Skip to content

Rung 1 · $7,500 · two weeks · credited

Two weeks. One portfolio company. A costed AI plan the board can act on.

The Portco AI Diagnostic turns the AI line of the value-creation plan into eight deliverables: a workflow map, an EBITDA-impact model in the portco's own loaded labor cost, and a 100-day plan with a named adoption owner. Done personally by a practising 3x CHRO and JD who ships systems himself, not handed to an analyst team.

Request the diagnostic Book a portfolio call
2 weeks 8 deliverables $7,500 credited

What you get

Eight deliverables, one readout

Scoped to the functions that matter for this portfolio company, not a generic use-case inventory. Every number is built on the portco's own loaded labor cost.

01

Workflow and adoption map

Every workflow in the functions in scope, who touches it, where AI already sits unused, and where the friction actually is.

02

EBITDA-impact model

Built in the portco's own loaded labor cost, not a generic benchmark, so the number matches what the CFO already reports.

03

Opportunity matrix

Every candidate workflow ranked by impact against ease of implementation, not by novelty.

04

Tool and build stack

What to buy, what to build and what already exists, each with a cost and a payback estimate per item.

05

Do-not-automate list

Named explicitly, with the reasoning, so leadership knows where not to spend the budget.

06

Adoption plan

A named owner inside the business, incentives that match the target, and the training the rollout needs.

07

100-day plan

Sequenced by function, ready to run with or without PortLev, and written into the value-creation plan.

08

Board one-pager

Baseline, opportunity, plan and ask on one page, in the format the board already reads.

Every deliverable is presented in a 60-minute recorded readout with leadership and the sponsor, so the rest of the board can watch it without waiting for a meeting to be scheduled.

The method

How it runs, in fourteen days

Four stages, in order. Nothing is installed and nothing changes inside the business until the sprint or retainer that follows.

  1. Day 1

    Intake

    CEO, COO and CFO align with the operating-partner sponsor on scope, systems in view and the loaded labor cost source.

  2. Days 2 to 6

    Workflow and adoption scan

    Three to five team interviews and read-only access to the systems in scope. Nothing is installed.

  3. Days 7 to 10

    Quantify and prioritise

    The EBITDA-impact model, the opportunity matrix and the do-not-automate list get built and checked against the numbers.

  4. Days 11 to 14

    Readout and 100-day plan

    The 60-minute recorded readout, the board one-pager and a 100-day plan with a named owner.

For operating partners

The Portfolio AI Screen: the same read, across the fund

Four weeks, up to five portfolio companies. One fund-level ranking of where the first sprint pays back fastest, and one IC-style summary built for the partner meeting.

  • The diagnostic's method, compressed and run in parallel across up to five portfolio companies
  • A fund-level ranking of where the first sprint pays back fastest
  • One IC-style summary, built for the partner meeting rather than five separate decks

Price

$25,000

Four weeks · up to five portfolio companies

Book a portfolio call

What the operating partner receives

One fund-level view: every portfolio company scored, its top failure mode named, the recoverable cost sized in its own loaded labor cost, and the order in which to run the first sprints.

Portco Revenue Scorecard total Top failure mode Recoverable cost First-sprint payback Sequence
Portco A $80M 13 / 18 Acute No Adoption Owner $532K 4 months 1
Portco B $145M 11 / 18 Pilot Purgatory The License Trap $470K 5 months 2
Portco C $210M 8 / 18 Pilot Purgatory The Strategy Shelf $385K 7 months 3
Portco D $42M 14 / 18 Acute The Demo Graveyard $218K 9 months 4
Portco E $65M 4 / 18 On Track Vendor Lock-in $96K 14 months 5

Illustrative figures for a hypothetical five-company portfolio; every number in a real screen is built on the portco's own loaded labor cost. Recoverable cost is annual. Sequence follows first-sprint payback, not severity: the most acute company is not always the first to run.

Why a paid diagnostic, not a free one

Free assessments end in a product demo

A diagnostic that costs nothing is usually selling something. This one is priced to be independent, and the fee comes back if the work continues.

The credit

$7,500 is credited against a 100-Day Pilot-to-P&L Sprint or the Fractional AI Operating Partner retainer within 90 days of the readout. The diagnostic is not a sunk cost. It is the first invoice of the engagement it recommends.

Independence

The do-not-automate list exists because nothing is sold inside the diagnostic. A vendor-run assessment has an incentive to find a use case for its own product. This engagement carries no product to sell.

The senior operator

A practising 3x CHRO and JD runs the interviews, builds the model and writes the board one-pager personally. No analyst bench, no offshore build, no handoff to someone junior.

Against the alternatives

What the fee actually buys

  Free vendor assessment Big-firm diagnostic Portco AI Diagnostic
Who does the work A vendor sales engineer A junior consulting team; a partner reviews A practising 3x CHRO and JD, personally
Independence Sells its own product Independent, sized for enterprise engagements Independent; no product to sell
EBITDA model in your loaded cost No, a generic ROI deck Sometimes, at extra cost Yes, standard
Adoption plan with an owner No Rarely Yes, named owner and incentives
Time A demo call 6 to 8 weeks 2 weeks
Price Free Typically $50,000 to $150,000 over 6 to 8 weeks $7,500, credited

Fit

Who it is for, and who it is not for

This is for you if

  • You lead a portfolio company with an AI line in the value-creation plan and no number against it yet.
  • You want a plan built on your own loaded labor cost, not a generic benchmark.
  • You will name an owner and give the diagnostic real access for two weeks.
  • You want a board one-pager ready before the next meeting.

This is not for you if

  • You want a free assessment that ends in a product demo.
  • Nobody inside the business can give two weeks of access and a handful of interviews.
  • You already have a costed 100-day plan and a named adoption owner.
  • You need something built now, not sized. Go straight to the sprint.

Questions before you request it

What is the Portco AI Diagnostic?
A two-week engagement inside one portfolio company that turns the AI line of the value-creation plan into eight deliverables: a workflow and adoption map, an EBITDA-impact model in the portco's own loaded labor cost, an opportunity matrix ranked by impact against ease, a tool and build stack with cost and payback per item, a do-not-automate list, an adoption plan with a named owner and incentives, a 100-day plan and a board one-pager. It ends with a 60-minute recorded readout. It is $7,500, credited against a sprint or retainer within 90 days.
What does the portfolio company have to provide?
A named executive sponsor, three to five people for interviews, and read-only access to the systems in scope, plus whatever the CFO uses for loaded labor cost. After the intake call that is about two hours across the two weeks from the sponsor. Nothing is installed and nothing is changed. The diagnostic observes and models the business as it runs today.
How is the $7,500 credited?
If the portfolio company moves to the 100-Day Pilot-to-P&L Sprint or the Fractional AI Operating Partner retainer within 90 days of the readout, the full $7,500 is credited against the first invoice. There is no application or code; it is applied automatically at the scoping call.
What happens after the readout?
Leadership and the sponsor keep the recorded readout, the board one-pager and the underlying model. Some portfolio companies run the 100-day plan themselves. Others move to the sprint to have the first system shipped and adopted inside the hundred days. Either way, the opportunity matrix and the do-not-automate list belong to the portfolio company.
Can an operating partner run it across several portfolio companies?
Yes. That is the Portfolio AI Screen: the same method compressed to four weeks and run across up to five portfolio companies at once, with a fund-level ranking of where the first sprint pays back fastest and one IC-style summary for the partner meeting. It is $25,000.
What if the diagnostic finds little worth automating?
Then the board one-pager says so, with the reasoning shown, and the fee still counts as diligence completed rather than diligence skipped. A diagnostic that always finds a build to recommend is not independent. The do-not-automate list is credible precisely because it names what we did not recommend touching.

Get the plan the board can act on, in two weeks.

One portfolio company, eight deliverables, a 60-minute recorded readout. $7,500, credited against whatever comes next.

Book a portfolio call Score your portco in 3 minutes
Request the diagnostic Book a call