Last year, we were invited to the Big Exit Summit with some trust and credibility already built in the Bregal Sagemount portfolio. My goal was to go deeper.
This year, we walked in with a lot more gas in the tank. We entered as the trusted product and go-to-market partner they can lean on.
That's not something I take lightly. Nobody hands you that kind of trust. You earn it. One partner at a time, following through on our mission to help the leaders we believe in achieve the visions they believe in.
A Conference I Get to Go To
I spent a lot of my early career on the conference circuit. Most of those trips were obligations in prior roles. Someone booked the flight, I showed up, I did my job, and I went home.
Big Exit is a different animal. It's a "get to," not a "have to."
The people in that room aren't strangers I'm trying to impress. They're clients we've worked alongside all year, partners who happily make introductions for us, and experts who are leading the way across their respective industries. We met plenty of new people, and that’s always energizing. But this year was more about catching up in person with people we'd spent months building with over Zoom, Slack, Figma (you name the tool). Nothing replaces the in-person connections.
I have to give credit to the Growth Factors team. They certainly do not do anything halfway. The theme, the music, the food, the overall experience. The Big Exit is an outstanding event, and the time they put into it shows how much they care about the community they've built.
Trusted Partner, Earned
When we first started working with the Bregal Sagemount portfolio, we wanted to be their trusted product and go-to-market partner. We also knew that's not something you get to claim. You prove it in the work.
That work has added up. We partnered with PMWEB on a product and brand transformation that swept multiple awards at last year's summit. We worked alongside TrustArc as they built the momentum that earned them the Big Exit Award. And we've brought that same product and go-to-market excellence to new partners from this community like Corcentric and ProSymmetry, both of which I finally got to sit across the table from in person.
Every engagement gave us more at-bats and a sharper understanding of what these companies need to grow. Just as important, it gave the Sagemount and Growth Factors teams results they could see for themselves.
It showed at this year’s Big Exit. I’m grateful to the entire Growth Factors team for introducing us whenever they had the chance. What made me proud was that they led with what our work had done for their companies. For a services firm, it doesn’t get much better than that.
What the Market Data Says
Gene Yoon, co-founder and managing partner of Bregal Sagemount, gave a state-of-the-market presentation that was highly valuable. Working with so many PE-backed companies, we get a front-row seat to the trends happening in real time. Backing those trends and learnings with data validates the work we’re doing and the guidance we’re giving our clients.
Two points I think more people should hear.
AI hasn't delivered the expected uplift yet. The productivity and revenue gains everyone is counting on haven't fully shown up. That doesn't mean AI isn't working. It means the tool alone isn't the strategy. AI accelerates whatever you feed it, and if the fundamentals underneath aren't solid, you just get more of the wrong thing, faster.
The market still rewards growth. Average multiples have come down, but companies that are growing fast still command strong ones. The caveat being a handful of outliers like Anthropic and OpenAI skew the numbers. Strip them out and things look a lot more normal. Still, the message holds. Growth wins.
For PE-backed leaders and the operating partners behind them, growth is still the game, but AI isn't a shortcut to it. The companies pulling ahead are the ones getting their product experience and go-to-market foundation right first, then using AI to scale it.
Inside the Product Roundtable
Innovatemap hosted a product roundtable for CPOs and CTOs, alongside Katie Noble and Ashley King, our Product & GTM Advisors.
Talk about impressive expertise? These leaders aren't waiting for the playbook to be written. They're experimenting, and they're willing to share what's working and what isn't. We covered a few traps we’re seeing as it relates to AI Product Strategy, but the best moments came from the discussion around the room. Questions like: what are you trying, is it working, what would you do differently? I walked out with a few ideas of my own.
A few themes surfaced:
- Trust depends on the team, not the persona. You can design for the ideal user all day, but adoption comes down to whether the team in front of the product actually trusts it.
- Monetization is still unsolved. Nobody has fully figured out how to price and package what they're building, especially with AI in the mix.
- Usage data isn't proof of value. People clicking around in your product doesn't mean they're getting value from it. Leaders are looking for better ways to connect usage to real outcomes.
None of these are solved problems yet. But I’d rather work through them with a room full of leaders willing to try things than wait for someone else to write the playbook.
Relationships Compound
Most nights ended with a big group of us around a table in the hotel lobby, swapping stories long after we probably should have called it. Clients, partners, people we’d met that afternoon. Those are the conversations I’ll remember long after the data and trends. Which teams people root for, where they grew up, where they’d send you on vacation.
That’s where trust starts. And it grows the same way it does in our client work, by showing up, delivering, and treating every relationship like a partnership.
I’m personally grateful for the way the Bregal Sagemount and Growth Factors teams have welcomed us into their community. It’s one I’m proud to be part of, and one we’re lucky to help grow.
If you’re looking for a product and go-to-market partner for your PE-backed company, I’d love to hear what you’re building. Reach out to me directly.
