The Private Equity Operating Partner

Private equity firms increasingly compete on operational value creation rather than financial engineering alone, which has turned the operating partner role into one of the most consequential and least clearly defined positions in the industry. Operating partners are expected to walk into a portfolio company, earn the trust of a management team that did not hire them, and drive measurable EBITDA growth, often without a playbook. This book provides that playbook.

The Private Equity Operating Partner is a practical guide to how operating partners actually create value inside portfolio companies, from the first 100-day plan through exit preparation. It covers:

• Assessing a newly acquired business quickly and accurately
• Building a value creation plan that management can execute, not resist
• Prioritizing initiatives across pricing, procurement, commercial excellence, working capital, and organizational design
• Working alongside management and deal teams simultaneously: credibility, reporting cadence, and priority disagreements
• EBITDA growth levers: margin improvement, revenue growth, cost structure redesign, and add-on integration
• KPI dashboard design for tracking progress between board meetings

The book also addresses common failure modes: value creation plans that look good in a deck but stall in execution, operating partners who overstep and alienate management, and portfolio companies where quick wins mask deeper structural problems. Readers get frameworks for 100-day planning, KPI dashboard design, and stakeholder management that can be adapted across sectors and deal sizes.

Who this book is for

• Operating partners and value creation professionals at private equity firms
• Portfolio company executives working with sponsor-backed ownership for the first time
• Consultants or industry executives considering a move into portfolio operations
• Deal professionals who want a clearer view of value creation after close

If you want a grounded, execution-focused guide to driving EBITDA growth inside portfolio companies, rather than a general management theory text, this book is built for that work.