Business Development / Portfolio Support Role

Overview

You'll work with Shore Capital's portfolio companies (small to mid-sized businesses they've invested in) to drive revenue growth and operational improvements. This isn't traditional private equity work—you're implementing growth playbooks, building sales processes, or launching new market initiatives across different companies. You report to Shore leadership but spend most of your time embedded with portfolio company teams.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Established private equity firm

Size: 361 employees

Growth: Active acquirer with 1,300+ deals completed

Market Position: Mid-market PE firm focused on founder-friendly investments in small to mid-sized businesses

GTM Reality

What This Actually Means:

• You're not raising capital or sourcing deals
• You're working WITH portfolio companies to execute growth plans
• Could be building out sales teams, entering new markets, launching products, or fixing broken GTM motions
• You'll juggle 2-4 portfolio company projects simultaneously

Portfolio Company Range:

• Companies vary widely by industry (Shore invests across sectors)
• Most are $10M-$100M revenue range
• Many are founder-led and need process/structure
• Some need revenue acceleration, others need operational fixes

Competitive Landscape

What Makes This Different:

• Shore positions as "founder-friendly" vs. typical PE financial engineering
• They provide operational support, not just capital
• Network of 1,300+ deals means access to playbooks and best practices

Internal Politics:

• You're caught between Shore leadership (who want results) and portfolio company CEOs (who want autonomy)
• Have to influence without authority—these aren't your employees
• Portfolio company teams may see you as "the PE overlord" even if you're helpful

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Portfolio Projects (50%) | Analysis/Planning (25%) | Internal Coordination (25%)

Key Activities

• Portfolio Company Embedded Work: Spend 2-3 days/week at assigned companies, running workshops, building processes, training teams, or leading specific initiatives (could be sales enablement, market expansion, pricing strategy, etc.)
• Project Management: Track milestones, report progress to Shore partners, escalate blockers, coordinate resources across the Shore network
• Analysis & Planning: Dig into portfolio company data, identify growth opportunities, build business cases for new initiatives, benchmark against Shore's other investments
• Cross-Portfolio Knowledge Transfer: Document what's working, share playbooks between companies, connect portfolio company leaders facing similar challenges

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• No Direct Authority: You're advising and influencing, but the portfolio company CEO calls the shots. If they disagree with your recommendations, you have to convince them or escalate to Shore partners
• Context Switching: Jumping between a healthcare company, a restaurant chain, and a software business in the same week means constantly relearning industries and business models
• Accountability Without Control: Shore leadership expects results, but you're dependent on portfolio company teams to execute. When things don't work, you own the outcome but didn't control the inputs
• Travel: If portfolio companies are in different cities, you're on the road frequently. Even if they're local, you're rarely at the Shore office
• Resistance: Portfolio company employees sometimes see you as the "consultant" or "PE person" who doesn't understand their business, even when you're trying to help

What Success Looks Like

• Portfolio companies hit revenue or margin targets you helped set (e.g., $5M to $8M ARR in 12 months)
• New sales process you implemented increases close rates by 15-20%
• Market expansion initiative launches and generates first customers within 6 months
• Portfolio company CEO asks Shore for you specifically on their next project

Who You're Working With

Primary Stakeholders:

• Portfolio company CEOs (often founders, age 40-60, built the business but need help scaling)
• Shore Capital partners (your actual bosses, focused on portfolio performance and fund returns)
• Portfolio company functional leaders (heads of sales, ops, marketing—people you need to win over)

What They Care About:

• Portfolio CEOs: Practical help that works in their specific business, not generic consulting. They want results without losing control
• Shore Partners: Clear milestones, measurable impact on revenue/EBITDA, no surprises
• Portfolio Teams: Not disrupting their day-to-day, not adding work without adding value

Requirements

• 3-7 years in management consulting, corporate strategy, or operating roles at growth-stage companies
• Experience building or scaling revenue functions (sales, marketing, customer success)
• Comfortable with financial analysis and business modeling
• High tolerance for ambiguity—you'll get vague mandates like "help them grow faster" and need to figure out what that means
• Strong exec presence to work with CEOs and partners, but also tactical enough to dig into spreadsheets and build decks
• Willingness to travel 30-50% depending on portfolio needs