I see this all the time: Treating marketing as an “expense line” is why so many PortCos underperform.

Marketing is not a cost center.

It’s capital deployment.

Every dollar should be managed with the same fiduciary discipline you expect from an investor.

That means tracking ROI, testing systematically, and holding teams accountable for results.

Done right, paid media isn’t a gamble. It’s one of the most predictable levers for growth in a portfolio company.

When leaders treat marketing spend as an investment instead of overhead, the results look very different.

Curious where others land: do you see marketing as a cost center, or an asset?