Behind the Plan
Where value creation meets reality.
Snapshot insights for PE-backed CEOs and operating partners on why commercial plans slip, and what to do about it.
Written by Jennifer Peart from 20+ years in the commercial seat.
Slidy DSL: Where the Growth in the Plan Really Gets Lost
Issue 010 · 4 min read
We nicknamed our SDSL launch "Slidy DSL" because the deadline kept slipping. Growth in a value-creation plan is rarely lost within a single team. It leaks through the gaps between them.
Same Symptom, Different Fix: The Wrong One Costs You
Issue 009 · 4 min read
Three businesses, one complaint: not enough growth. One needed marketing rebuilt, one needed it refocused, one needed a new plan. With holds running longer, picking the wrong fix is the costliest mistake.
Why Commercial Leaders Get Replaced Before the Plan Gets Fixed
Issue 008 · 3 min read
I was asked to fix a marketing problem. Marketing was delivering leads; revenue was going missing during the handoff to sales. Before replacing a commercial leader, check where the plan is really failing.
The Ghost Metric: Why Commercial Performance Data Can Tell the Wrong Story
Issue 007 · 4 min read
The most dangerous number in your commercial reporting is the one that looks right. Ghost Metrics sit in board packs and drive decisions, but measure what's easy, not what's actually happening.
The CMO’s Job Has Changed. Most Job Descriptions Haven’t Caught Up.
Issue 006 · 4 min read
Boards no longer want a CMO who only talks brand and campaigns. They want a commercial leader who happens to sit in the marketing seat, and most job descriptions haven't caught up.
The Unified Cadence
Issue 005 · 4 min read
Product, marketing and sales usually agree on strategy. What they rarely share is a rhythm. The Unified Cadence moves decisions, data and priorities between all three on one clock instead of three.
The Synchronisation Tax
Issue 004 · 4 min read
A portfolio company hits its numbers, and nobody asks how much more it could have made. The Synchronisation Tax is the value lost when product, marketing and sales agree on strategy but move at different speeds.
Before You Automate the Commercial Engine, Make Sure It Runs
Issue 003 · 4 min read
Most businesses use AI to run the same commercial playbook faster. But buyers have moved on, and AI on a misaligned engine only speeds up the problem. Fix the engine first.
What Commercial Due Diligence Misses and Why It Costs You the First 100 Days
Issue 002 · 4 min read
Diligence asks whether the market opportunity is real. It rarely asks whether the commercial engine can capture it at the pace the plan needs, and that gap tends to show up six months after close.
Why Value Creation Plans Stall
Issue 001 · 3 min read
Most value-creation plans rest on a market thesis, not on an honest look at whether the business can execute it. That's where returns leak, and why plans drift long before anyone notices.