SBI, Sustena Group, and OpFocus Create an Indispensable Resource of Value Creation for Leading PE Firms

New York, NY, Dallas, TX, Charlotte, NC, and Boston, MA – December 16, 2020

SBI, Sustena Group, and OpFocus today launched the RightStar Alliance to help B2B private equity-backed portfolio companies fuel growth and create long-term enterprise value. The Alliance seamlessly delivers critical brand development, marketing, sales, and go-to-market (GTM) technology expertise from a single, trusted source.

In private equity (PE), the first year of an investment can set the growth trajectory for the duration. Research shows that getting GTM right that first year can accelerate sales results and follow-on valuation multiples by as much as 50 percent.

“Brenna Garratt, CEO, Sustena Group shares that “the brands of private equity portfolio companies are often under-leveraged and out of sync with their business strategy. Our focus is to define what differentiates them, bolster their brands to engage their markets, and increase their market share and business value. This strategic foundation underpins the expertise our RightStar colleagues bring in shaping the company’s revenue growth and go-to-market technology recommendations and actions. Together, we deliver on our commitment to ensure the growth and success of these businesses.”

PE operating partners often hire multiple firms to help with sales and marketing. However, this risks duplication of efforts, inefficiencies, and siloed thinking that can delay GTM initiatives and make it harder to realize goals. With deep experience in PE and their respective areas of expertise, Sustena Group, SBI, and OpFocus work as one to enable portfolio companies to:

  • Ensure clear brand positioning and consistent messaging, which are essential building blocks for all marketing and sales activities
  • Craft a revenue growth plan in which marketing and sales are aligned around a data-driven GTM strategy that accelerates results
  • Build a robust GTM tech stack and processes that help sales and marketing teams deliver on their goals

According to Mike Hoffman, Senior Managing Director of SBI’s Private Equity Practice, “We are increasingly seeing PE firms’ value creation theses shift from more traditional levers toward underwriting to and executing against growth theses. The RightStar Alliance offers leading PE Firms the opportunity to adopt more sophisticated marketing and revenue growth strategies with an integrated team of experts to ensure their portfolio’s success.”

“The operating leverage gained from effective business strategy and execution can be considerable. We see it firsthand within our SaaS clients leading up to and in the year after receiving investment. The pressure to grow can be crushing, but scaling operations does not have to be,” says David Carnes, CEO, OpFocus. “I couldn’t be more thrilled for OpFocus to join forces with the other RightStar Alliance firms. Together we provide extensive expertise in scaling SaaS organizations, from strategy to execution.”

The founding members of the RightStar Alliance have worked with over 50 private equity firms and over 200 portfolio companies. The Alliance tackles the brand, marketing, sales, and GTM technology challenges required by Roll-Ups, Platform-Plays, and Corporate Carve-Outs. RightStar’s methodology leverages its members’ complementary expertise to deliver efficient and strategic solutions for creating near-term growth and longer-term enterprise value.

Please also register for RightStar’s upcoming webinar – Refine the Roll-Up: Maximizing GTM Growth Levers for Roll-Ups on July 23, 2020 at 1pm ET

About the RightStar Alliance

Focused on B2B private equity-backed portfolio companies, the RightStar Alliance is a seamless team of expert partners who can deliver every aspect of brand creation, marketing, sales, revenue growth, and the GTM technology. Our founding partners include Sustena Group, a B2B brand development and go-to-market firm that helps companies improve value, grow business, and increase stakeholder returns; SBI, a management consulting firm focused on revenue growth via the marketing and sales functions; and OpFocus, a strategic Salesforce advisory that empowers companies to achieve growth goals. For more information, please visit rightstaralliance.com.