Calyx (‘kA-liks’) is a botany term referring to the
outer green leaves that support the developing bud of a flower.
CALYX MANAGEMENT
Creating Profitable Growth
Calyx Management is an advisory practice dedicated to identifying and managing risks at the company level and creating sustained profitable growth at small and mid-size private companies operating in the U.S. and Europe. The practice was founded by Scott Carlson, a private equity investor and advisor with over twenty-five years of experience creating value for shareholders of private companies.
Scott Carlson has made money for investors in a variety of industries. He has worked with established companies, global businesses and start-ups across diverse sectors such as consumer goods, packaged foods, financial services, construction materials, packaging, and automotive parts.
Throughout his professional career, Scott Carlson has demonstrated the judgment necessary to make sound business decisions with limited resources. His ability to assess the capabilities, aptitudes and character of people is often a determining factor for success.
The Challenge
We have found that shareholders and senior management are often in agreement that the overall corporate goal is to enhance shareholder wealth by creating profitable growth. All parties have worked closely to prepare a sound corporate strategy. The market research and analysis that formed the basis for the strategy remain credible. However, operating and organizational realities are impeding implementation.
The Solution
Calyx Management can help align the operating objectives of senior management with the goals of shareholders. We collaborate with shareholders and senior management to create a straight-forward operating plan and develop a superb management team. We then implement the operating plan in a rigorous manner using clearly defined expectations and accountability.
SERVICES
Advisory Services
- Undertake a rigorous due diligence at the company level to identify operating, financial and organizational risks.
- Establish competitive strategies to drive growth of high-margin products and create cultures emphasizing accountability and a sense of urgency.
- Recruit and/or train management teams that have high aptitude, sound ethics, and competitive attitude.
- Improve the efficiency, quality and capacity of production through capital expenditures, use of industry milestones, and industry expertise.
- Create marketing departments to obtain and analyze market research, develop brand promotion and pricing strategies, and design packaging.
- Develop reliable distribution channels through sales training for existing distributors, screening new distributors, and opening warehouse space in new regions.
- Rationalize product lines by eliminating generic products and focusing on higher margin branded products.
- Expand sales management function to include the development of sales strategies, training programs, and individual sales goals consistent with corporate strategies,
- Install finance and control systems using computerized management information systems capable of generating credible management reports, audited financial reports, and budget variance reports.
- When necessary, Negotiate with lenders and creditors to create an optimal capital structure that allows the company to return to sustainable, profitable growth.
Interim Management
In addition to providing advisory services, Scott Carlson can manage on an interim basis various C-level functions, including operations, finance, marketing and sales. Until a full-time executive is recruited, he can provide experienced and dedicated interim management, allowing sufficient time to select the best candidate. An important element of such a project would be supporting the search process by designing the requirements and qualifications, assessing candidates, and preparing an orientation for the new executive.
BIOGRAPHY
Scott Carlson recently retired as a Partner and Senior Advisor with Brown Advisory, a privately held investment management firm with over $130 billion AUM. Scott was based out of the New York office and worked with the firm’s largest clients on family office and legacy issues.
Previously Scott was the president and chief executive officer of Tide Mill LLC, the single family office of one of the most successful private equity investors over the last thirty years. Scott’s responsibilities included management of the family’s wealth, charitable activities, and family services. Scott was president of the family’s investment management company; executive director of the family foundation; and executive director of a not-for-profit medical research initiative funded bythe foundation. In the process, he rigorously managed operating and investment costs to less than half of the industry average.
Prior to establishing the family office in 2010, Scott led a restructuring team at a major commercial finance company that managed several large and complex distressed accounts. In 2002 after working in Europe for ten years, Scott founded his own consulting practice in the U.S. to provide strategic, financial, operational, and organizational advice to early-stage and under-performing companies.
In 1994 Scott established the operations of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, a $150 million private equity fund that invested in private companies operating in Ukraine and Moldova. With his team, Scott restructured and enhanced the operations of over 20 early-stage companies in sectors with high-growth potential.
From 1977 to 1992, Scott worked as a commercial lending officer and investment banker in New York City.
In 1994 Scott was the head coach of the German National Lacrosse team, the first team from Germany to qualify for the International Lacrosse Federation World Championships.
Scott is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Washington & Lee University.