Services
We provide bespoke consulting and research solutions to private equity investment teams and operators in support of M&A and strategic initiatives.
Transaction & Portfolio Services
HSG supports clients through every stage of the investment process
Thesis Building
Develop, refine, and pressure test thematic investment strategies by forming defensible theses around target segments, structural tailwinds, and ideal target company characteristics.
Market Mapping
Identify attractive niches, competitive dynamics, and areas of opportunity by systematically assessing an industry's structure and taxonomy.
Commercial Due Diligence
Assess the market opportunity, the target company's competitive positioning, industry growth drivers, and potential risks to validate investment theses.
Pre-LOI & Targeted Market Studies
Build rapid conviction and make critical go/no-go decisions through focused quickfire studies with focused scopes and tight timelines.
Voice of Customer Analysis
Collect and synthesize customer feedback to identify needs, priorities, and pain points for strategic decision-making.
Growth Strategy – Organic & Inorganic
Organic Growth Strategy: Formulate initiatives and priorities to grow into adjacent markets, add new capabilities, or expand wallet and market share within core markets.
Inorganic Growth Strategy: Map the industry landscape through exhaustive identification and prioritization, yielding detailed lists of potential acquisition targets that align with strategic and operational objectives.
Go-to-Market, ICP, and Sales Optimization
Actionable blueprints and playbooks to help management teams efficiently identify and assess their ICP, refine go-to-market efforts, and ensure that sales motions are targeted on actionable opportunities.
Voice of Customer Analysis
Collect and synthesize customer feedback to identify needs, priorities, and pain points for strategic decision-making.
Sell-Side Market Studies
Develop tailored and unbiased sell-side positioning support to articulate a company's value proposition and maximize buyer engagement during the sale process.
What We Do
End-to-end investment lifecycle support
We guide clients through every phase of the investment lifecycle – from evaluating opportunities to accelerating portfolio growth and exit
Industry Prioritization & Thesis Development
Proactive market scans to identify opportunities and trends, build investment theses, and prioritize sectors for future investments
Buy-Side Commercial Due Diligence
Validate deal theses through market, customer, and competitive insight—giving investors clarity before committing capital
Growth Strategy
Drive growth through organic expansion of capabilities and markets, or pursue acquisitions that accelerate scale and unlock synergies
Go-To-Market Strategy
Quantify the ICP and identify the levers that expand share, optimize sales performance, and scale revenue efficiently
Acquisition Target Identification
Help develop and execute add-on or consolidation strategies
Sell-Side Market Studies
Craft data-backed narratives that position companies for successful exits and informed buyer decisions
Our Capabilities
Common Engagement Components
Market Sizing, Segmentation, & Growth
We define and quantify the total addressable market by framing the relevant buying units, services, and end markets, often building proprietary datasets in fragmented or niche spaces. We then segment the market across the dimensions that matter most—customer type, use case, geography, scale, and service mix—to identify where value is truly concentrated.
We assess historical and forward-looking market growth, separating structural tailwinds from cyclical or temporary effects. Our analysis identifies the underlying demand drivers, adoption dynamics, and risks that will shape growth over the hold period.
Key Questions We Answer:
- What is the TAM, SAM, and realistically addressable market for the business?
- How is demand distributed across customer types, end markets, and geographies?
- How penetrated is the market today, and where is there whitespace?
- How fast is the market growing today, and how is that expected to change?
- What are the primary drivers of growth (or headwinds), and are they durable?
- How exposed is demand to economic cycles, regulation, or customer behavior shifts?
- Which segments represent the highest value, best fit, or fastest growth?
- What is The Company's ICP and how large is the most addressable opportunity?
Competitive Benchmarking & Landscape Assessment
We map the competitive ecosystem to understand how the market is structured and who competes for the same customers and dollars. This includes profiling key competitors, benchmarking differentiation, and assessing barriers to entry and consolidation dynamics.
Key Questions We Answer:
- Who are the most relevant competitors, and how fragmented is the market?
- How many core & tangential competitors exist within the market and what other products / services, end markets, geographies, etc. are they playing in?
- How do competitors differ by scale / tier, service offering, pricing, and go-to-market approach?
- Where does The Company win or lose versus alternatives?
- How does the The Company rate on key criteria versus competitors?
- Are there credible threats from new entrants, substitutes, or other external factors?
Decision and Purchasing Dynamics
Through primary research with customers and industry participants, we uncover how purchasing decisions are actually made. We identify key decision makers, buying triggers, evaluation criteria, and switching frictions that influence demand stability and win rates.
Key Questions We Answer:
- Who is the economic buyer and who influences the decision?
- What triggers a purchase, and how formal is the evaluation process?
- How do buyers think about allocating spend across providers?
- What criteria matter most when selecting a provider?
- How sticky are customer relationships, and how easy is it to switch?
Growth Opportunities, Prioritization, & Revenue Forecasting
We translate market insights into actionable growth opportunities, assessing where and how the company can expand most effectively. These insights often inform a bottom-up revenue forecast grounded in realistic assumptions around penetration, pricing, and execution.
Key Questions We Answer:
- Where are the most attractive avenues for organic growth (segments, geographies, services, etc.)?
- What assumptions must hold for The Company to achieve its growth plan and how scalable is the current model as the business grows?
- How many realistic revenue opportunities ("at-bats") does The Company have, and how do win rates, deal size, and frequency translate into growth?
- Where should new locations be placed to best align with local supply and demand conditions?
- How many add-on targets exist in a given market and which are most relevant given the market landscape and strategy?
- How do targets compare on the factors that matter most (fit, capability, scale, growth) and which may be most receptive to a process?
Voice of Customer (VoC) Analysis
We capture direct customer feedback to provide an unfiltered view of relationship strength, value delivered, and competitive positioning. These insights translate customer sentiment into actionable guidance for growth and risk mitigation.
Key Questions We Answer:
- How strong are customer relationships today—and what does that imply for churn risk?
- What do customers value most, and where are we under-delivering versus expectations?
- What are we hearing about competitors—and where is there share-of-wallet upside?
- How do customers rate us on key quantitative performance metrics (NPS, CSAT, Likelihood to Continue, etc.) – and how do we benchmark against our competitors?
- How is The Company viewed by the market and do they represent a sound investment opportunity?
Go-to-Market & Sales Strategy Refinement
We develop actionable blueprints for management teams to more efficiently reach, win, and retain their ideal customers. The result is a focused commercial approach aligned with how customers buy and how The Company competes.
Key Questions We Answer:
- Which GTM motion(s) should we lean into to win more consistently in our ICP?
- How should we structure coverage (segments, territories, roles) to improve efficiency and growth?
- What messaging and commercial levers will most improve conversion, retention, and expansion?
- Which customer segments and buying units are our best fit—and why?
- What ICP attributes most strongly predict wins, retention, and expansion?
- Where are the highest-value pockets of demand we should prioritize next?
Get in touch
Whether you're evaluating a target, exploring a growth initiative, or planning an exit — we'd love to learn more.