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Sift & Winn | 80/20 transformation

Earned perspectivefor the decisionsthat matter most.

Experienced practitioners help CEOs and private equity operating partners apply 80/20, make better decisions faster, and turn those decisions into measurable results.

See how we help Review the evidence

Earned Perspective

Earned while building the capability—not after the playbook was written.

Between us, we have built, led, fixed, bought, and grown businesses. Our perspective was shaped by real tradeoffs and the consequences that followed.

That includes firsthand experience with a difficult 80/20 implementation that ultimately transformed the business—and later work helping other leadership teams apply it more effectively.

Meet the partners Read the cross-portfolio case

Two ways into the work

Start with the decision and who owns it.

One company and a sponsor-led portfolio program require different relationships. Both benefit from candid judgment and people who know how decisions play out in practice.

One Company

80/20 Value Creation

Help one leadership team improve the bottom line, simplify the business, and turn clearer priorities into measurable results.

See how we help one company

Private Equity Sponsors

80/20 Value Platform

Build a repeatable sponsor-level program that creates a common method while keeping execution grounded in each portfolio company.

See the portfolio approach

Facts over commercials.

Experience carried into the work.

The evidence spans company-level operating choices and four years helping stand up a cross-portfolio 80/20 practice. Confidentiality limits the names, not the clarity of what we can responsibly show.

Case study

Standing up a cross-portfolio 80/20 practice

Over four years, our partners helped a major private-equity sponsor build and apply a repeatable 80/20 practice across its portfolio companies.

4 yearsworking together across the practice

Cross-portfolioapplication across operating companies

Explore the evidence

Case study

Turning product and market choices into commercial focus

An established commercial product business aligned product, market and operating choices to support growth.

10+product introductions led

1new market entered

Explore the evidence

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What the work can include

Experienced practitioners.Hands-on implementation.

The partners lead the work directly rather than handing delivery to a junior team. They stay with the client from the initial fact base through decisions, implementation, and transfer of capability.

  1. 01

    Company-wide implementation

    Working sessions turn customer-product economics into priorities, named owners, and commercial and operating actions.

  2. 02

    Executive advisory and coaching

    Leadership-team and one-on-one sessions surface tradeoffs, resolve decisions, and establish measures for follow-through.

  3. 03

    Internal facilitator development

    Coaching, facilitation guides, an operating cadence, and practical tools prepare internal leaders to continue the work.

  4. 04

    PE portfolio value creation

    A common method and review cadence give sponsors visibility while each company retains decisions, owners, and measures grounded in its facts.

When useful, COMPASS supports analysis, action tracking, and measurement. It remains a separate Focus8020.com technology product; Sift & Winn remains accountable for facilitation, coaching, and implementation support.

Our methodology

Segment → Simplify → Zero-up → Grow

Most engagements follow this sequence because each phase creates the foundation for the next. Some situations require only part of the methodology or a different order. We apply it according to the business and the decision in front of management.

  1. 01

    Segment

    See the business clearly: customers, products, markets, and the work that creates value.

  2. 02

    Simplify

    Reduce noise so the team can put time and capital behind the right priorities.

  3. 03

    Zero-up

    Build plans from the facts on the ground.

  4. 04

    Grow

    Turn sharper focus into disciplined commercial and operating action that can be measured.

Insights

Useful before a first conversation.

Direct answers for leaders deciding where 80/20 fits, how it differs from adjacent methods, and what it takes to turn focus into an operating discipline.

80/20 Value Creation / 7 min read

What is an 80/20 business operating system?

A practical explanation of how 80/20 moves from a familiar principle to a management discipline for focus, simplification and profitable growth.

Read the insight

80/20 Value Creation / 3 min read

Finding hidden profit concentration across customers and products

Why blended financials conceal the customers and products creating—or consuming—economic value, and how to build a better decision view.

Read the insight

80/20 Value Platform / 3 min read

How private equity sponsors can use 80/20 value creation

80/20 helps private-equity sponsors turn a broad value-creation thesis into a focused set of economically grounded operating choices.

Read the insight

Browse all insights

Bring the real situation

What decisions are you facing?

Improve one business Build a value platform Meet Eric and Michael