Contact
Start a conversation
Most of the people who reach us were sent by someone who has worked with us. If that is you, say who pointed you here and what you are trying to move. If it is not, that is fine too.
Send a message
Tell us what is not moving
A sentence or two is enough. The company, roughly what stage it is at, and the number that is not where the plan says it should be. We will take it from there.
Prefer a different route? Animesh Kumar is on LinkedIn. Demystify Consulting is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with senior operators across the United States.
What happens next
Three steps, no pitch deck
01
A reply, from Animesh
Usually within one business day, and it comes from the person who would do the work rather than from a scheduler.
02
Thirty minutes on the problem
Not a capability overview. We spend the call on your situation and you get an operator’s read on it whether or not anything follows.
03
A short written view
If there is something to do, you get it on one page: what we would build, in what order, and what it would take. Then you decide.
Before you write
Questions we get asked
What does Demystify Consulting do?
Demystify Consulting is the operating partner for organic growth in lower middle market private equity portfolios. We own the growth half of the value creation plan on the sponsor’s behalf: designing the revenue, marketing, service and digital motion that delivers the plan, then building it with the people already in the seats. The work runs across three tracks, CRO, CMO and CDO, and they are run as one motion rather than three projects.
What is an operating partner for organic growth?
An operating partner works for the sponsor rather than for one portfolio company, and is accountable for a defined part of the value creation plan across the portfolio. Most operating partners come from cost, operations or integration backgrounds. An operating partner for organic growth covers the other half: pipeline architecture, go-to-market design, demand generation, pricing, sales effectiveness and digital channels. It is the part of almost every value creation plan that is assumed rather than owned.
Do you work as a fractional CRO, CMO or CDO?
Yes, and that is often where a relationship starts. A fractional CRO, CMO or CDO fills one seat in one company. The operating partner model sits above that, at the portfolio level, with senior operators designing and building underneath. If what you need today is a single fractional executive in a single company, that is a normal engagement for us.
Who do you work with?
Lower middle market private equity firms and the companies they own, most often in distribution, B2B services, industrial, SaaS and eCommerce. Funds that already have an operating partner and a value creation team, and funds that have neither. We also work directly with portfolio company CEOs when the sponsor asks us to.
How is an engagement structured and priced?
A retainer at the fund or portfolio company level, or a fixed price for a defined build. Leadership hiring support sits inside either one. Most sponsors start with a single company and a single track, then expand once it has proved itself.
How quickly can you start?
We carry a deliberately small number of engagements at once so that the operating partner is actually present in each one. Start dates depend on what is already underway, and you will get a straight answer on the first call rather than after a proposal.
How does an engagement end?
On terms written at the beginning. One of the first things we establish is the exit: what capability has to exist inside the company, who owns it, what the scorecard has to hold, and roughly when. Most consulting firms are built to land and expand, so the end of an engagement becomes a renewal conversation. Ours is a handover against criteria both sides agreed to before the work started. It is not uncommon for the same company to bring us back two or three years later for a different problem, and that is the only kind of repeat work we want.
Do you work under an NDA?
Always, and we require it. A mutual NDA has to be executed before an engagement begins. We will also put one in place before the first substantive conversation if you would rather talk openly from the start. Say so in your message and we will send ours, or we will sign yours.
Can you provide references?
Yes, on a call. We do not publish the names of sponsors, portfolio companies or the people who lead them, and we extend the same discretion to you. References are arranged directly once a conversation is serious.
Where are you based?
Demystify Consulting is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Our senior operators, the fractional CROs, CMOs and CDOs who design and build the three tracks, are located across the United States, so an engagement is staffed from wherever the right operator is rather than from one office. The work itself happens wherever the portfolio company is, and we travel to be on site when the build needs it.
Growth doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be demystified.
If you want to see how this works for a sponsor before you write, start there instead.