OPERATING PROCESS
Operating Process Philosophy
Millpond’s operating process enables clear, consistent, and effective communication between our management partners and Millpond, while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Millpond assists its management teams in driving value creation by employing a proven operating process focused on accelerating the achievement of a strategic plan with key milestones. Millpond’s operating process is customized to fit the specific requirements of each Millpond portfolio company, but in all cases forms a foundation to optimize the creation of tangible value and offers many benefits with respect to portfolio company management, including the following:
- Cultivates a more productive relationship with the portfolio company and provides the optimal balance between advising/guiding and management empowerment and accountability.
- Leads to an improved opportunity to, early in an investment’s life cycle, uncover organic and acquisitive growth opportunities, identify challenges and problems, and uncover personnel gaps and human resource areas for improvement.
- Enables Millpond to more effectively prioritize growth opportunities.
- Fosters a spirit of “kaizen” – continuous improvement using a collaborative approach, which builds long-term value.
- Introduces management to a deep bench of best in class operational resources to assist in achieving key initiatives.
- Expands management’s capabilities by exposing them to best in class methodologies to professionalize and scale their businesses.
- Creates a performance-oriented culture and balances long-term strategic direction (consistent with the investment thesis) with concise quarterly objectives.
- Provides Millpond with visibility to assist in expanding and diversifying the company’s product offerings and customer base.
- Gives management the operating processes and resources to aid in growing into a larger and more professional company, achieving productivity improvements, and reducing costs.
- Instills financial discipline with weekly and monthly metrics, monthly cash planning, monthly operating reviews, quarterly board meetings, and annual budget planning sessions.
“In my experience working with Millpond, as CEO of HSI, the Millpond Principal brought the rare combination of knowledge and skill of not only what needed to be done but also on how best to accomplish the task. This understanding can only be achieved by actually sitting in an executive’s chair.
During our partnership, he consistently brought a detailed and thoughtful approach to value creation for the business while supporting me and my management team’s need to also tend to the day-to-day issues of running the business. The Millpond Principle’s years of experience leading companies provided insight and empathy on how to balance both.
Our working relationship, while focused on business results, was based on trust, communication and an understanding of what it takes to be a successful CEO. Millpond was an exceptional partner for me and my company.”
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