The Value Creation Gap: Why PE Firms Are Leaving 2–4x on the Table in Their Software Portfolios
PE firms are exceptional at spotting undervalued software businesses and less consistent at unlocking the operational value they found. This post explains the value creation gap in software portfolios: why operating partner bandwidth, customer success run as a cost centre, ICP drift, misaligned product and revenue teams, stalled management capability and weak data infrastructure keep commercial plans behind schedule. It draws on Bain's 2026 Global Private Equity Report (average hold of about seven years, required EBITDA growth now 10% to 12%), Private Equity Info's analysis of 13,757 exits, Gain's European PE report, Benchmarkit and Software Equity Group multiples data, and is explicit about which figures are dated or small-sample. It closes with a diagnostic operating partners can run before the next board meeting. Written by James Lawson of River Consultancy Group, who has worked across 41 software businesses.
100 Days Later: The Post-Acquisition SaaS Operating Partner Playbook Winning PE Firms Are Using
This 100-day post-acquisition SaaS playbook is built for PE operating partners, portfolio operators, and management teams navigating the critical first months after a SaaS acquisition, drawing on direct experience across 62 portfolio companies to show why the strongest post-acquisition outcomes come from diagnosing before prescribing rather than rushing to install a pre-built growth plan. Covering the real drivers behind early NRR decline, sales rep attrition, ICP drift, and inflated pipeline conversion problems, the piece breaks down the sequencing that separates portfolio companies creating measurable value fast from those still firefighting at month eighteen, and explains why SaaS businesses are uniquely vulnerable to hidden operational fragility that ARR alone won't reveal for six to twelve months. Written for PE firms, operating partners, and SaaS leadership teams managing post-acquisition integration, customer success scaling, and commercial due diligence, this is a practical framework for the first hundred days rather than generic M&A advice, grounded in what actually happens inside SaaS businesses once the deal closes.