pe-executive

# PE Executive Plugin

A decision-making model for understanding how private equity portfolio company executives think. This plugin is not a comprehensive PE operations manual — it focuses on the mental models, incentive structures, and behavioral patterns that drive executive decisions, so non-executives can understand, anticipate, and work effectively within PE-owned companies.

## What This Plugin Does

- **Brainstorm** deliverables and opportunities through a PE executive's decision framework
- **Review** work products the way a PE board member would evaluate them
- **Explain** PE executive behavior and decisions in plain language for non-executives

## What This Plugin Is Not

This is not an operational playbook for running a PE portfolio company. It does not cover technology strategy, sector-specific models, procurement frameworks, ESG compliance, or market dynamics. It covers how PE executives reason — what they prioritize, what they ignore, and why — grounded in the incentive structures, governance systems, and cultural forces that shape their thinking.

## Components

### Skill: pe-executive-mindset

Core mental model covering the four interlocking pressures that drive PE executive behavior: the exit clock, equity incentives, leverage constraints, and the replacement threat.

Reference material in five areas:

- **Incentive structures** — Compensation mechanics, equity design, hurdle rates, case studies (Petco, SolarWinds, Toys R Us)
- **Governance and monitoring** — Board dynamics, reporting cadence, VCP structure, KPI cascades, adjusted EBITDA and quality of earnings
- **Decision patterns** — Exit clock, leverage effects, buy-and-build, deal-type variation (buyout, growth, distressed, carve-out), motivation dynamics across the deal lifecycle
- **Demographics and culture** — Selection patterns, network effects, cultural norms, shareholder primacy origins, psychological selection effects, key academic works
- **Psychological experience** — Coping patterns, moral injury, moral disengagement, cognitive dissonance, emotional labor, ethical fading, practical resources

### Commands

- `/pe-brainstorm [topic or file]` — Generate deliverables and opportunities from a PE executive perspective. Accepts a topic, a file path for company-specific context, or both.

- `/pe-review [file]` — Review a deliverable through a PE executive's lens. Evaluates strategic alignment, metrics, timeline, and rigor. Provides a direct board-readiness assessment.

- `/pe-explain [decision or concept]` — Explain PE executive decisions and concepts in plain language for non-executives. Connects behavior to structural forces and provides actionable implications.

## Repository Structure

- **skills/** — The core knowledge base (SKILL.md and reference files)
- **commands/** — The three slash commands
- **docs/** — Archive of the source research that informed the plugin. These files are not loaded by the plugin at runtime; they are preserved here for provenance and future reference.

## Deployment

### Claude Code

Add the marketplace and install:

```
/plugin marketplace add michaelmilton/pe-exec-plugin
/plugin install pe-executive@pe-plugins
```

Or load directly for a single session:

```
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/this/repo
```

Once installed, the skill loads automatically when relevant topics come up, and the three commands (`/pe-brainstorm`, `/pe-review`, `/pe-explain`) are available.

### Cowork

Install the `.plugin` file from the [latest release](https://github.com/michaelmilton/pe-exec-plugin/releases) through the Cowork plugin manager. The commands and skill will appear in your session automatically.

### Plain Claude (claude.ai) or ChatGPT

These platforms don't support plugins directly. Use the single-file deployment artifact instead:

1. Create a new Project (Claude) or GPT (ChatGPT)
2. Upload `pe-executive-guide.md` as project knowledge or custom instructions

That's it. The guide combines the full skill body, all five reference files, and usage instructions into one document.

The commands won't work as `/slash-commands` on these platforms, but you can achieve the same results by asking directly (e.g., "Brainstorm a 100-day plan for a SaaS acquisition from a PE executive perspective").

## Examples

- `/pe-brainstorm 100-day plan for a SaaS acquisition`
- `/pe-review @board-deck.md`
- `/pe-explain Why is our new CEO replacing the entire leadership team?`
- "How would a PE executive prioritize these three initiatives?"
- "What would a PE board want to see in this quarterly update?"