether the line survived the repricing.

that is the lens. every marketing decision inside a hold period is underwritten by someone. the reporting may not admit it.

marketing due diligence: what i check

marketing due diligence and digital marketing due diligence are one exercise. you are answering one question. is the reported growth repeatable, and does the company know why it happens.

i run this pre-close on a target. or post-close on a portfolio company that never had it done. the checklist does not change.

use the diligence worksheet.

it has the evidence request, reconciliation fields, and decision register.

bring the findings into the operating plan, with an owner for each repair.

sourced pipeline definition. what counts as marketing-sourced, who decided, and whether sales agrees.

the CRM object model. lifecycle stages, stage-entry criteria, and whether a stage holds its meaning.

attribution method. what model runs, what it excludes, and what the number becomes under a stricter one.

forecast history. eight quarters of forecast versus actual, at the marketing line.

spend concentration. how much of pipeline comes from one channel, one campaign, or one keyword.

paid media hygiene. wasted spend, conversion-action correctness, and whether the tracked conversion matters.

organic and content dependency. what happens to pipeline if the top five pages lose position.

handoff integrity. where a lead is lost between marketing and sales, and how often.

the team-to-output ratio. how many people are required to produce the current number.

tooling. what is paid for, what is used, and what is duplicated.

data governance. who can change a field, and what breaks when they do.

key-person risk. which reported outcomes live in one person's head or one person's spreadsheet.

what the operating partner gets

the deliverable is a reporting line that survives a board meeting.

i built a multi-touch attribution engine at MacroFab. the alternatives were a six-figure vendor or a BI team that did not exist. it stitched CRM logs, automation touchpoints, and paid spend into one model.

it held 92% forecast accuracy across $200M in marketing-sourced pipeline for three years. that is the standard i work to. it is what makes marketing legible to an operating partner.

in practice the operating partner gets four things.

one number for marketing-sourced pipeline, on a method that does not drift.

a forecast with a stated accuracy history, so the variance is a known quantity.

monthly unit economics on marketing spend, at the level a board reads.

a written record of what changed, why, and what it did.

choose the mandate before you buy the work

the first decision is ownership or diagnosis. most teams skip it and buy channel work.

use leadership when no senior marketer owns the revenue system. use a diagnostic when one does.

the distinction protects the CEO. it stops an operating partner from buying activity.

senior marketing owner in seat: start with a growth diagnostic.

no senior marketing owner in seat: start with marketing leadership.

unclear ownership: name the temporary accountable executive before assigning work.

unclear evidence: request the records first. do not let a channel plan answer a data question.

the mandate register

write this register before the first plan. it turns a useful conversation into an accountable mandate.

decision: leadership or diagnosis. record the condition that made the choice.

accountable executive: CEO, operating partner, or named marketing leader.

evidence requested: CRM stages, pipeline definitions, spend, forecast history, and access.

constraint to test: the one bottleneck that can change the next operating decision.

decision date: when the evidence is reviewed and the mandate is confirmed.

reporting line: number, method, cadence, and person who approves changes.

the engagement shape

two shapes, and the second one usually follows the first.

start with a diagnostic. i connect evidence across CRM, ads, analytics, and outbound. then i rank the constraint. if the portfolio company already has a marketing leader, this is the entry point. the leader keeps the mandate. i shorten the diagnosis. that is the growth diagnostic.

then leadership, if the function needs a senior owner. i run priorities, demand, operations, and reporting cadence directly. the platform gives one person reach across the function. that is marketing leadership.

the install model is 90 days. first working system in week one. demand engine by day 30. attribution by day 60. playbook handoff by day 90.

the handoff matters more in a portfolio company than anywhere else. hold periods end. the system has to outlive the engagement. otherwise you rented a number.

private equity marketing questions.

What does private equity marketing actually mean?

It means running marketing against the value creation plan, not a channel budget. The output is a pipeline line the sponsor can underwrite, not a calendar.

Do you work with the operating partner or the portco CEO?

Both, and they want different things. The CEO wants the function to work. The operating partner wants the number to be legible and repeatable. One engagement serves both if the reporting is built right.

What is marketing due diligence?

It is an evidence review that answers whether reported growth is repeatable. I check sourced-pipeline definitions, the CRM object model, and attribution method. Then forecast history, spend concentration, and key-person risk.

How does this differ from hiring an agency for a portfolio company?

An agency owns execution inside a channel. This owns the number across the function, including RevOps, attribution, and the forecast. Those are the parts an agency contract usually excludes.

Can marketing really move EBITDA inside a hold period?

It moves both sides of it. Sourced pipeline changes the top line. Its cost ratio changes margin. I do not model exit multiples, because no honest marketing plan can claim one.

What size portfolio company does this fit?

B2B SaaS between $5M and $50M ARR. Below that the function is too small to need this. Above it, you are hiring a full-time team and I am building the system they inherit.

What happens when the engagement ends?

You get a written playbook at day 90 and a system that runs without me. Hold periods end, so a number that only works while I am there is not worth buying.

How fast does the first useful output arrive?

The first working system ships in week one. The demand engine is live by day 30 and attribution by day 60. Diagnosis moves faster than that because the evidence connects first.

How do I choose leadership or a diagnostic?

Choose a diagnostic when a senior marketing leader already owns the system. Choose leadership when no senior owner can carry the number.

What goes in the mandate register?

Record the decision, accountable executive, and requested evidence. Add the constraint, date, and reporting line.

let's name the first blocker worth fixing.

Thirty minutes to name the constraint and the first useful fix.

book a repair working session →