The story is more than known: a strong growth company lifts a significant turn, welcomes new shareholders, defines an ambitious plan. And then, a few months later, the daily decisions resume the upper hand. Roadmaps lie down, priorities are multiplying, emergencies take precedence over the strategy. The initial course fades. However, he has not disappeared: his name is The investment thesis.
This thesis is the tacit contract between investors and managers. It formalizes a conviction: “By investing in this company, we think we can create x value in the years, activating this or that lever”. This conviction is not an annexed detail. It’s the compass. And in companies supported by Private Equity funds, it is also a stopwatch.
However, very often, this compass is lost in view from the first post-investment year. Not by maliciousness, but by operational friction. The launch of a new product, the opening of a market, an acquisition, an internal crisis – all this diverts attention. The company acts, sometimes effectively. But it acts next to its own trajectory. It optimizes locally, while it must maximize global.
Staying aligned with the investment thesis is not giving up agility. It is know how to sort between good ideas and useful ideas now. It is not to refuse to innovate. It is to choose where to invest your time, your cash, your talents. It is to recall that any project – even excellent – is a distraction if it does not directly accelerate the realization of the plan.
This reminder should not only come from the board. It must be integrated into daily management. The best leaders use the investment thesis as a filter. When a manager offers a new initiative, they ask the simple question: How is it used for?. Not to block, but to arbitrate.
This framework is particularly critical in the last years of a detention cycle. Two years from an exit, it is no longer a question of placing the foundations of a project at five years. The existing must be reinforced, smooth the metrics, secure recurring income. It is an exercise in discipline, no exploration. Some founders accommodate it badly, preferring adrenaline to rigor. But those who accept this logic derive a double reward: a higher multiple, and reinforced credibility for their next project.
A well -managed company does not ignore its new ideas. She notes them, classifies them, prioritizes them. But she chooses the right time to activate them. The investment thesis is not a cage. It is a trajectory to optimize. And it is all the more effective since it is recalled, explained, shared.
