1. Get Involved Early
Our partnership begins in the pre-acquisition phase. This allows us to build meaningful relationships with management and fully understand the business, so we can start executing on key initiatives as soon as possible.
Our Approach
We Invest In Leaders Who Bring Businesses To Life.
At KLV we strive to create value by partnering with leadership teams to drive operational transformation that unlocks the company’s full potential.
We follow eight basic principles in each company we invest. This model ensures we are properly leading the business and setting them up for true success.
Our Guiding Principles
2. Start At The Finish Line
We help develop a strategic plan for each company, by identifying the long-term objectives. Understanding where the company needs to go, allows us to build out an actionable plan with realistic deliverables to get us there and ensures all parties are working toward the same goal.
3. Bring In The Experts
Optimizing operations is our passion. We deploy the appropriate top industry certifications across each business to catalyze organizational growth and bring expertise throughout the company.
4. Clarity & Governance
Open communication is critical, and we make sure to establish clear up front expectations and accountability right out of the gate. We take pride in creating value through efficient governance.
5. A Culture of Innovation
We aim to instill a culture that promotes creativity, teamwork and passion. We believe that when talented people come together around a focused goal, there is nothing they can’t accomplish.
6. Work Outside The Boardroom
Our partnership goes beyond the boardroom. We take time to understand each business and act as advisors and coaches. Our hands-on approach allows us to offer real-time guidance to management.
7. Engineering Transparency
Establishing trust is imperative for success. We equip teams with the resources they need to ensure there is always an open stream of communication. We value transparency with our partners.
8. Always Celebrate Success
We believe it’s important to celebrate victories. Together, we’ll accomplish great things and it’s important to take time out to recognize these achievements.
Our Sectors
Outdoor Sporting
Automotive
Transportation & Logistics
Consumer Services & Products
Manufacturing & Distribution
Technology & E-Commerce
Emerging Industries
Our Focus Areas
Customer Centric
We believe that in all industries, when companies put the customer at the heart of their organization, they experience an increase in customer lifetime value and can grow a sustainable business model. Having a deep understanding of your customer base allows you to truly build and nurture relationships with potential and existing clients. Becoming a customer centric organization can take time, planning, and energy. Our team at KLV works with leadership teams across our portfolio to encourage ‘customer centric’ thinking. We implement proven, proactive tactics that manage both high-risk and healthy customers, as well as address the root causes of existing customer issues.
Data-Driven Results
In today’s climate, business acumen alone is no longer enough if you want to remain competitive. Most organizations recognize that data should lie at the heart of their decision making, but data is only as valuable as the insights you can draw from it. At KLV, and we work with our portfolio to deploy the best technologies and tools focused on measuring metrics that are most crucial to the growth, efficiency, and sustainability of the business. A business that is driven by data has the potential to achieve more and provide greater value by offering a better proposition to customers, or by delivering more efficient marketing, sales, retention and operations.
Organic Growth & Acquisitions
We’re committed to helping companies find the best path to success, whether it is through organically driven growth, or expanding outside your core work through a strategic merger or acquisition. Our team partners with management teams to craft the right growth strategy for each business. We have deep expertise in M&A and work together with companies throughout the execution of a deal – from building an M&A team and completing due diligence, to supporting and integrating operations once complete. We are there as a guide every step of the way.
Marketing
At KLV, we believe that marketing is the driving force of the business. We offer a model for blitzscaling your business by deploying an effective, ongoing marketing strategy that ensures we are finding the shortest path between the consumer and the brand. We make it a priority to partner with leadership to plan and execute on the best marketing techniques across all channels to drive sales, including brand messaging and positioning, competitive analysis, market research, advertising, and digital marketing strategies. We focus on utilizing relevant technology and digital platforms to establish rigorous ROI measurements of marketing activity – our goal is to find innovative means of harnessing data to understand where the best revenue drivers come from.
Operational Excellence
Obtaining operational excellence across all business streams is our ultimate vision for each company we invest with. We tackle this by deploying top industry certifications and best practices in all key areas. Our team serves as a guide to professionalize all areas of a business – from supply chain to accounting to recruiting – we have an expert for it. We believe that operational excellence is about more than just reducing costs or increasing productivity – it’s about creating the company culture that will allow you to produce valuable products and services for your customers and achieve long-term sustainable growth.
IT Infrastructure
At KLV, we understand the crucial importance of technology infrastructure in today’s workplace. Building out a best in class IT infrastructure will help secure a competitive advantage. We pride ourselves on being ‘technology enablers’ and offer a unique approach to partnering with our portfolio businesses. We set ourselves apart by offering real-world tested solutions that challenge traditional ways of working. We help companies develop and implement successful IT strategies and software solutions that promote progress, and fuel innovation and efficiency. We take a comprehensive approach that covers all elements required to setup and operate successful technology functions that are connected to the business and customers.
Sales & Revenue
Driving sales and revenue is the heart of any company and getting it right is critical to building a successful business. Although all our core focus areas are highly valuable, the ultimate goal of all of them is to increase sale and revenue. At KLV, we dedicate the time and energy needed in each business to make sure we get sales right. We are committed to accelerating growth in our portfolio companies and work closely with management to implement a clear and effective sales playbook – everything from developing go-to-market, new market and product entry strategies, implementing best practices in pipeline management, account planning, salesforce incentivization, and using best-in-class technology to manage sales operations.
Talent & Culture
At KLV, we firmly believe that people are the most important part of an organization. We are committed to driving value through all aspects of the talent agenda, including helping you to assess and acquire best in class talent in senior leadership positions and maximize recruiting efforts for individual contributor roles. Additionally, we strongly believe in developing talent through professional development programs and supporting them on an ongoing basis through training and mentorship. We work hard to make sure we attract the best talent, so it is equally important that we build a great company culture to retain them. Our team guides management to instill lasting values and employee-centric programs that not only build a great culture but attract and retain top talent.
Accountability
For KLV, responsible investing means growing sustainable businesses which are great employers and good corporate citizens. We want the businesses we invest in to be genuinely dedicated to doing well for all stakeholders and we are committed to advocating responsible business practices that help generate superior long-term performance. We actively promote accountability for leadership in our portfolio and hold ourselves to the same standards. As such, our company mission supports the backbone of our investment philosophy – to only do deals where we have authentic Knowledge, we will always focus on developing lasting Leadership above anything else, and our ultimate goal is to bring true Value to our investors and portfolio.