01
Small gains everywhere beat one big push.
Buyers look at every lever, not just sales. Get each one a little better and the gains multiply. In my book’s example, 7% better on six levers adds 18% to revenue in a single year.
For CEOs of founder-led companies, $1.5M–$30M
Grow like a PE‑backed company. Without selling to PE.
Private equity firms pull the same levers on every company they buy. I spent 12 years learning that playbook from the inside. Now I use it to help CEOs and founders grow faster, build value, and exit on their terms.
Run your numbers→3-minute calculator. Free, personalized report.
8 yrscoaching CEOs and founders
12 yrsinside private equity
15+acquisitions led
2 exitsto private equity
PhDorganization development
Themos PentakalosCoach to CEOs and founders on growth and exits
What buyers pay for
What buyers see that founders don’t.
02
You might not care about your market size. Your buyer will.
Once you own 30 to 40% of your market, growth gets hard. Buyers want to know how much room is left, and where the next stretch of growth comes from.
03
Sometimes buying customers is cheaper than winning them.
If it costs you $1,700 to land a customer, a small competitor with 800 of them might be a bargain. Buyers pay more for companies that can grow both ways.
The compounding effect
Ten percent better on every lever isn’t ten percent more revenue.
Most founders push one lever, usually more leads. PE firms work on all of them, a little at a time, and the small gains multiply. If you also trim costs, profit grows even faster.
Each lever improves 10%. Watch what happens when they multiply.
Growth leverImprovement
Attract attention10% more prospects+10%
Nurture interest10% more become interested+10%
Convert10% better close rate+10%
Revenue per customer10% more per purchase+10%
Purchase frequency10% more often+10%
Retentionchurn drops from 15% to 13.5%+10%
Cost disciplinecosts 10% leaner+10%
More revenue+79%
Profit (at a 15% margin)2.8× more
Illustrative steady-state math. Your numbers will differ. The calculator runs yours.
Notes from the deal room
What you don’t see coming after the acquisition.
01
“Your position was replaced before we even bought the company.”
Told to me over lunch, week one after the acquisition. What founders don’t hear in diligence.
02
The day after we closed, they bought our biggest competitor.
Your buyer already has a plan for your company. Here’s how to see it before they arrive.
03
“Welcome to the team. We’re killing your product.”
Why your buyer’s exit plan matters more than yours, and how to build for it now.
How we work
Fixed scope. Clear deliverables. Month-to-month after that.
01
Value Gap Analysis
Six weeks. I score your company the way a buyer would, size the gap in revenue and enterprise value, and rank the levers that matter most.
Fixed fee
02
Value Creation Plan
Twelve weeks. The plan a PE firm writes the day after it buys a company, built for you before they arrive.
Fixed fee
03
Partnership
Weekly 1:1 work with you and your team to execute. Month-to-month, 30 days’ notice. Most clients stay over a year.
Monthly
Results
Founders stay because it works.
“On a scale of one to ten, I give a solid 11.”
Yuval Lirov, Founder & CEO, ClinicMind
What changed: Two acquisitions integrated, and profits back on track while still growing.
“We’ve doubled in size in about two years.”
Andrew Sims, Founder & CEO, SuiteFiles
What changed: The company doubled in two years, with sales payback better than industry benchmarks.
“Anybody who’s considering M&A, either as an acquirer or a seller… understanding that world is definitely [Themos’s] area of expertise.”
Matt Hayter, Co-founder, Projectworks
What changed: Brought on two PE investors, grew the leadership team, built a sales and marketing engine that scales, and learned to track what investors care about. We worked together for 5.5 years.
Listen · Live The Dream Podcast with Harinder Mullay
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