Show Me The Proof

It's harder to get money, harder to make money, and harder to sell. What carries weight now is performance that shows up clearly in the numbers, holds together under pressure, and can be explained without a long narrative.

Scott EnglerSync Executive Partners · 2026-03-01

The market has changed in a fundamental way. It's harder to get money, harder to make money, and harder to sell. What carries weight now is performance that shows up clearly in the numbers, holds together under scrutiny, and can be explained without a lengthy narrative. Proof, not positioning.

Key Themes

Market Reset (McKinsey Global Private Markets Report)

Operational execution is carrying more of the return than at any point in the past decade. High entry prices require precision in execution, not optimism in projections. LP expectations are shifting decisively toward realized outcomes.

6 Exit Strategies (McKinsey)

Embed exit plans at acquisition; establish exit governance early; map the buyer universe before you need it; build the VCP with room for the next buyer's thesis; launch value-capture sprints; highlight AI readiness with proof, not narrative.

10 Ways PE CEOs Win (McKinsey)

Talent as primary lever; profit over growth; investor lens on every major decision; clean-sheet the org design; governance as value creation; time as capital; long-term mindset with short-term execution discipline.

AI Moving from Narrative to Measurable Impact (FTI Consulting)

AI adoption remains shallow beyond pilots in most companies; but AI is now actively shaping exit readiness for the companies that have moved past experimentation. The constraint is execution capability, not technology.

Capital Concentrating in Fewer Winners (Reuters)

Scale and track record matter more than ever. LPs are concentrating commitments. Mid-market differentiation is critical — and the differentiation that matters is operational, not narrative.

Scott's TakeEvery management meeting in 2026 will have the same subtext: show me the proof. Not what you're planning to do. Not the AI implementation that's coming. What have you actually done, what did it produce, and what's the specific path to exit from here? The CFO who can answer all three with clean data wins the room.

Exit ReadinessAI ProofValue CreationPE 2026

Frequently asked questions

What distinguishes high-performing CFOs in PE-backed companies?

High-performing CFOs in PE-backed companies are distinguished by three capabilities: the ability to build a single trusted fact base that CEO, CFO, and sponsor all operate from; the ability to translate financial complexity into a board narrative that drives decisions rather than just reports results; and the ability to anticipate events — capital raises, compliance crises, leadership gaps — before they become reactive situations.

How should a PE-backed company prepare its finance function for a hold period?

In the first 90 days of a hold period, the finance function should establish a clean close cadence, build a reporting package that meets board and sponsor expectations, identify the key financial risks in the investment thesis, and assess whether the current team has the capability to carry the value creation agenda through to exit. Gaps identified early are fixable. Gaps identified at exit are expensive.