Creating Value: A Journey Through Four Companies

Paul Jessup had just met with the technology group that would be operating in the newly spunoff Synenergy. Since being created, two companies ago to operate as a value-added support in the oil and gas infrastructure services business. As such, the technology team would be the key driver in the new firm’s success. Among the goals Jessup shared with the group was the imperative to shift from a service-based business to a product-based one. Jessup, a principal for the private equity firm that had purchased Synenergy’s parent firm, knew that Synenergy could significantly increase its value in the equity market if the technology group could leverage its expertise in the verticals of oil and gas and transportation to produce and sell software. While Jessup gave the group an aggressive timeline of 3 to 4 years to successfully convert, the new firm would likely face challenges similar to any entrepreneurial venture. He wondered how he could mitigate these challenges.