Phoenix Strategy Investments

About Phoenix Strategy

Phoenix Strategy is an entrepreneurial investment company formed to acquire and help grow small to medium-sized, privately-held businesses. Our approach is distinctive, because we exclusively focus on situations where we believe we can truly add value. The way we do this may vary, based on the situation, ranging from having one of our principals lead day-to-day operations, to supporting existing management teams with highly engaged, additive and collaborative board members.

Phoenix was built by experienced business operators who know how to manage people and run businesses, as well as make successful investments. Our goal is to provide an attractive liquidity option for business owners by working closely with them to structure a transaction that best meets their financial and personal objectives. Our unique approach is ideal for those owners who would like to transition away from management responsibilities, assume a lesser role within their company, or simply get some meaningful help to propel their business to its fullest potential. We have done this successfully multiple times.

Because of our active orientation, and desire to truly help our business leaders, we invest in fewer companies, and we offer a greater commitment to those we choose to support. In each case, we bring many years of successful, hand-on business-building and transactional experience, along with the flexibility to adapt to each business’ unique dynamics.

Investment Approach

Phoenix understands that no two businesses are the same, nor are any two transactions. We are open to a range of investment types, including full acquisitions, partial acquisitions, recapitalizations and growth capital investments. We evaluate the merits of each potential investment on its own basis, but we have a strong preference for opportunities characterized by the following attributes.

Opportunity to add value

We believe in making investments where we can bring more than capital to the table. We derive personal satisfaction from helping management teams achieve their goals, and we believe that we are most likely to have successful outcomes when we can add true value through relevant know-how, networks, and/or other resources. For sellers of businesses, we aim to help maintain and build, not just their wealth, but their legacy.

Attractive growth potential

We seek to invest in businesses that have the potential for very meaningful growth. They may or may not already be on the rapid growth path, but they have a position in a key market segment that offers the clear potential for significant upside. We generally view businesses in large and growing markets as having greater long term potential, but we have experience expanding businesses from one market segment to another quite successfully.

Industries we (can) understand

We have direct experience and/or relevant knowledge and networks that lead us to favor certain industry types, including software, education, human capital, professional services, consumer services / multi-unit, manufacturing, and real estate/hospitality. We will readily admit when we feel we know little about an industry and have little to offer (e.g. consumer packaged goods, biotech, retail, restaurant).

Stage / Transformation potential

We are focused on growth-stage and mature businesses where there is a clear product-market fit. For more mature businesses, which may be on a slower growth trajectory, we look for opportunities to transform their potential, by introducing new resources, such as talent, technology or partners. We do not make venture or seed-stage investments, but current cash flow generation may or may not be a key determinant for us - it is business dependent. We are also not seeking to acquire truly distressed businesses.

Meaningful size

We define our target size range fairly broadly, but it is best described as small to middle market ($5m-$100m enterprise value). We look for businesses that have sufficient size and scale to offer a path toward market leadership (or at least to own a meaningful piece of a specific market) and enable us to invest in resources (e.g. people, equipment, product development, marketing) that can drive long term value. On the other hand, we like businesses that are small enough where we can help ‘move the needle’ by offering access to resources that were previously unattainable.

Management excellence & culture

Because we believe business success is overwhelmingly driven by management excellence, we will only invest in businesses that have exceptionally strong, well-aligned management upon our investment. This may include original founders, previously in-place operators, and typically includes a new leader who is joining at the time of the investment. Along with management strength, management culture is extremely important to us. We seek collaborative partners who are driven by the passion to succeed and deliver value to their customers/clients, employees, investors and other direct stakeholders.

Why Phoenix Strategy?

Our experience as business operators, investors and advisors has convinced us that value creation is done, first and foremost, by the leaders and their teams who run the businesses, each and every day. We pride ourselves on being operators at heart that bring not just experience, but resources that companies need and want to help them navigate the twists and turns of building and growing. From business know-how, to deep professional networks and capital resources, we aim to bring the right support at the right time.

We have sat on all sides of the boardroom table, and we have helped take businesses through a wide range of major milestones, including acquisitions, financings, exits, new market entries, product-line transformations and team transformations. As a result, we understand, not just the strategic and executional elements of these and other events, but the hard professional and personal choices that have to be made along the way. Unlike most financial investment professionals, we can bring all of this experience to help our entrepreneur partners achieve their visions and leave a legacy behind.

We recognize that management is more than just a “bios” slide on a website or a presentation slide. We appreciate the hard work that goes into building a winning business. We do not believe financial investment creates value magically. It is the individuals that take risks by investing their ‘blood, sweat and tears’ both figuratively and, often, literally to build businesses.

Lastly, we’ve built our approach on the knowledge that strong personal connections and a sense of partnership are key to making an investment successful. We value collaboration and constructive dialogue, and for similarly minded business owners, partnering with Phoenix is the right choice.

Welcome to Phoenix Strategy