Three directions, scored, with the conditions to abandon each one.
For a company already owned, early in the hold. Evidence assembled, directions scored against a thesis you set, kill criteria named before capital moves, and the whole thing built with the operating team so they can run it after.
Run it early in the hold
The earlier the growth is planned, the more of it is left to deliver. DPI sits at the lowest level on record and the average hold has stretched to 6.6 years (McKinsey GPMR, 2026) — a year spent not knowing where growth comes from is a year of the hold you do not get back.
The 100-day plan is not the window it appears to be. Adjacency work gets deferred to days 61 through 90, which is after the thesis has locked and about when the deferred items stop happening (RA Buyer Profile v2).
What comes out
Three to four directions, sequenced rather than listed. Each carries its thesis, the evidence with dated sources, the capability the company would need and whether it has it, the build-buy-partner recommendation, the KPI that signals early whether it is working, and the condition under which it gets dropped.
Then the governing layer: a statement of intent the leadership team can act against without checking upward on every call, and a written portfolio mix across core, adjacency and new.
It is a decision system rather than a report — it keeps producing answers after we stop attending the meetings. How the method works →
Scoped and quoted against one company, one thesis and one deadline. If the leadership team wants the evidence base kept current afterwards, that runs at company level. What that looks like →
Start with the company where the question is live
A working session, one hour, on a single portfolio company. We come having read what is public.