icebreaker’s response to the 2012 investor’s portfolio challenge
Tough markets and harder returns are making investments more difficult to exit as planned. The challenge is dragging critical VC managers into operational / portfolio management. Yet Banks and VCs can miss the operations signs and or fail to engage. These challenges provide an exciting opportunity.
The impact on portfolio management
Focus is central to any turnaround plan yet VCs are getting dragged into operational matters, beyond their specific expertise. This dilutes a VCs core capability, limiting their ability to scale or cope. The myopic VC focus on finding solo “Super CEO” compromises value too; the CEO will naturally replicate their previously successful experience regardless of the scenario; we find leaving incremental growth and profit opportunities.
Icebreaker experience
To realise these incremental cash, profit and revenue opportunities, more sector and functional depth and breadth is required to set the bar at the right height, flexibly and seamlessly provide the CEO with the right support. The robust icebreaker business model retains this learning and capability available for next time, and a sound basis on which to develop business relationships with the very best professionals in the industry.
Key portfolio opportunities to “get to”
icebreaker have refocused our capability around the main opportunities as we find them in 2012; to enable;
Getting to; 1. growth, 2. operations excellence, 3. successful M&A, 4. financial stability, 5. vendor alignment
So the icebreaker portfolio support proposition for your specific refinements is two-fold…
- Pre acquisition and to maximise cash returns post investment, at our risk, icebreaker will focus our “get to experts” to identify the height of the bar, the most successful outcome and routes to realise the result in a way bespoke to suit XYZ Capital. Due to the nature of the beast, this modus operandi would not be exclusive but could be presented upfront as a complimentary solution to mitigate risk, maximise and accelerate results to exit (make heroes).
- Post acquisition, the icebreaker offer would be to provide our “get to experts “to support portfolio or site management reviews. I this way icebreaker could seamlessly support selected executives and VC resources to raise the bar to mitigate risks, supplement the peaks and troughs in activity and business performance, support and challenge decision making, accelerate the development of the portfolio management, deliver the increased plan, and provide additional certainty from execution from inception to exit