Blue Ridge Partners

For the 3rd year in a row, we have surveyed software CXOs to learn their current plans for FY25 price increases. The results show SaaS companies are planning for continued pricing aggressiveness in the U.S. and U.K. with some softening in Europe. In this article, How to Budget your 2025 Price Increase, we share: ? Key findings from the Nov '24 software CXO survey ? Data on what good pricing performance looks like ? The expected impact of pricing on 2025 growth (hint: 2025 price increase is expected to generate 13% of the overall revenue) ? 5 Steps to Increase Pricing Impact in 2025 If you are interested in learning more about this topic, reach out to Brian Bailard, Managing Director and lead of Blue Ridge Partners software pricing team at [email protected].

Recent Hire Spotlight - Ex-Google European Hypergrowth Leader Fabian Rucker Joins Blue Ridge Partners as Managing Director. Fabian joins the firm’s leadership team after an impressive 12-year tenure at Google Ads and Google Cloud, where he served as COO and CSO for its commercial operations in Northern Europe (covering DACH, CEE, and the Nordics). In this role, he was instrumental in driving Google’s market-leading growth and operational success across multiple regions. Fabian brings over 25 years of hands-on strategy and operations leadership in consulting, TMT, automotive and financial services to Blue Ridge Partners. In addition to his work at Google, he has held executive roles in commercial leadership at Bell Canada and has driven client growth initiatives at McKinsey & Company and Accenture. Based in Hamburg, Fabian will focus on expanding Blue Ridge Partners' European presence. “Fabian Rucker has an impressive combination of functional and industry skills, coupled with excellent management consulting and line leadership experience,” said Jim Corey, CEO of Blue Ridge Partners. “We are excited to have him join our firm, providing leadership to our client efforts in Europe and beyond.” We are thrilled to welcome Fabian (and our other recent new hires - Patrick Donegan, Kyle Heller and John Drosos) to our growing Blue Ridge Partners leadership team.

Recent Hire Spotlight – Blue Ridge Partners Appoints Growth Leader John Drosos as Managing Director. John brings extensive experience with private equity firms and portfolio companies. "We are thrilled to have John Drosos join us,” said Jim Corey, CEO of Blue Ridge Partners. “John is a highly experienced consultant with significant line management experience. His combination of skills will be very valuable to our clients, and we look forward to the leadership and impact he will bring to our firm.” John joins us following an impressive tenure in management consulting, at his last firm he led the firm’s Manufacturing and Distribution practice, and later its Business and Financial Services practice, achieving significant growth in both areas. Earlier in his career, John held senior roles at Home Depot and worked in strategy and technology consulting at Bain and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). We are thrilled to welcome John (and our other recent new hires - Patrick Donegan, Kyle Heller and Fabian Rucker) to our growing Blue Ridge Partners leadership team.

What people don't say can sometimes be more revealing than what they do, and our latest executive brief perfectly explains why you never hear a Chief Sales Officer say, 'I need more MQLs'. Breaking down “silo mentality” across commercial functions of marketing, sales, customer success, and channels is critical for a business to scale cohesively and sustain accelerated growth. Creating this kind of collaborative, customer-focused structure in a mature organization takes discipline and intention, but it is worth the investment of time and resources to set companies up for success in the long run – and all the growth they can handle. Blue Ridge Partners has worked with over 1,200 companies on helping improve Go-to-Market (GTM) models and maximize commercial effectiveness over the past 22 years. This experience allows us to quickly identify gaps between functions and siloed behavior that disrupts commercial productivity and to define an actionable approach to adjusting roles, responsibilities, metrics, and other factors to align the commercial processes with the needs of the customer. Interested in learning more? You can reach out to author Corey Torrence, any of our other knowledgeable team members, or contact us at [email protected].

Recent Hire Spotlight – Blue Ridge Partners Welcomes Tech Leader Kyle Heller as Managing Director. In his prior role, Kyle was a partner at a global consulting firm, where he led the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) industry practice and managed key corporate and private equity client relationships. "Kyle brings outstanding skills and experience to Blue Ridge Partners. He spent more than two decades helping companies accelerate growth, both as a consultant and a commercial leader," said Jim Corey, CEO of Blue Ridge Partners. "Kyle has experience in a wide range of industries but is particularly deep in the high-tech sector. We are very pleased to have Kyle join our leadership team." In his new role, Kyle will work closely with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to solve growth challenges and accelerate revenue. Based in San Francisco, Kyle will leverage his more than 25 years of experience as both an operator and advisor in the commercial excellence space to as he partners with investment, portfolio operating and management teams to create value and achieve stronger business performance and long-term success. We are thrilled to welcome Kyle (and our other recent new hires - Patrick Donegan, John Drosos and Fabian Rucker) to our Blue Ridge Partners leadership team as we continue to help clients accelerate revenue growth.

Many companies have been reluctant to make significant investments in the micro segmentation needed to gain understanding to how to unlock value in the Long Tail of smaller customers. However, today’s technology can break through the clutter to uncover real insights into important customer cohorts in the long tail at a modest cost, helping better serve these customers and unlock their potential. Our clients are now capturing this opportunity through our newly available AI/data analytics approach that allows a company to identify microsegments (clusters) of customers that can be served in unique and differentiated ways to capture profitable revenue. This Executive Brief contains practical ideas for taking action and multiple client examples to illustrate the approach. Blue Ridge Partners has worked with over 1,200 companies in the past 22 years and this experience allows us to assess the potential in your long tail of small customers in approximately two weeks. We will evaluate your current approach to selling and serving the long tail, identify improvement ideas, and size the prize. Interested in learning more? You can reach out to our Chief Data Analytics Officer Chris Heuschkel or contact us at [email protected].

Recent Hire Spotlight - Blue Ridge Partners Appoints Private Equity Industry Leader Pat Donegan as Senior Managing Director. Pat is a former Private Equity Operating Partner - bringing over 25 years leadership experience and proven expertise in scaling portfolio companies and optimizing growth strategies to Blue Ridge Partners. “We are very pleased to welcome Patrick Donegan to the Blue Ridge Partners team,” said Jim Corey, Managing Partner and CEO of Blue Ridge Partners. “He has deep knowledge of the private equity industry, and he understands the challenges of being an operating partner from his time at The Riverside Company. We look forward to working closely with him as he brings his expertise to our clients.” In his new role, Pat will work closely with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to solve growth challenges and accelerate revenue. Based in New York, Pat will leverage his experience of seamlessly working with investment, portfolio operating and management teams to create value and achieve stronger business performance and long-term success.

Most companies have a significant opportunity for revenue growth and gross margin improvement hidden in their long tail of smaller customers. Our clients are now capturing this opportunity through our newly available AI/data analytics approach that allows a company to identify microsegments (clusters) of customers that can be served in unique and differentiated ways to capture profitable revenue. This Executive Brief contains practical ideas for taking action and client examples to illustrate the approach. How to get started? Blue Ridge Partners has worked with over 1,200 companies in the past 22 years and this experience allows us to assess the potential in your long tail of small customers in approximately two weeks. We will evaluate your current approach to selling and serving the long tail, identify improvement ideas, and size the prize. For further information, reach out to our Chief Data Analytics Officer Chris Heuschkel or contact us at [email protected].

MID-YEAR PROMOTIONS ?? Blue Ridge Partners congratulates the following people on their well-earned promotions: ? Nick Walmsley - Managing Director ? Mandy Bowers - Principal ? Stuart Bartosik - Senior Engagement Manager ? Corey Reid Corrigan - Senior Engagement Manager ? Adam Salistean - Engagement Manager ? Tetiana Michailuk - Associate Manager ? Robert Duffy - Associate ? Timothy Hai - Senior Business Analyst We continue to be highly impressed by the commitment and excellence exhibited by our entire Blue Ridge team and thankful for all the great efforts on behalf of our clients and the firm.

We recently surveyed operating partners and investment partners regarding the challenges facing their portfolio companies and how these challenges are impacting the size, shape and structure of their Value Creation Teams in 2024. We presented the findings, last month, at the keynote session of PEI Operating Partners Forum Europe, for which Blue Ridge Partners is the long-standing Knowledge Partner. Here are some of the key takeaways from the research and discussion: KEY OPERATIONAL HURDLES:?Accelerating organic revenue growth emerged as the top operating challenge over the coming 12 months.?Other critical areas include optimizing pricing strategies, enhancing financial efficiency, and upgrading talent within the organization. STRATEGIC TEAM INTEGRATION:?There is a strong consensus on the necessity for value creation teams to be more structurally integrated with deal teams, ensuring seamless collaboration and enhanced overall performance. CONTRASTING PARTNER PRIORITIES:?There are marked differences of perspective between investment and operating partners. Investment partners place significantly more emphasis on supply chains, cash flow management, and cost control. They also stress the importance of value creation teams having stronger specialist skills in areas such as commercial effectiveness. Private Equity International | Blue Ridge Partners #revenuegrowth #managementconsulting