The Upliift Advisory Board is an essential resource for our founders. It’s a dedicated team of experts committed to understanding and enhancing each unique business that Upliift invests in—for the long term. They work alongside Upliift’s team of European software experts, bringing additional local knowledge, cultural understanding, and experience of leading some of Europe’s most successful software businesses.

Founders tell us that working with the Advisory Board has been transformative.

Here’s why.

Experience matters

The founders we work with are passionate about their products and their people.  But their experience of running a business may be limited to that one business.

Upliift’s advisors have experience running and growing enterprises of various sizes, from inception to growth and exit. Founders say their blend of skills and knowledge, from go-to-market strategies to growth planning and M&A, is invaluable.

One CEO of a family business commented, “Many entrepreneurs can feel lonely. My father and I were a strong team and never operated alone. Now Upliift is able to provide that support, sounding board and specialist expertise that can drive growth in the right direction.”

Founders and advisors can work together to protect and build on what has made the business successful while creating efficiencies and driving growth in new areas.

Of course, there is no fixed blueprint for success.  Advisors take time to understand each business that Upliift invests in, providing leadership teams with bespoke strategic guidance to realise untapped potential – instead of pushing for intrusive changes and fixed frameworks.

Bernd Mährlein, one of Upliift’s Advisory Board members, explains, “Not everything works everywhere. While certain ‘plays’ have been successful in companies I’ve worked for, that doesn’t mean they will succeed if repeated elsewhere.

“You first need to listen and understand the specific market dynamics. Then you can come up with perhaps one or two initiatives that might be hugely relevant in that specific situation, and for which you can get agreement on whether they think this could make sense and what the desired outcome might be.”

Upliift Advisory Board member, Jessica Venturini, concurs; “It’s about sharing experience, competencies and skillsets. It’s not about teaching how things are done; rather, we share our experience and hope it will be useful as an enabler for those companies looking to scale up.”

Focused on growth, not the exit ramp

All too often, investors appoint “advisors” in order to maximise enterprise value so that they can realise a timely and lucrative exit.

Upliift’s long-term focus makes us different. For founders, knowing that their legacy will grow well beyond their tenure is a significant positive.  Upliift’s advisors can help steer businesses on that long-term growth trajectory.

Venturini understands how critical this is for founders. She says, “Owners typically have a long-term view of the product or service they’ve developed. They want to see their life’s work continuing to thrive long into the future. Upliift’s permanent investment model gives them an investment partner for the long term. It removes tension because a founder or owner knows what they’ve built will be preserved. It’s very different from the private equity model, which looks at performance (instead of numbers) with a short- or medium-term view.”

Capacity-building

Many of the companies in which Upliift invests are technically sophisticated. They have great software engineers and product managers. But all too often, ownership of commercial strategy, operations, and even sales and marketing can fall on just one person: the CEO, which often leaves little room for strategy and growth.

Bernd Mährlein continues, “Upliift’s acquired companies have great products and markets. They’re profitable. They’re making money. But they often don’t have extensive go-to-market experience, process, or people. It’s hard for them to forecast their growth and be able to expand in a structured way, quarter by quarter, year over year.  That’s where we can help.”

The Advisory Board can work with founders on strategic planning, allowing them space to think beyond the next meeting. This headspace lets founders focus on other developments, like building robust, scalable teams that enable faster growth.

One founder noted that before partnering with Upliift, their team lacked the know-how to make acquisitions effectively despite having the money to do so. With the support of Upliift and their advisors, they had access to the experience and capability they needed to make their first deals.

Mutual respect 

Many founders want to continue to be part of their business growth story rather than hand over complete control early on in an investment. That is why Upliift works with founders who share the same values, like grit, work ethic, passion, and ability to iterate quickly.

This leads to mutual trust and respect that helps drive the business forward day-to-day.

We recognise that great software businesses have a winning combination of products, culture, and market focus.  By partnering with their leaders and offering them unrivalled access to a range of experienced advisors, we can help augment that with strategic and commercial knowledge gained from Europe’s most successful firms. This is what makes Upliift’s companies thrive today and long into the future.

Find out more about the Upliift Advisory Board here.  If you’re a founder considering what’s next, we’d love to hear from you.