Trajectory Inc.
The Power of NetSuite for Private Equity Portfolios

In the past few years it seems that the world of Private Equity and Venture Capital has fully realized the potential for the NetSuite platform to support their investments and portfolio companies. Industry insider opinions vary, but even the most conservative estimation puts the NetSuite ERP platform on the short list of the majority of Private Equity players. Trajectory, the Toronto-based, 5-Star NetSuite Partner knows this world well. Having worked very publicly with a number of so-called Venture Capital “unicorns” (those start-ups with a valuation over one billion dollars), as well as with many Private Equity firms to support, often quietly, their carve-outs, acquisitions and buy/build transactions. “It is as though we’ve building our teams and training for these types of projects for the past ten years,“ said Kurtis Meloche, Principal at Trajectory in Toronto. He continued, “In the case of most Private Equity transactions the management teams need to stand-up or integrate their acquisitions quickly which requires a specific mix of speed and flexibility, they are open to best practices, and they simply do not have the staff, project management or resources to undertake a traditional software selection, design or implementation project. I see a direct parallel with the needs of NetSuite’s traditional small and mid-market customers who we’ve been supporting since 2005.”

While Trajectory’s traditional areas of focus (small-mid market organizations in the advertising, professional services, software/ technology and supply chain industries) continue to be strong drivers of the business, the growth in the Private Equity and Investment Practices is where the company has seen the most change. With an approach to solution design, project management and delivery specifically geared toward the most common types of transaction scenarios (carve-outs, integrations for buy and builds and bolt-on acquisitions,) Trajectory has developed strong relationships with several of the most active Private Equity firms in North America.

Private Equity, Venture Capital and other investor organizations utilize NetSuite as critical piece of their technology puzzle when establishing business processes, reporting and other needs in their portfolio companies.

NetSuite is fast to implement which helps new acquisitions integrate, or separate from costly transition services agreements quickly

Most often, NetSuite becomes the ERP/system of record in these companies, acting as the platform for core business practices like order management, revenue management, A/R and A/P as well as their main reporting and business intelligence repository. Domain specific tools are then added-on and integrated as needed to support the unique angles of each business. Meloche adds, “It works because NetSuite is fast to implement which helps new acquisitions integrate, or separate from costly transition services agreements quickly. It has industry-specific business processes that are perfect for organizations without an abundance of staff or legacy processes. Essentially, it provides transitioning management and ownership teams with a tool that is aligned with their investment strategy and thesis so they can get up and operating quickly and cost effectively.”

With more and more Private Equity firms specializing in mid-market acquisitions it is fair to assume that NetSuite will continue its growth and prevalence in this market. According to Meloche, NetSuite is on its way to becoming the default solution for these types of transactions. The question is, will NetSuite providers adapt to the unique delivery methods required to fully support this trend? “We’ve worked out how important it is to balance the ownership’s investment thesis with the operators’ daily needs when designing our solutions for Private Equity transactions. It seems likely that NetSuite will continue to make gains in these types of transactions, so long as implementation and integration firms get their strategy right.”