An advisory practice for PE-backed companies. Three operating bets per quarter, sequenced into the proof buyers pay for at exit.
Built from the inside. 12–24 months before process.
Operating Partner at Corsair Capital · Board roles across PE-backed identity verification, fund administration, and Nordic fintech · Speaker at PEW Summit 2026
Private Equity has built sophisticated value-creation models. Most portcos run too many initiatives and arrive at process with plans, not proof.
Buyers discount plans. Evidence holds price.
The work isn't more strategy. It's converting plans into evidence — during the hold period, not the last 90 days.
Shafir Advisory operates inside the portfolio to build the proof a buyer will demand. Contracted, not hopeful. Quantified, not asserted. Tested against buyer logic before it reaches the data room.
Three numbers that define why evidence-led prep starts 12–24 months before process — not last quarter.
Revenue range, PE-backed and mid-market
Months before process — the proof-building window
Exit multiple uplift from buyer-credible evidence vs. plan-only positioning
Where is the proof gap? Which claims will a buyer challenge? What evidence exists today vs. what's needed at exit?
Three bets a quarter. Owned, sequenced, proof-graded. Everything else is parked or killed.
Buyer-lens pressure testing on every claim. If it won't survive due diligence, it gets fixed now.
Aggregate Net Revenue Retention masked customer concentration risk. Plans called for scale; proof of expansion was uneven.
Evidence Control System surfaced at-risk ARR by cohort 18 months before process. Targeted account intervention with monthly proof tracking.
Identified proof gaps gated remediation work that protected exit narrative before buyer-side discovery.
Board budget contained material upside that wasn't cleanly contracted vs. hopeful. Credibility year narrative under pressure from sponsor.
Contracted-vs-Hopeful split rebuilt the budget bridge. Investment release gated behind Q2 proof points. Monthly scorecard to sponsor.
Repositioned narrative from "decline" to "credibility year," with proof points landing on time through Q2.
Vendor risk and operational resilience framework was 47 pages of process with no buyer-credible evidence layer.
Compressed assessment to four killer questions tied to evidence. Q1 operational readiness sequenced to support Q2 regulatory submission.
Regulatory readiness evidenced rather than asserted. Buyer-lens defensible.
We don't run commercial due diligence. We close the gaps CDD reveals.
We don't run operational due diligence. We make sure your operating story is buyer-credible before ODD opens.
We don't replace your management team. We sharpen them.
We don't build slides for slides' sake. Every artifact is evidence or it doesn't ship.
Most exit advisors operate outside the company or arrive too late. Shafir Advisory operates inside, ahead of process.
Diagnose gaps. Don't close them.
Sell the story. Don't build it.
Build the plan. Don't make it real.
Build the proof. Inside the company. Before the data room opens.
Slava Shafir is an Operating Partner at Corsair Capital with board roles across PE-backed companies in identity verification, fund administration, and Nordic fintech. He works inside portfolio companies to close the gap between value creation plans and the proof a buyer will demand at exit.
Based in London. Speaks on PE value creation, exit readiness, and evidence-led operating discipline.
I built Shafir Advisory because I kept seeing the same pattern across PE portfolios. The plans were good. The execution was good. The proof wasn't there when a buyer asked. Value got left on the table — not because the strategy was wrong, but because the evidence hadn't been built. Shafir Advisory exists to fix that, 12–24 months before process, when there's still time to make it real.
— Slava
Companies and funds where Slava has operated from the inside — not advised from a distance.
Operating notes on PE value creation and exit readiness. Ungated. Read or forward.
Why PE exits are won and lost on proof, not plans
A 12-page operating thesis on the gap between PE value creation plans and the evidence buyers actually pay for. Drawn from PEW Summit 2026 and three portfolio engagements.
Download PDFAvailable June 2026.
Twelve questions. Self-assessed. We send back a one-page proof gap report within 48 hours.
If you're 12–24 months from exit and need proof, not slides — let's talk.