Private Equity Value Creation Podcast
Subscribed: 17Played: 287
Subscribe
© How To SaaS
Description
Get behind-the-scenes access to the minds shaping the world of Private Equity, hear captivating stories about transactions and investments, and learn about the innovative approaches leading investors, operators, advisors and bankers employ to drive sustainable growth and create enterprise value.
https://www.howtosaas.com/pevaluecreation
https://www.howtosaas.com/pevaluecreation
120 Episodes
Reverse
On this episode, Ellen Havdala, Managing Director at Equity Group Investments, explains how a flexible capital base and an operator-led mindset shape a different approach to private equity. Hear how to evaluate barriers to entry, structure liquidity to withstand black swan events and assess true alignment with founders before a deal ever closes.Tune in to learn how patient capital changes decision-making—from holding periods to exit timing—and why culture, apprenticeship and incentive design drive repeat outcomes. The episode offers a practical lens on managing risk, growing alongside management teams and creating the kind of firm people want to partner with more than once.
On this episode Shiv interviews Gus Araya, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Cordillera Investment Partners, to discuss how PE firms can generate alpha by investing in alternative assets like marinas, music royalties, and spirits.Gus shares Cordillera’s approach to targeting niche, less correlated markets, using a repeatable process to source, diligence, and professionalize non-traditional assets. He explains how their flexible toolkit and operator partnerships create enterprise value.He also covers how to convince LPs to back unconventional strategies and why avoiding crowded sectors unlocks unique opportunities in private equity.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
Scott Neuberger, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Karmel Capital, shares how later-stage secondaries can provide access to high-quality technology companies. Learn how to assess capital efficiency, management quality and growth durability using data and market signals, and get a repeatable lens for evaluating technology businesses.The conversation also sharpens how to think about AI investing over a realistic time horizon. Hear how to identify where value is likely to accrue over the next few years, why infrastructure matters in periods of rapid change and what concrete indicators suggest a credible path to liquidity in uncertain exit markets.
Allen Mask, Partner at Westcap and Head of CōLab, shares how the firm leverages an "operating equity" model to go beyond capital to drive real value creation in marketplace businesses.Learn how to structure an operating team that founders want to work with and how pairing operators with investors during diligence surfaces risks that financials alone won't reveal. Plus, hear how to approach the first 100 days, when to bring in outside partners, the economics of a large operating team work, and why reinvesting management fees back into the firm is central to WestCap’s model.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
Sean Dempsey, Co-Founder and Partner at Sheridan Capital Partners, shares how deep sector specialization in healthcare shapes sharper investment theses and more disciplined value creation in regulated markets—grounded in a practical understanding of the patient, provider, payer and product ecosystem.Learn how to professionalize founder-led businesses, including structuring ops support, recruiting and assessing CEOs, and building internal benchmarks that drive disciplined growth over time.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Bill Dupee, Partner, Transaction Advisory Services at Aprio, breaks down how buyers and sellers can use diligence to clarify the true economic engine of a business, identify risk early and build a narrative that stands up in a competitive process.Learn how disciplined metrics, higher-quality information and a repeatable diligence process shape deal outcomes, from avoiding late-stage surprises to accelerating post-close value creation. Plus, hear where deals most often falter and how better preparation changes both speed and leverage in negotiations.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
In this episode, Gustavo Cardenas, Managing Director and Co-Head of Strategic Partnerships at Wafra, explains how GP stakes investors evaluate and partner with private equity firms—what “edge” looks like, how managers fit within LP portfolios and what signals readiness to scale.The conversation explores GP stakes as a firm-building lever: how early, catalytic capital can accelerate a manager’s trajectory, why LP conversations happen before capital is needed and what differentiates GPs that earn repeat backing across market cycles.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Anastasia Kovaleva, Partner at Pollen Street Capital shares how sector focus informs value creation across financial services and how her team approaches scaling mid-market businesses across Europe. Hear how specialist playbooks differ across software, services and regulated models, how investors can partner with management to professionalize go-to-market and M&A capabilities, and how to apply automation and AI to improve efficiency, integration and growth in complex financial services environments.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Matthew Wiener, Co-Head of Aon Transaction Solutions, shares how private equity firms can use insurance to manage the risks that diligence can’t fully eliminate. You’ll learn where post-close issues most often arise, how insured structures change buyer–seller negotiations and why even infrequent losses can have an outsized impact on fund-level returns.Hear how transaction risk insurance can be used in continuation funds, secondaries and GP stakes transactions to support liquidity, protect value and reduce friction—as well as what these policies will and won’t cover in today’s market.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Scott Adams, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Soul Street Asset Management, discusses the value operators bring to portfolio companies through real boots-on-the-ground experience. Scott shares his expertise on the execution gaps that show up repeatedly in growing companies—from bloated teams to unclear priorities—and how to scale businesses in a capital-efficient way.Learn how to make better decisions by understanding where revenue actually originates, how to apply data with discipline and how businesses can stand out in an increasingly AI-driven environment.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Amyn Hassanally, Partner and Global Head of Private Equity Secondaries at Pantheon, explains the role secondaries play as a core portfolio management tool, rather than a source of distressed liquidity, and offers practical insight into how investors can use secondaries to manage timing, concentration and cash flow as exits slow.Learn how experienced investors diligence and assess value in secondaries, how motivation and repeatability are underwritten in practice, and why portfolio management and alignment are so essential in these types of deals.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
Alan Taetle, General Partner at Noro-Moseley Partners, draws on decades of investing experience to share what makes portfolios and PE firms successful, including differentiated expertise and an aligned sense of purpose.Learn how to create long-term value through apprenticeship cultures, incentive and carry design, and thoughtful founder ownership structures. The episode explores what alignment looks like in practice, why playbooks fall short, and how collaboration and incentives influence outcomes long after the deal closes.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
Jonathan Drillings, Partner at Riverside Acceleration Capital, discusses how B2B software companies can bridge the gap between early traction and scalable growth. Jonathan explains RAC’s sister fund model—how growth lending and growth equity are deployed at different moments, what each is designed to achieve and how the two work together as companies mature. Learn how investors assess durability before scale, and how AI is reshaping both risk and opportunity for growth-stage software companies, without changing the importance of fundamentals like retention and focus.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, John Messer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Copilot Capital, breaks down how value is built in scaling European B2B software businesses—including how to professionalise go-to-market, sharpen customer segmentation and pricing and use M&A as a focused growth lever. Get practical guidance on sequencing international expansion, maintaining clarity as teams grow from 50 to 200 people, and applying AI in ways that genuinely improve products and internal efficiency rather than creating distraction. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Andrejka Bernatova, Founder and CEO of Dynamix Corporation, shares how investors can evaluate mission-critical energy and infrastructure businesses by focusing on fundamentals such as contract quality, customer durability and operating reality, rather than market sentiment or emerging-tech narratives. Learn about approaches to public-market pathways, including when SPACs offer advantages, what truly makes a company public-ready and the operational value-creation levers that matter most in capital-intensive sectors.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
On this episode, Dave Lambert of Right Side Capital Management shares what thousands of early-stage investments reveal about how pre-VC companies actually grow. Get clarity on how to evaluate early traction, set realistic fundraising paths and use capital efficiency to extend runway long enough for product-market fit to emerge.Tune in to hear how founders can avoid common mistakes in defining their ICP, structure rounds that keep exit options open and use real market data to understand what later-stage investors are looking for. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
In this episode, Giacomo Sonnino, Advisory Director and Operating Partner at Charlesbank Capital Partners, shares how top PE firms connect diligence, underwriting and value creation to shape the first 12–24 months of an investment. This discussion highlights how to identify and prioritize the value levers that matter most in services businesses—from upgrading sales engines to designing cross-sell motions that are genuinely executable. Learn how AI is redefining services today, with modernized offerings, targeted use cases and the build-vs-buy decisions that keep firms ahead of market shifts. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
Caroline Tarpey, Managing Director at Lead Edge Capital, outlines a practical approach to AI adoption in PE-backed companies—grounded in trust, clear goals and disciplined execution. She explains why most AI initiatives fall short and where teams can quickly unlock better decision-making and operational efficiency.You’ll learn how AI is transforming go-to-market, from shifting buyer behavior to the rising importance of authority-driven content and deeper voice-of-customer insights. Tune in to hear how SaaS companies can stay competitive by leveraging proprietary data and refining their strategy for an AI-first buying journey.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.
Shiv sits down with Vik Thapar, Managing Director at Cypress Growth Capital, to explore how royalty-based growth capital helps bootstrapped B2B companies scale without dilution. Vik breaks down when this structure works best, how repayment is designed to support continued growth and why many founders use it to double down on proven sales and marketing motions.The discussion also delves into the operational side—how a team of former operators supports founders day-to-day—and the patterns Cypress sees as these companies mature toward growth equity or strategic outcomes.
On this episode, Shiv is joined by Rafael Telahun, Managing Director at Altaline Capital Management, to discuss value creation that is built on strategy, rather than just institutionalization. Rafael breaks down how to meaningfully rerate a business by getting hands-on to make improvements like increasing mission criticality, making strategic pricing changes and raising gross and net retention. Plus, learn how why creativity, customer discovery and humility matter more than rigid playbooks. Tune in as Rafael breaks down how to execute these approaches in practice—including pre-close planning to 80%+ detail, turning vertical focus into competitive advantage and knowing when to make people changes immediately post-close.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States