Our Approach How We Work
Partnership, In Practice
No two businesses are the same, and we do not take a one-size-fits-all approach to partnership. We take the time to understand each unique company, its people, and their goals. The capital, support, and communication cadence we provide is tailored to each business based on their situation. Our job is to make all the right resources available to our companies and to be a collaborative partner to management on where we engage.
The Rhythm of Working Together
We invest the time to really get to know a business up front. Many of the companies that we back are businesses that we’ve spent years getting to know. Our specialization enables us to dive deep into market segments within software. This enables us to bring unique market perspectives to the table in these conversations.
As the process moves forward, members of our Investment and NextLevel Operations teams work together to develop a strategic, financial, and operational plan for future growth opportunities and how we can help. By the time an investment closes, we have collaborated with management to develop a shared view of the key strategic priorities and how we will work together to accomplish them.
Find the 4–5 levers that get you to your goal.
- Functional deep-dives with management during diligence
- Benchmark performance against comparable businesses
- Size each lever by impact, effort, and time to result
Turn the levers into a plan everyone signs up to.
- A 100-day plan and a 5-year value creation plan
- Named owners, milestones, and the metrics we track
- An operating cadence with the deal team and management
Support execution with a tailored approach.
- Hands-on support on the priority initiatives
- Coaching, projects, and help hiring functional leaders
- Access to Level network and resources
We run the loop again
at each new stage of growth
How We Invest
We take a company-first approach to investing: is this an exceptional business and one where we think we’d make a good partner? From there, we bring a flexible approach to transaction structuring. We like to sit down with each stakeholder, listen to their goals, and then craft a bespoke transaction that meets as many objectives as possible.
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Ownership transitions for software businesses whose founders or sponsors are looking to take liquidity and position the business for its next phase of growth.
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Minority positions where capital is used to provide additional fuel for growth and/or partial liquidity. Level works alongside management as a strategic partner with the option to provide operational support.
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Credit solutions for companies that are not looking for traditional equity. Designed to limit dilution, with flexible use of proceeds for situations like acquisition financing, shareholder liquidity, or funding growth.
Building Together
Strategic value creation is focused by design. We work with management to identify the initiatives with the greatest potential for the business and go deep on them rather than spreading efforts across everything at once. Those priorities get dedicated resources and hands-on operational guidance from NextLevel Operations, our team of functional software specialists.
Where Level Makes a Difference
We have a broad set of ways that we can help our companies. The most common areas where we engage are:
Building out the executive team. Level has helped recruit over 100 CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, and revenue leaders across the portfolio.
Level can help identify targets, support due diligence, and finance and integrate acquisitions. Our dedicated sourcing engine provides a unique capability to identify M&A targets.
Deciding where to expand next, whether into adjacent products or new geographies, and what it will take to get there. NLO's product specialists work with management on the roadmap and platform architecture to support each move.
Sales strategy and structure, ideal customer profile definition, pricing and packaging, and incentive design. An annual portfolio-wide survey benchmarks each company's funnel against peers of similar size and model.
Applying AI to improve both the product and the processes behind it. As the technology evolves, Level tracks what's working across the portfolio and brings these learnings to each company.
Reporting, forecasting, and financial systems to support scale. Reporting excellence that drives better decision making.
"Level has been a great partner to Planet DDS from the beginning. The firm is filled with high-integrity people whose actions have always followed their words. The team at Level has a keen understanding of what motivates CEOs, allowing executives the room to solve problems while providing the support necessary to increase the likelihood that those decisions are correct."
Mr. Giesecke is the CEO of Planet DDS, a portfolio company of funds managed by Level. He is not a current Level client or fund investor and received no compensation from Level for this statement, but has a material conflict of interest as a result of Level’s investment in Planet DDS. See Endorsement Disclosure.
ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: The statements provided herein are made by certain founders or executives of Level’s past and/or current portfolio companies. The founder is not a past or current Level client or fund investor. Certain statements made herein are deemed “endorsements” because they are made by an individual other than a current client or private fund investor and indicate approval, support, or a recommendation of Level, or describe the individual’s experience with Level. The individual has not been directly compensated for making these statements. However, the portfolio company in which the individual holds a significant equity interest may have received financial investment from Level through one or more funds managed by Level. As such, the individual may have an indirect financial interest in the success of Level’s activities or in presenting Level in a favorable light.
The individual’s statements reflect past, subjective experiences and are not indicative of future performance or success. Any endorsement made by the individual does not guarantee that future clients or portfolio companies will have similar experiences or achieve similar outcomes. Investment outcomes are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that any investment will achieve its objectives or that investors will not experience losses. The statements made by these founders should not be considered specific investment advice, does not take into account any specific situation, and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed.