You have a playbook for operations. For talent. For technology. But when it comes to design — the thing that determines how a portfolio company's products are perceived, experienced, and valued — most firms don't have a playbook at all.
That's not a criticism. It's an observation. And it's one I've seen play out across industries and hold periods for over 25 years.
The result is predictable. Portfolio companies compete on price because their products aren't differentiated. Brands feel generic because nobody with design authority was in the room when the strategy was set. And at exit, the story is harder to tell because the product portfolio doesn't reflect a coherent point of view.
Design isn't aesthetics. In the context of a portfolio company, it's the discipline that connects what a business builds to what the market actually values. It shapes differentiation, brand coherence, customer experience, and how a company is perceived when it matters most.
I work with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to close this gap.
The engagement typically starts with a diagnostic — a structured, fixed-price assessment that looks at three things: where the company is positioned in its market, the health of its product portfolio and pipeline, and whether the organization is set up to execute. It's not a design audit. It's a strategic assessment conducted by someone who understands both design and business at a level where the conversation is useful to a board, not just a product team.
The output is an actionable brief — not a report that sits on a shelf. It identifies where design can create the most value within the hold period, what's blocking that value, and what the first moves should be. If we continue working together, the brief becomes the foundation. If not, the company walks away with something they can move on independently.
I've worked with leadership teams at 3M, Burberry, Herman Miller, Humanscale, Issey Miyake, Jaguar, and the City of New York. I hold over two dozen patents and have brought more than 200 products to market. Phaidon published my monograph — the first for an American designer. I've been nominated for the National Design Award seven times.
I'm not an agency. I don't have a bench of junior designers waiting for a brief. I work directly with founders, CEOs, operating partners, and boards — because that's where design decisions either gain traction or die quietly.
If you're looking at a portfolio company and suspect design is an underleveraged asset, I'd welcome a conversation.
studio@toddbracher.com
— Todd Bracher