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How a growth-focused PE firm gave 8 funded startups COO, compliance and legal leadership without hiring 24 executives.
Skillfi built one shared bench of fractional COOs, compliance and legal support across the firm's portfolio, with a common playbook every company could run on. It's what our fractional leadership model looks like at portfolio scale.
Eight great products, eight different ways of running a company.
The firm's portfolio companies were strong on product and sales, with 40 to 250 employees each. Operations were a different story. None of the eight had a full-time COO, compliance was handled by whoever had time, and legal work was spread across six outside firms billing full hourly rates.
Board packs looked different at every company, so partners spent hours just comparing numbers. In one year, two companies ran into costly compliance issues, and a planned exit was delayed when due diligence turned up missing contracts and policies. Hiring a COO, a compliance lead and in-house counsel at every company would have cost more than $6 million a year.
Every board meeting I was comparing apples, oranges and spreadsheets. And our exit stalled on paperwork, not the product.
Operating Partner, client
One bench, one playbook, eight companies.
Instead of hiring 24 executives, we shared senior talent across the portfolio. Each company got a fractional COO for operations, and our legal and compliance team ran one program across all eight, all working from the same playbook.
3 fractional COOs, 8 companies
Each COO covered two or three companies, building an operating plan with every founder and running a weekly operating review.
One program for the whole portfolio
Compliance audits at all eight companies, one compliance calendar and policy library, a preferred legal panel at negotiated rates and standard contract templates.
Shared tools and one view for partners
Shared vendor deals, one board reporting template, a due diligence data room checklist and a portfolio dashboard for the partners.
Nine months, step by step
From eight companies running eight different ways to one portfolio running on a shared playbook. Here's how the engagement unfolded.
- Month 18 companies assessed
Portfolio diagnostic
We assessed operations, compliance, legal and reporting at every company and ranked the biggest risks.
- Month 1–261 gaps found
Compliance audits
Employment, privacy, contracts and regulatory requirements reviewed at each company, with every gap logged and owned.
- Month 2–33 fractional COOs
COO bench deployed
Three fractional COOs matched to companies by stage and sector, each starting with a 90-day operating plan.
- Month 3–41 legal panel
Legal panel & templates
Six outside firms replaced by one preferred panel, with standard templates and a contract repository at every company.
- Month 5–6$420K/yr saved
Shared vendors & board template
Portfolio-wide deals for payroll, benefits, insurance and software, and one board pack every company now uses.
- Month 96-week diligence
Exit-ready
With contracts, policies and data rooms in order, the next portfolio exit cleared due diligence far faster than planned.
Four shared layers every portfolio company runs on
Founders keep running their own companies. The playbook gives every one of them the same senior operating support, the same protections and the same way of reporting.
Operating rhythm
- Operating plan for each company
- Weekly operating review
- Shared KPI definitions
One compliance program
- Portfolio compliance calendar
- Shared policy library
- Quarterly compliance review
Legal foundations
- Preferred panel at negotiated rates
- Customer, NDA, employment & vendor templates
- Contract repository per company
One view for partners
- One board pack template
- Portfolio dashboard
- Due diligence data room checklist
Nine months in
Annual cost of COO, compliance & legal leadership
$4.3M a year less than hiring full-time leaders at all eight companies.
Our founders get senior operators from day one, and I get one clear view of the whole portfolio. It changed how we invest.
Managing Partner, clientRunning a portfolio with thin operating teams?
We'll build a shared fractional leadership bench for your portfolio, with COO, compliance and legal support from day one. Need finance or people leadership too? Add a fractional CFO or fractional CHRO to the same playbook.
- A portfolio operations & compliance diagnostic
- A shared bench of fractional COOs
- One legal panel & standard templates
- A portfolio dashboard & board pack
30 minutes. No obligation.
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