When I took the CEO role at a PE company, I thought I understood the deal: run the company, hit the EBITDA targets, build the team.
When I joined SelectBlinds the company had over 300,000 five-star reviews. Most people see that as a marketing number. I saw it as a culture number — and a diagnostic tool.
I've sat in a lot of boardrooms with private equity sponsors. Here's what I learned about how they actually read a management presentation — and it's not what most CEOs think. They don't start on page one. They go straight to three numbers. If there's a surprise in any of them, the rest of your narrative is irrelevant. In this video I share what separates the CEOs who earn PE board trust from the ones who lose it in the first five minutes.
Six months into a new role, a board member pulled me aside after a review.
Early in my career I needed to move an organization that had no interest in moving. I had no formal authority — just a digital product and the belief that it mattered.
My instinct: make the case. Present the data. Show the ROI. Repeat louder.
Before I owned a P&L, I thought I understood customers. Journey maps. Conversion funnels. NPS scores. I thought that was the job. Then I became a CEO.