Operating Partner to Owner-Builder: The New Mandate

The age of “advisor OPs” is over. Value is engineered, not advised. The modern Operating Partner owns a platform—budget, bench, playbooks, and proof—capable of landing change across multiple portfolios with repeatable economics. This is the mandate, the operating model, and the evidence standard that turns an OP seat into an owner-builder role.

Mandate: from influence to instrument

• P&L-linked remit: explicit EBITDA, cash, and multiple targets by lever class (pricing, CTS, working capital, integration, digital).

• Discretionary change budget: a funded pool for fast pilots (pricing rules, dispute blitz, SLOB actions) with pre-set ROI thresholds.

• Build the bench: cross-functional tiger team (commercial, FP&A, supply, data/AI) deployable in 10-day bursts.

• Gatekeeper of proof: define the buyer-grade artifacts that will sit in the data room (scripts, lineage, CPQ exports, CTS models, 13-week cash snapshots).

Operating model: platform, not projects

• mVMS backbone: Drivers (levers) × Enablers (tools, talent, cadence). Every initiative is tagged, ownered, and measured.

• Playbooks that travel: standardized “first 5 moves” for pricing, AR, AP, inventory, and PMO—designed for mid-market capacity.

• FundOps interface: portco KPIs roll to a fund-level Cash/MOIC/Headroom cone; variances trigger specific OP interventions.

• Right-sized PMO: weekly RAG, issue log with unblock path, and a decision register; no slide theater, only dated outcomes.

mVMS: Merit Value Management System (Prop to VCII)

Cadence: short, fixed, accountable

• Weekly performance room (45 min): value bridge deltas, owner updates, decisions due this week.

• Pricing council (30 min): realization, override log, rule changes; tie to CPQ exports.

• Cash stand-up (30 min): 13-week tile, variances with reason codes, AR/AP/inventory actions.

• Integration huddle (30 min): synergy run-rate vs plan, TSA drawdown, stranded costs.

• Monthly S&OP lite (60 min): one plan; changes flow through to cash and covenants.

Owner-builder toolset

• Commercial: CPQ bands + approval matrix; talk tracks and objection maps; price waterfall with quarterly history.

• Cost & margin: CTS driver map; SKU/customer contribution tiles; cost variance categories with routines.

• Cash: 13-week one-tile dashboard; variance log with standard codes; AR dispute reason codes; AP approval calendar.

• Digital/AI: prompt firewall, role-based access, lineage scripts, alerting on drift; agentic ops ladder with gates and kill-switch.

• Integration: synergy register (owner, probability, cash path), TSA catalog, dependency graph, Day-1 protections.

Evidence standard (what survives diligence)

• Reproducible KPI → financial tie-outs (scripts under version control, immutable monthly archive).

• CPQ rule exports and override log (with expiry and reason codes).

• CTS model and policy outcomes (MOQ, rush fees, channel mix) with dated cash/margin effects.

• 13-week cash snapshots reconciled to bank; headroom trend by covenant.

• PMO artifacts: issue/decision logs, RAG history, TSA burn-down, synergy actuals vs plan.

• Security posture: access inventory, MFA coverage, drill logs, third-party connector map.

Value math: make it legible

• Equity Value = (EBITDA × Multiple) − Net Debt.

• Present a Value Bridge that traces price, mix, volume, cost, and working capital to EBITDA and headroom.

• Show conversion: EBITDA to cash, including working capital effects and one-time costs.

• Tag each outcome to a lever (Fruitful Five), an enabler, an owner, and a dated artifact.

Talent & incentives: keep the flywheel honest

• OP scorecard: delivery rate (on-time/outcome), variance closure cycle time, evidence completeness, cone accuracy.

• Shared upside: a slice of carry tied to verified cash and multiple expansion, not hours billed.

• Manager coaching: frontline enablement (scripts, checklists, cadence) beats “training events”.

Risks & how an owner-builder neutralizes them

What changes on Monday morning

• A one-page OP Charter with your mandate, levers, budgets, and cadence.

• The starter pack deployed: price bands in CPQ, cash tile live, dispute codes running, CTS drivers visible.

• A decision register opened and archived weekly; if it isn’t dated, it didn’t happen.

VCII Note and Copyright

TVC Next recasts the Operating Partner as an owner-builder with a platform: funded pilots, a deployable bench, lever playbooks, and buyer-grade proof. The job is outcomes that travel—numbers any buyer can rerun in 30 minutes.
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