Private equity · venture · family offices
You have a portfolio company where digital is the constraint, the existing team can't get there, and a full-time CDO search would take five months you don't have.
I step in inside two weeks, at four to eight days a month, and own the digital number until there is someone permanent to hand it to.
What you get
Operating partners buy predictability. Here is exactly what happens.
| Weeks 1–2 | Diagnostic. The real numbers — traffic, conversion, average order value, margin by channel, fulfilment cost per order. What the team believes versus what the data says. These are rarely the same thing, and the gap is usually where the money is. |
|---|---|
| Weeks 3–4 | A written assessment. Prioritised, sized, with a business case for each item — plus an honest read on the team: who can grow into the role, who cannot, and what you are missing entirely. |
| Weeks 5–12 | Execution on the top three. Not a roadmap for someone else to run. The three things that move the number, with a weekly report to you and the CEO. |
| Throughout | Straight reporting to the sponsor. Including when it is going badly. You will hear it from me before you hear it from the board pack. |
The handoff
I will help write the spec, sit on the interviews, and transition to whoever you hire. The usual concern about fractional help is that it becomes a permanent line item — so the engagement is designed to end, and that is written into it.
Why fractional works here
Pre-close, I can tell you whether the digital business is as good as the deck says. Post-close, I can run it while you search. In a turnaround, I can tell you in four weeks whether the problem is fixable with the current team.
Track record
One of the earliest buy-online-pickup-in-store, ship-from-store and endless-aisle operations in US retail, at Guitar Center.
Online revenue doubled at Guitar Center — without additional inventory investment.
BCBG Max Azria's international expansion, on a unified commerce platform built with Demandware.
VP and SVP roles across eCommerce, omnichannel and digital transformation. Nike, Disney, Skechers.
Fit
Lower-middle-market and middle-market consumer and retail businesses — roughly $20 million to $500 million in revenue. Direct-to-consumer, wholesale, marketplace, or a mix. Companies where the digital business matters to the thesis and nobody senior owns it.
If you have several portfolio companies with the same problem, that is a conversation worth having once rather than three times.
Next step
Thirty minutes. If I am not the right fit I will say so, and I know most of the people who are.
Book a 30-minute call