Need: Value Creation
Accelerating Growth in the Tech Sector: Crafting Product Vision Roadmap
Service Area: Growth & Go-To-Market (GTM)
Client Type: Middle-Market Private Equity Firm
Service Provider Type: Product Roadmap Consultant
Industry: Professional Services: Technology: Software
The Need
Charting the Course for Future Growth
A middle-market private equity firm engaged BluWave to assist one of their portfolio companies, a managed IT service provider specializing in financial services and life sciences sectors. The company sought a consulting partner to craft a robust three-year product vision roadmap. This roadmap would serve as a strategic guide, outlining the offerings, sales, delivery and performance measurement aspects of the company’s future direction.
The Challenge
Identifying Expansion Opportunities in a Niche Market
The managed IT service provider needed a comprehensive roadmap to inform its business strategy over the next three years. This required a deep understanding of the target customer profiles, their purchase journey and emerging market trends. BluWave’s challenge was to collaborate with a consulting partner that possessed a strong background in IT managed services, particularly in the financial services and life sciences sectors, which are heavily regulated.
How BluWave Helped
Experienced, Niche-Specific Resource
BluWave immediately reached out to the consulting firms it already knew that had a proven track record in developing product roadmaps for IT managed service providers. The selected consulting partner brought hands-on experience and a deep understanding of IT MSP products to the table.
The consulting partner’s team undertook a meticulous customer and market assessment, conducting interviews with existing and potential customers to understand their needs and preferences. Simultaneously, they performed a comprehensive competitive analysis to identify opportunities for expanding the company’s offerings.
The Result
Clear Path to Growth
Thanks to the consulting firm with which BluWave the company, the managed IT service provider successfully crafted a the-year product vision roadmap. It incorporated customer and market insights, defining the target customer profiles and outlining the path to delivering unmatched value.
The company’s leadership gained clarity on their future direction, aligning product offerings, sales, delivery and performance measurement. Armed with a well-structured roadmap, the managed IT service provider is better positioned to navigate the complexities of the financial services and life sciences sectors.
The collaborative effort between BluWave and the consulting partner culminated in a strategic plan tailored to the company’s unique position in the tech sector. As they continue to serve their niche markets, the managed IT service provider can confidently implement their growth strategy, expand their offerings, and unlock new opportunities for success.
Interim CFO: Complex Situation for Rapidly Growing Healthcare Services Business
Service Area: Interim Executives
Client Type: Lower-Middle Market Private Equity Firm
Service Provider Type: Interim CFO
Industry: Healthcare Services
The Need
Financial Chief to Address Complexity, Provide Visibility
A lower-middle market private equity firm sought BluWave’s expertise in interim executive searches to assist one of their portfolio companies in the healthcare services industry. The company provides physician management and cancer center development services to hospitals and physician partners.
Following a significant acquisition, the business experienced rapid growth, but its current management team struggled to keep up with the complexities of the expanded operation. While not a turnaround situation, the firm acknowledged the need for stronger leadership to navigate the evolving landscape.
The Challenge
Organizing Financial Operations for Growth
The healthcare services business encountered challenges due to its accelerated expansion. The existing CFO lacked the visibility and expertise required to manage the finance function effectively. The company’s legal structures and numerous add-ons further complicated reporting and forecasting.
To address this, the firm sought an interim CFO to get its financial house in order, provide professional guidance on forecasting and optimize financial operations while they conducted a search for a permanent CFO. Additionally, they faced the task of hiring a new CEO, further necessitating competent leadership to ensure a seamless transition.
How BluWave Helped
Perfect-Fit Interim Executive Joins Team
BluWave promptly connected the lower-middle market private equity firm with a highly qualified Interim CFO possessing extensive experience in managing complex financial structures within the healthcare industry. The chosen executive had a proven track record of driving financial visibility and establishing robust forecasting processes.
Their expertise in reimbursement models and joint ventures made them an ideal candidate to guide the business through its rapid-growth phase. Moreover, the Interim CFO’s understanding of the intricacies of healthcare services facilitated the organization’s ability to make sense of vast amounts of data and derive meaningful insights.
The Result
Establishing Financial Stability and Clarity
The appointed interim CFO swiftly assumed responsibilities, bringing much-needed organization and professionalism to the company’s finance function. With their guidance, the business gained improved financial visibility, allowing for informed decision-making during a critical growth period.
During the CFO search process, the Interim CFO’s contribution proved invaluable, providing financial leadership and maintaining the firm’s stability. Additionally, they collaborated seamlessly with the newly appointed interim CEO, ensuring a smooth transition.
The healthcare services business came out better equipped to manage its current growth trajectory and address future opportunities with confidence.
On Short Notice, Interim CEO Turns Around Construction PortCo
Service Area: Interim Executives
Client Type: Small Market PE Firm
Service Provider Type: Interim CEO
Industry: Construction & Engineering
The Need
Urgent Interim CEO Requirement
A small-market PE firm engaged BluWave for their interim executive expertise to address a critical need at a mechanical contracting portfolio company. The business faced sudden changes in its leadership, as the existing CEO decided not to proceed with the planned transition. The PE firm sought a temporary chief executive to bridge the leadership gap, assess the business, drive operational efficiencies and provide commercial insights.
The Challenge
Bridging Leadership Transition, Operational Improvements
The mechanical contractor found itself in a challenging situation with a CEO checked out of daily operations. Additionally, senior leadership was experiencing increased pressure due to margin compression. The company needed an Interim CEO immediately to support the transition from the outgoing CEO and assess the business’s current state to identify improvement opportunities. This urgent requirement demanded a leader who could provide both operational and commercial expertise while navigating the unique cultural dynamics of a legacy business.
How BluWave Helped
The Right Match, Fast
BluWave swiftly connected the PE firm with a short list of highly qualified interim CEOs with backgrounds in operations and commercial management. The chosen executive had a track record of leading turnarounds and repositioning companies for growth, making him an ideal candidate. With experience in lender relations and understanding of financial dynamics, the interim CEO was also well-equipped to manage interactions with lenders and assist the company in developing a clear financial strategy.
The Result
Immediate Impact and Long-Term Strategy
The appointed interim CEO promptly assumed the leadership role, guiding the mechanical contractor through a smooth transition. Their deep operational understanding allowed them to identify low-hanging fruit for operational efficiencies, optimizing processes and breaking down silos within the organization. Simultaneously, they conducted a thorough commercial assessment, understanding the factors driving customer decisions and addressing issues affecting business growth.
The Interim CEO’s expertise in percentage of completion accounting and industry-specific knowledge significantly contributed to the improvement of the company’s finance function. They engaged with lenders transparently, helping them understand the business’s current state and future prospects, leading to a strengthened relationship. Furthermore, the interim CEO provided strategic insights on the nature of leadership required to execute the company’s growth plan.
With the Interim CEO’s guidance, the mechanical contractor gained clarity on its financial performance, identified necessary investments for underwriting success and developed a roadmap for the future. This successful interim engagement provided the company with stability during a critical phase and positioned them for future growth.
During the engagement, a long-term chief executive officer was identified. The interim CEO facilitated a seamless transition as the new leader took the reins.
Brit Yonge, Corsair Capital | An Expert Perspective on Strategy and Resilience in Private Equity
Unleashing Business Potential with AI: Beyond Open Source Tools
Artificial intelligence has evolved from a futuristic concept into a business norm. The advent of Language Learning Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Bard is only the tip of the iceberg.
While these consumer-focused models are noteworthy, they form only a fraction of AI’s potential. Businesses stand to gain significantly by digging deeper into the realm of AI and integrating advanced models.
Let’s dive into how AI is revolutionizing private equity firms, their portfolio companies and other private and public businesses.
Beyond Data Availability and Hygiene
AI models are adept at analyzing and interpreting massive datasets, providing businesses with valuable insights that drive decision-making. With data being produced at an unprecedented rate, AI’s role in sifting through this sea of information and drawing actionable conclusions is invaluable.
READ MORE: The Road to AI Implementation: Precursor Activities
Ken McLaren, partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners, spoke to this on a recent AI-focused webinar hosted by BluWave.
“We do a lot of prototyping on desktops,” McLaren said. “As we prove the value and the use cases, we then start getting ready for production. But don’t build in production first. Get the proof value with your customer market in place before you start building.”
He elaborated on the importance of not just having clean data, but that it’s also production-ready, which means having a quality data lake infrastructure.
“Having your data pipes with things like Azure Data Factory, having good storage…or using Databricks Delta Lake on top of that, having a production-ready data environment is important,” he said. “Once you’ve got your models ready…you can plug in a lot of open source tools. So there’s really no one platform to rule at all.”
Protecting Your Sensitive Data
With AI tools new and old evolving so rapidly, there’s also concern from business leaders that the data they share with these same tools is not safe.
“If you’ve got history turned on, then it becomes part of that AI system,” said Keith Thomas, National Practice Lead, Cybersecurity Operations, at AT&T. “It gets built into the models, and there’s the ability for the model to use that data.”
Since McLaren’s firm exclusively works with healthcare companies, they err on the side of holding back data from open tools that could otherwise compromise privacy.
“We still guide our portfolio companies for sensitive business data, customer data – keep it out of any open tool,” McLaren said.
BluWave CEO and founder Sean Mooney also cautioned about sharing propriety data that gives your company an edge:
“If that’s something that’s competitively sensitive or advantageous your business,” he said of adding it to an open-source tool, “you’ve just given it to the world.”
Beyond Open-Source AI Tools
Tech stacks at innovative businesses are changing faster than ever. Not only are the tools themselves changing, but they’re also becoming easier to use for team members who aren’t as technically skilled.
“In software development in general, there’s this movement more and more toward no-code, low-code solutions,” said Alex Castrounis, Why of AI founder and CEO. “Part of the benefit of those things is, one, accessibility and making it easier for people in organizations to sort of build software, or in this case, train models, iterate on models, tune them, optimize them, deploy them and so on.”
He added that the future of AI could look more like J.A.R.V.I.S. in Ironman than simply getting help summarizing large sets of data or writing an email.
He describes this potential technology as an “interface that becomes sort of an information-retrieval system or a question-answering system on top of your data. …It solves a lot of those issues that I know a lot of organizations are wondering when it comes to proprietary data and confidential data.”
Other tools like LangChang – used in conjunction with other tools – can help users make templates out of their existing prompts and iterate them for future inputs. These can then be set up with outside sources such as Wikipedia, as well as databases and APIs.
These, however, are just a small sample of the growing list of possibilities.
While OpenAI, Microsoft and Google continue to grab the lion’s share of attention when it comes to new AI tools, there are countless others being developed and improved every day.
Business leaders must strike the delicate balance between experimenting and staying ahead of the curve against protecting proprietary, and even sensitive data. Miscalculating could not only compromise competitive advantages, but also user safety.
The Business Builders’ Network is full of expert, trustworthy service providers who are on the leading edge of artificial intelligence technology. When you’re ready to connect with an industry-specific resource for your business, contact our research and operations team to set up a call.
Financial Integration Support for Chemical Manufacturer
Service Area: Financial Operations
Client Type: Lower-Middle Market Private Equity Firm for Portfolio Company
Service Provider Type: Financial Integration Consultant
Industry: Chemical Manufacturing
The Need
Financial Integration for Add-On Acquisitions
A chemical manufacturer operating in the specialty treatment chemicals industry sought assistance with financial integration for their add-on acquisitions. With a focus on bridging the gap in financial onboarding and consolidating reporting packages, the client needed a specialized team to provide hands-on support and help streamline their financial processes.
The Challenge
Improving Financial Systems and Reporting
The client faced challenges in their financial systems and reporting due to the use of QuickBooks and the need for scalable solutions. With add-on acquisitions and plans for growth, they required an evaluation of their current systems and the implementation of appropriate ERP and CRM systems, along with adequate security, governance and controls.
How BluWave Helped
Connecting for Accelerated Growth
BluWave connected the client with a specialized financial integration consultant that provided on-the-ground support in putting together reporting packages, consolidating financials and assisting with financial onboarding. This person was able to hit the ground running and better prepare the portco for its rollup strategy.
The Result
A Solid Foundation for Expansion
Through the assistance of the financial integration consultant, the chemical manufacturer successfully improved their systems and reporting capabilities. This set them up to move into their buy-and-build phase and begin making acquisitions. The financial consultant stayed on for some of the initial acquisitions, buying the company time to select a perfect-fit CFO.
We are grateful to be able to partner with the new team we acquired and look forward to helping them further accelerate growth.
-Portco VP of Operations
CEO Search for Rapid Expansion of Residential Services Portco
Service Area: Executive Search
Client Type: Lower-Middle Market Private Equity Firm
Service Provider Type: Executive Search Firm
Industry: Residential Services
The Need
CEO Search for Rapidly Growing Home Services Company
A home services company, focused on consolidation and rapid growth, was in need of a new CEO. Having completed nine acquisitions and added key executives to their leadership team, they sought a strong executive recruiting firm that could identify and place a CEO with the right industry experience and a track record of leading decentralized teams in rapidly expanding companies.
The Challenge
Connecting with a Middle Market-Focused Executive Search Firm
The client had previously used various executive search firms but had experienced inconsistent results. They were seeking an executive search firm geared toward the middle market, with a solid process for candidate identification, screening and reference checks. They required a partner who could effectively navigate the residential services and facility services industry and deliver consistent results.
How BluWave Helped
Specialized Executive Search for Residential Services
BluWave tapped into its Business Builders’ Network to connect the PE firm with a short list of exact-fit executive search firms. Leveraging their expertise and industry connections, the recruiting group selected by the firm identified and vetted relevant candidates with extensive experience in leading large, decentralized residential services teams. The firm’s rigorous process paid off as they not only found a great fit for the role, but also the portfolio company’s growth strategy and culture.
The Result
Successful CEO Placement, Continued Growth
A new Chief Executive Officer with more than 20 years of experience was appointed to lead the company. He had previously worked in route-based businesses, including successful merger and acquisition strategies, and was the ideal candidate to lead the company through its growth and consolidation plans. The former CEO transitioned to the role of Executive Chairman of the Board, providing ongoing support with acquisitions and strategy.
The client expressed their satisfaction with the search process and the selection of the new CEO. His leadership skills, extensive experience and alignment with the company’s culture and values were highlighted as key factors in his appointment.
We are thrilled by the growth that the company has experienced so far and look forward to seeing it reach another level under the new CEO’s leadership. We could not imagine finding a more perfect leader to take the team through the next phase of growth.
-PE Firm Co-Founder
The Road to AI Implementation: Strategic Planning, Data Management, Cybersecurity
What’s worse than not implementing artificial intelligence tools into your business?
Implementing them without a plan.
While it might feel like you’re falling further behind competitors every day you’re not adding AI to your tech stack, you’re better off waiting a little longer to get it right. Rushing out a half-baked product will only cause you more harm in the long run.
Let’s dive in to some of the key precursor activities for implementing artificial intelligence into your business.
Aligning AI with Business Strategy
As you choose your AI use cases, it’s essential to align them with your broader digital and business strategies.
Nik Kapauan, principal at Access Holdings, recently talked about this on a BluWave-hosted webinar, Activating AI.
“Your strategy for using AI obviously needs to tie to your broader digital strategy, which needs to tie to your broader business strategy as a firm,” Kapauan said. “I’d also bifurcate it because when we say AI, it’s a broad spectrum of things. You have your traditional analytics, which is descriptive analytics, just getting stuff on a screen and reporting. And then you have your more predictive analytics for predicting the future.”
In either case, Kapauan reiterated the importance of aligning with your overall goals, noting that predictive analytics allow for more flexibility.
“The way you’d approach that strategy is a bit more iterative, a bit more experimental,” he said, “trying to get use cases and experimenting as soon as you can to figure out where the value is.”
Tackling Data Challenges
Data is at the heart of any AI initiative. The service providers in our network say the number one hurdle businesses face to adding artificial intelligence tools is not having a good sense of data availability or hygiene, respectively.
“A lot of people want to jump to the model or the technology. ‘What if we could do this with customers?’ I think it’s really important to start with, ‘What is the space of data that we have at our disposal?’” Michael Woods*, the CEO of an AI consulting firm BluWave works with regularly, said in an interview. “Then just as importantly, ‘Do we have any sense of the inaccuracies or things that could really lead us astray in that data?’
On the AI webinar, Kapauan said that handling data is often the most significant part of large analytics projects.
“That centralization of data, the cleaning of data, the ongoing maintenance of data, is the lion’s share of the effort,” he said.
BluWave CEO & Founder Sean Mooney said the effort, however, is worth it.
“You’ve got to do the unglamorous data cleanliness part… the only thing worse than no data is bad data,” he said. “Keep [the data] good because it’s like a piece of equipment that’s gotta be maintained. Anytime there’s rotation and force in anything, it wants to lose calibration.”
READ MORE: AI Data Analytics: BI Tools
Change Management: A Key Component
Kapauan emphasized the need for a high-level leader to drive the change internally when significant changes are being made to the way a business operates.
“I think one of the biggest predictors of success is a champion inside the organization that could really own the vision and drive the opportunity. And often that’s the CEO or someone the CEO directly holds accountable for the digital agenda,” Kapauan said. “Having that leadership voice to set the vision and drive the organization and mobilize change is critical to success for analytics and any other kind of major digital transformation.”
Mooney added that this is a key part of change management.
“AI’s going be part of your strategy,” he said. “It’s a tactic, it’s not your strategy.”
Securing Your Data Assets
Finally, as businesses build up their data assets, it is vital to safeguard them.
“We want to make sure that we protect [our resources] from theft, making sure that if someone gets into our organization that they can’t pull that model out and take it with them to use somewhere else,” said Keith Thomas, the Cybersecurity Operations National Practice Lead at AT&T. “There are some ways that we protect using different security tools, and different security capabilities support the idea of a [data] model theft by attackers.”
Thomas also emphasized the importance of having a robust disaster recovery plan. If an AI system goes down, the team must be prepared to mitigate any negative impact on data and analytics.
“Even if it is to go to a manual approach, that’s OK. Having the plan is the most important part of that,” Thomas said.
Mooney pointed out that various resources are available to help businesses of all sizes protect their most critical asset: their data.
“Once again, we’re seeing this theme of, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail,'” Mooney said. “You’ve gotta do the work in advance. Not just even on the data and the analytics side, but also in protecting your data.”
BluWave has seen a rapid uptick in demand for AI-related services recently. What many firms lack, though, is the necessary foundation to get started.
Aligning your AI tactics with your overall business strategy, preparing your data, identifying an internal champion and protecting your data assets are crucial precursors to implementing these powerful new tools.
Whether you’re at a private equity firm, portfolio company or private or public organization, BluWave’s Business Builders’ Network is full of expert third-party AI resources. These highly vetted service providers can not only help you with the aforementioned preparations, but will also work with you to implement these tools.
Contact our research and operations team to learn more, and we’ll connect you with an industry specific expert to assist your digital transformation using artificial intelligence.
*Privacy is important to us. While the source and company name have been changed, these are real quotations from a real service provider in the BluWave Business Builders’ Network.
Q2 Snapshot: Key Findings from BluWave’s Private Equity Insights Report
Driving Digital Transformation: IT Expert for Logistics Company
Service Area: Specialized Recruiter
Client Type: Transportation and Material Management
Service Provider Type: Recruiting
Industry: Environmental – Recycling
The Need
Specialized Recruiter for IT Expert
A logistics company specializing in utilities services was going through a rapid growth stage and felt the need for digital transformation. Lacking the internal expertise to embark on this journey, they sought a specialized recruiter with industry-specific experience to land a skilled IT professional. Specifically, they needed a hands-on leader who could manage critical systems, including a transportation management system (TMS) and databases.
The Challenge
Hiring Digital Transformation Leader
The client required an IT-focused recruiter who understood the unique challenges of the logistics industry and could identify candidates with expertise in digital transformations, system implementation and database management. They needed a versatile individual who could take ownership of the systems, dive into sequel tables and drive improvements. The position would report directly to the company president, making it a critical leadership role.
How BluWave Helped
Identifying the Perfect Candidate
BluWave engaged its network of IT-focused recruiters experienced in digital transformations and systems implementation and connected the business with an exact-fit resource. The recruiter conducted an extensive search to identify candidates who matched the client’s specific requirements. Through a rigorous screening and selection process, they identified a skilled IT professional with the necessary experience, technical expertise and leadership capabilities.
The Result
Successful Digital Transformation and Operational Efficiency
The collaboration between the logistics company and the recruited IT expert resulted in a successful digital transformation. The IT professional took ownership of the systems, managed the databases and project-managed the implementation of new technologies. His hands-on approach and deep understanding of the logistics industry enabled the company to streamline operations, enhance efficiency and adapt to the digital age.
The client was deeply satisfied with the recruiter BluWave selected for them and provided overwhelmingly positive feedback.
We had a really good experience with you guys. The recruiter was extremely helpful and ended up finding us a tremendous candidate. Well done!
-Company Partner