PE loves “strategy” because it sounds expensive and it fits nicely on slide 7.

The problem is most portfolio companies don’t have a strategy gap, they have a basics gap.

Digital foundations first. Every time. Because you can’t “vision” your way out of a broken funnel.

Start with the stuff nobody wants to own because it’s unglamorous and measurable.
Website speed and conversion rate. Google’s data shows bounce probability jumps 32% when load time goes from 1s to 3s. That’s not branding, that’s physics.

Tracking that reconciles to revenue, not a dashboard that makes everyone feel productive. Attribution is already compromised, then iOS made it worse, and a lot of teams are still running budgets off fairy tales.

Call handling and speed to lead. If you miss calls, reply slowly, or let leads rot in an inbox, you’re paying to manufacture disappointment.

And then, once the plumbing works, you can talk about “brand” and “positioning” and all the other things people say when they’ve run out of operational competence.

Most PE firms don’t need a more visionary plan. They need a list of basics with owners, weekly metrics, and consequences.