Growth Horizons · Portfolio Pilot
Turn two innovation initiatives into financially credible decisions.
Apply the Growth Horizons Model to one growth and one efficiency initiative. Leave with indicative Expected EBIT Values, transparent assumptions, and a clear view of whether the method should scale across your portfolio.
Designed for innovation and strategy leaders in technical B2B companies who need to make their portfolio more defensible with executive management.
The challenge
Your portfolio may be active. That does not mean it is defensible.
Growth and efficiency initiatives are managed in separate programs, without one financial view.
Business cases either suggest false certainty or avoid financial evaluation altogether.
Management sees activity and spending, but not a credible expected contribution to EBIT.
When financial pressure rises, innovation becomes difficult to defend.
A focused proof of method
Do not start by transforming the entire portfolio. Test the method where it matters.
The Portfolio Pilot applies the full evaluation logic to two real initiatives. It gives your team a practical result while keeping preparation, stakeholder involvement, and commitment deliberately limited.
How it works
Light preparation. One focused workshop day. Concrete results.
Prepare two real initiatives
- Select one growth and one efficiency initiative
- Share existing information and financial assumptions
- Two short preparation interviews with the relevant project owners
No complete portfolio inventory, board meeting, or newly polished presentation required.
Apply the Growth Horizons Model
- Understand the methodology and evaluation logic
- Assess success probabilities using structured criteria
- Define indicative EBIT potential and key assumptions
- Calculate the Expected EBIT Value of both initiatives
- Test their contribution against an illustrative Growth Gap
Decide whether to scale
- Receive a concise summary of results and assumptions
- Identify what a portfolio-wide application would require
- Draft the relevant project and stakeholder landscape
- Clarify the possible implementation pathway
What you leave with
A result your team can use, not another theoretical framework.
Two evaluated initiatives
One growth and one efficiency initiative evaluated with the same financial logic.
Indicative Expected EBIT Values
A comparable expected contribution based on EBIT potential and probability of success.
Transparent assumptions
Visible reasoning behind the numbers instead of unexplained confidence or false precision.
Practical methodology
Your team understands how the model works because they have applied it to their own initiatives.
Expansion map
A first view of which initiatives and stakeholders a broader portfolio implementation would involve.
A clear decision
Evidence to decide whether the Growth Horizons Model is suitable for wider implementation.
Limited demand on your team
Use existing information. Focus your time where judgment matters.
The pilot is designed to create a meaningful result without launching a full portfolio program. I structure the preparation, facilitate the evaluation, challenge assumptions, and document the conclusions.
Scope boundaries
Clear enough to be valuable. Focused enough to remain a pilot.
Included
- One growth and one efficiency initiative
- Two preparation interviews
- One facilitated workshop day
- Indicative EBIT potential and probability assessments
- Expected EBIT Value for both initiatives
- Illustrative Growth Gap discussion
- Concise summary and recommended next actions
Not included
- A complete inventory of all innovation initiatives
- A fully evaluated portfolio or management dashboard
- Board-level agreement on the actual EBIT Growth Gap
- Detailed financial due diligence or accounting valuation
- Portfolio governance, stage gates, or ongoing tracking
Best fit
For companies that need more financial credibility without pretending uncertainty disappears.
- Technical B2B companies with hardware, software, or R&D activities
- Typically 500 to 5,000 employees
- Innovation, strategy, or portfolio leaders preparing management decisions
- Multiple growth and efficiency initiatives without one comparable view
- Pressure to connect innovation spending more clearly to EBIT goals
Investment
A defined entry point into the Growth Horizons Model.
The Portfolio Pilot is a paid standalone engagement. It produces usable results for two initiatives while allowing both sides to test the methodology and working relationship before considering a broader implementation.
If a Growth Horizons Model Implementation is commissioned within six months and builds directly on the pilot, the €6,500 pilot fee will be credited in full. Travel expenses are excluded from the credit.
Your facilitator
Work directly with Felix Hofmann.
Felix has facilitated more than 300 innovation and strategy sessions and worked with companies including Bosch, Adidas, Covestro, Merck, Sennheiser, and Siemens. In the Portfolio Pilot, he personally leads the preparation, evaluation, workshop, and conclusions.
Frequently asked questions
Before you book the call
Is this only an introductory sales workshop?
No. The pilot is a paid standalone engagement with two evaluated initiatives, indicative Expected EBIT Values, transparent assumptions, and concrete conclusions.
Do the CEO and CFO need to participate?
No. The pilot can be run with the relevant innovation, strategy, and project stakeholders. The actual company-wide EBIT Growth Gap and portfolio mandate belong in a broader implementation involving executive management and finance.
How precise are the financial results?
The numbers are indicative and based on the information available during the pilot. The purpose is to make assumptions and uncertainty explicit, not to present an accounting valuation or false precision.
What if our company uses EBITDA or EBT?
The standard sales language uses EBIT. If your company manages against EBITDA, EBT, or another financial measure, the evaluation can be adapted accordingly.
What happens after the pilot?
You can use the results as a standalone learning exercise, continue internally, or commission a Growth Horizons Model Implementation to evaluate and manage the wider portfolio.
Start with two real initiatives
See whether your innovation portfolio can become financially credible without removing uncertainty.
Use a free 45-minute call to discuss your current portfolio, the two possible pilot initiatives, and whether the Portfolio Pilot is the right next step.
Book a free 45-minute call