How - Lock 8 Partners

Cultivating Operational Excellence in Small-scale SaaS Businesses

Lock 8 Operating Approach

Growing a SaaS company demands discipline and agility. We bring both to bear to support the performance of our portfolio companies. Because Operations is much more than Operations.

Through the Lock 8 Operating Framework, we help companies balance the needs of their diverse stakeholders -- clients, market, team and owners -- in a way that positions them well for ongoing success. We do this by helping companies develop eight core capabilities that correspond to serve each stakeholder’s interests.

We find these SaaS disciplines are universally valuable in virtually any market, but also pragmatically flexible and tactically applicable.

Lock 8 Operating Framework

Lock 8 Engagement Model

We collaborate with portfolio companies to enable the focus required for sustainable value creation. A collection of frameworks, artifacts, and exercises support this process.

This engagement model allows management teams to keep running the business without disruption, while also ensuring that the critical activities of discovery, strategy, and alignment happen in a consistent and productive manner.

The process is designed to balance the needs of the team and the business they are building, to drive consistent, sustainable, positive business performance.

Operator

“With Lock 8’s guidance and support, we transformed the business setting record ARR growth, profitability, retention, and new bookings numbers.”

- Denis Whelan, CEO, Projector PSA

Differentiated approach to CEO support

Lock 8 recruits first-time CEOs and provides them with unparalleled support to both unlock their potential and generate outsized results for investors.

INTERNAL

Lock 8 Support

Alignment
Business Acumen
Mentorship
First 90 Day
Strategic Planning
Informed Decision-making

EXTERNAL

INFRASTRUCTURE

Leadership Diagnostic
Consistent Coaching
Peer Learning
Outside Perspectives
Network Access
Financial Expertise

When identifying potential CEOs, we look beyond resumes to three simple questions: Do they get it, do they want it and are they capable of it?

Just as great companies are Made, Not Found, the same holds true for their leaders.

Shared Goals & Organizational Alignment

SaaS businesses are fast-paced, resource-constrained environments. Successful businesses center around a shared understanding and appreciation of the interdependencies among its parts. This awareness is crucial to any complex, growing organism, and certainly so in a SaaS business.

We help leadership teams build a thriving culture and drive operating efficiency and effectiveness to address the toughest cross-functional challenges. More than just the right pieces, it’s about how they fit and work together.