Start with predefined criteria.
The same general frame is applied broadly, whether or not it reflects the client's goals or value creation logic.
For Private Equity · PE Reverse Diagnostic
Define what good looks like before evaluating fit.
PE Reverse Diagnostic starts with the client's goals and value creation playbook, combines them with relevant data in Leverage Co.'s index, and builds a custom archetype that defines the evaluation criteria that matter.
01Client-defined inputsClient goals + Value creation playbook + Relevant index data↓
02Custom archetype↓
03Key metrics + evaluation criteria↓
04Fit against tailored archetype
01 · Why tailored criteria
Fit depends on the value creation plan.
A predefined framework begins with the same questions for every business. The Reverse Diagnostic begins with what the client is trying to achieve.
Build the criteria from the plan.
Client goals, the value creation playbook, and relevant index data shape a tailored archetype and its evaluation criteria.
Common framework
General criteria create a broad comparison.
Tailored fit
Client-defined inputs create a client-specific basis for examining fit.
02 · Who this is for
This is relevant when Private Equity Partners and Operating Teams are evaluating fit through their own value creation logic.
Most useful when the value creation thesis is clear, but the criteria for evaluating fit still need to be made explicit.
- 01
A team needs evaluation criteria that reflect its own goals rather than a standard checklist.
- 02
A value creation playbook depends on a specific picture of what good should look like.
- 03
A platform company and potential bolt-on need to be examined against tailored fit criteria.
- 04
The investment thesis is clear, while organizational capacity or execution questions remain.
- 05
Several possible businesses appear attractive, but the basis for comparison is not yet explicit.
- 06
Leadership needs to separate evidence from assumptions before making a consequential choice.
03 · The definition
Start with the outcome. Build the criteria backward.
The Reverse Diagnostic defines specific evaluation criteria rather than relying on an off-the-shelf framework.
Leverage Co. starts with the client's goals and value creation playbook, combines them with relevant data from its index, and creates a custom archetype that defines what a top-performing business should look like across the metrics that matter.
What reverse means: The work begins with the client's intended value creation logic, then works backward to establish the archetype and criteria used to examine fit.
Client goals
Clarify the outcomes and priorities the client is seeking to advance.
Build backward
Define a custom archetype from the client-specific value creation logic.
Examine fit
Use the tailored criteria to make alignment, divergence, and open questions clearer.
04 · Confirmed inputs
The criteria begin with the client's own logic.
Three inputs anchor the diagnostic. Together they shape an archetype specific to the client's value creation logic.
A · Client-defined inputs
Client goals
Value creation playbook
Relevant index data
Value creation playbook
Relevant index data
B · Tailored evaluation logic
Key metrics
Evaluation criteria
Alignment and divergence
Questions to resolve
Evaluation criteria
Alignment and divergence
Questions to resolve
05 · The custom archetype
Define what a top-performing business would look like for this thesis.
The archetype reflects the client's value creation logic and criteria for comparing fit. It guides that comparison rather than predicting performance or assigning a valuation.
Client-specific context
The outcomes and priorities the client is seeking to advance.
Value creation logic
What matters for the client's own value creation playbook.
Relevant index evidence
Relevant data helps shape the custom archetype for the client's context.
CUSTOM ARCHETYPEA choice to examine
06 · Evaluation logic
The archetype determines which criteria matter.
The metrics that matter remain specific to the client's goals and value creation playbook.
Custom archetype
The tailored description of a top-performing business for this value creation logic.
Key metrics
The metrics that matter depend on the client-defined archetype.
Specific evaluation criteria
A clearer basis for examining alignment and divergence.
No fixed scoring
No weights, thresholds, rankings, or scores are assumed.
Client context
The criteria are defined for the client context.
07 · Examining fit
Compare the business against the tailored archetype.
The comparison helps make alignment, divergence, and unanswered questions more visible for leadership to examine.
Platform company
Establish the platform company context for the value creation plan.
Potential bolt-on
Examine a potential bolt-on against the same client-specific logic.
Custom archetype
Use the tailored definition of what good should look like.
Tailored criteria
Compare the evidence across the metrics and criteria that matter.
Fit questions
Make alignment, divergence, and unanswered questions visible.
08 · What the work can make clearer
A deeper comparison begins with more explicit criteria.
The work supports informed senior dialogue on organizational fit; investment and transaction decisions remain with the client.
The criteria that matter
A more detailed view of what should define fit for the client's own value creation logic.
Where fit appears stronger or weaker
A tailored comparison that helps leadership see alignment and divergence against its own criteria.
The assumptions still carrying weight
A clearer account of which parts of the archetype need more evidence or leadership discussion.
The organizational questions
Greater visibility into capacity, integration, sequencing, decision rights, or execution concerns that may affect the plan.
The evidence gaps
A clearer view of what still needs to be learned before leadership decides.
The next useful conversation
A focused basis for senior dialogue about evidence and open choices.
09 · How the work happens
Diagnosis before prescription. Dialogue before deliverables.
The work adapts to the decision, the evidence available, and the conversation leadership needs to have.
Clarify goals
Make the intended outcomes and priorities explicit.
Understand the playbook
Clarify the client's value creation logic and what it requires.
Build the archetype
Define what a top-performing business would look like for this thesis.
Define criteria
Establish the key metrics and evaluation criteria that matter.
Examine fit → Surface questions
Compare the evidence, then surface alignment, divergence, assumptions, and questions.
10 · Strategy and Leverage
The value creation logic sets the criteria. Organizational reality shapes the questions.
PE Reverse Diagnostic connects to Leverage Co.'s broader advisory system without making other capabilities mandatory.
Clarifies the choices behind the value creation plan.
Strategy frames the choices and value creation logic behind the move.
PE Reverse Diagnostic
PE Reverse Diagnostic makes the client-specific basis for comparison explicit.
Surfaces capacity and execution questions where relevant.
Leverage connects the choice to organizational capacity where useful.
Optional when relevant: Digital Twin powered Scenario Planning may support organizational scenario work.
11 · PE diagnostic questions
Which assumptions should shape the criteria before the comparison begins?
These questions translate the client definition into a leadership conversation.
- 01
What does a top-performing business look like for this value creation playbook?
- 02
Which metrics actually matter to that definition?
- 03
Which assumptions behind the custom archetype remain least tested?
- 04
Where does the business align with or diverge from the tailored criteria?
- 05
Which gaps are strategic, and which may be organizational?
- 06
What needs more evidence or dialogue before leadership decides?
PE Reverse Diagnostic · Tailored evaluation logic
Better evaluation starts by defining what good looks like for the strategy you are actually pursuing.
Begin with the fit decision · A senior advisory conversation
Which fit decision needs a more tailored set of criteria?
Start with the client goals, value creation playbook, and comparison the team needs to make clearer.
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