000 — Post-investment infrastructure
We build the systems inside portfolio companies that turn cost-side gains into EBITDA — and EBITDA into exit multiple.
Not growth marketing. Not an SDR team. Infrastructure the operating partner can hold accountable, owned by the portco, sized to the hold period.
Bain Global Private Equity Report, 2026
Gain.pro, 2025
Multiple expansion is gone. What remains is operational improvement
during the hold period.
001 — Cost is controllable
Sponsors don't control demand cycles, competitor pricing, or category growth. They do control how work moves through a portfolio company — what's automated, what's measured, where the manual seams sit.
Cost-side operational improvement is the most reliable EBITDA lever in this cycle because it's the only one entirely inside the portco's perimeter. It compounds quietly, drops to the bottom line on a known multiple, and survives a CEO change.
Position
Most portfolio underperformance is an execution gap, not a strategy gap.
AlixPartners · 2025
6months
Typical time-to-impact on a portco engagement, post-scoping.
Source: Craft Digital portfolio data
8× EV
Enterprise value created per dollar of profit at standard exit multiple.
Source: PitchBook median EV/EBITDA, lower-mid market
100%
Addressable across every portco. Each one has cost-side surface area.
Source: Craft Digital engagement scoping
002 — The misalignment
That gap, not strategy, is where most portfolio underperformance hides. Closing it is what we do.
Source: AlixPartners, 2025
What PE prioritizes
Efficiency.
Cost-out. Margin discipline. Back-office leverage from AI.
What portco CEOs prioritize
Revenue.
Speed-to-lead, sales execution, customer experience, growth.
003 — How we engage
Post-close. Not in deals. Through the operating partner. The assets we build sit on the portfolio company's balance sheet, not ours.
01 · When we engage
Post-close. After the 100-day plan converges, before the year-one operating review.
02 · Who we work through
The operating partner or value creation lead. The portco CEO is in the room, not on the org chart.
03 · What we build
Infrastructure that survives a CEO change. No vendor lock-in. No proprietary middle layer.
04 · What you keep
Real assets on the balance sheet. Documented systems. A team trained to run them.
Most portfolio underperformance is an execution gap, not a strategy gap.
Craft Digital · Position
004 — The Value Creation Assessment
Duration
3 weeks
Fee
$25,000
Sections
5
I.
Technology stack
What you have running, what it costs, where it leaks.
II.
Process & workflow
How work moves through the company, including the manual seams.
III.
Automation & efficiency
Where AI replaces or augments work, with EBITDA impact estimated.
IV.
Market & competitive
The shape of the category, the moves available to a $50M operator.
V.
Go-forward plan
Phased build roadmap, costed, owned by the operating partner.
Output is a custom web report, not a deck. Findings prioritized by impact. Phased build plan attached.
See an example assessment →005 — EBITDA impact simulator
Most portfolio companies leave 5 to 15 percent of operational margin on the table. Move the sliders to see what closing that gap means in EBITDA growth and enterprise value created across a portfolio at the standard 8x exit multiple.
Annual EBITDA increase
$20.0M
5% operational gain · across 8 portcos
Enterprise value created at exit
$160M
at 8x EBITDA exit multiple
Every $1M in EBITDA growth ≈ $8M in enterprise value at exit.
006 — Case studies
Multi-location automotive · workflow6 locations unified on one scheduling platform, plus an AI voice agent booking 30% of overflow and after-hours leads.
Read the case study →Field services franchise · workflowVoice agent + drive-time-aware scheduling that doubled franchise locations with no added customer service headcount.
Read the case study →Waste services · workflow24/7 voice agent and a geo-aware quote calculator that cut monthly ad spend in half at the same conversion volume.
Read the case study →007 — Schedule scoping
We use the call to confirm fit, name the portco, and align on the first three weeks. If the assessment isn't the right next move, we'll tell you on that call.
Length
30 min
Format
Video
Cost
$0
What the call covers
Run by Clinton Ehrlich or Derek Brenner. No SDR. No deck.