Private Equity Value Creation Podcast

Ep. 148: Dustin Ackerman, Future Standard | Mid-Market Secondaries and Growth at a Reasonable Price

On this episode, Dustin Ackerman, Managing Director at Future Standard, joins Shiv Narayanan to discuss secondaries and backing GPs, including how to turn existing sponsor relationships into a steady investment pipeline. Learn why focusing on portcos under $1 billion in enterprise value can mean less competition on price, cleaner cap structures and clearer exit paths, and how the GARP framework—growth at a reasonable price—separates real growth from margin sacrificed to chase it. Hear how secondaries are split between LP-led and GP-led in today's market, and why repeat sellers are treating continuation vehicles as a portfolio management tool. Learn why exit activity in the middle market often stays more predictable than in the large-cap space, and how AI is reshaping due diligence and operational value creation across the portfolio. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 147: Mike Esposito, Franchise Equity Partners | Box Economics and Multi-Unit Franchise Investing

On this episode, Mike Esposito, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Franchise Equity Partners, unpacks why multi-unit franchise investing has stayed an underserved niche in private equity, and what it takes to underwrite these deals well. Learn how box economics—margins, rent and store format—separate the franchise brands worth backing from the ones that aren't, and why new-unit development, not same-store sales growth, drives most of the returns. Then hear how bringing data science and marketing discipline into overlooked "pre-moneyball" industries like car washes and garage door repair unlocks value most operators are leaving on the table. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 146: Shiv Narayanan of How To SaaS on Developing a GTM Strategy to Expand Geographically

On this episode, Shiv Narayanan, Founder and CEO of How To SaaS, breaks down how to approach international and regional expansion as a growth lever, and why the first question you should be asking is: are we already capturing everything available in the markets we're in today? Learn how to weigh the risk and investment required to expand geographically against other ways to grow, and why the right approach depends heavily on your business model and go-to-market motion. Then hear the spectrum of models companies use to enter new markets, from low-risk and opportunistic to full-scale localization or acquisition, and how to decide which one fits your business.

Ep. 145: Stephen Gold, Ethos Capital | Operator-Investors and the Acceleration Vector Methodology

On this episode, Stephen Gold, Chief Value Creation Officer at Ethos Capital, unpacks how value creation in portcos changes when investment partners are also operators and put personal capital into each deal, and how removing a formal investment committee shifts how decisions are made. Hear about a four-step scoring process to help prioritize initiatives as well as an evaluation framework for deals in the diligence phase, and learn how a list of 150+ AI-related risks sorted by severity and timing can guide leadership teams towards which AI risks to act on first. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 144: Alex Abell, RCP Advisors | Evaluating Lower Middle Market Managers and Operational Value Creation

On this episode, Alex Abell, Managing Partner at RCP Advisors, explains how fund of funds investors evaluate lower middle market managers—and why fund-level benchmarking alone fails to surface which GPs are genuinely creating value. Hear how deal-level data can validate or challenge the narrative a manager pitches, why a strong return in a single deal means little without peer context and how operational metrics like entry margins and revenue CAGRs reveal whether a manager is actually improving the companies it owns. Then learn how to evaluate the operational side of a GP—from the structures firms use to deploy functional expertise across portfolio companies, to the qualitative signals that can override a strong track record. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 143: Bob Root, Southfield Capital | Scaling Services Businesses and Building Data Moats

On this episode, Bob Root, Transformation Partner at Southfield Capital, discusses how to find and accelerate growth in services businesses that have been underserved by technology. Learn how deal teams evaluate growth options before close, choosing between regional expansion and adjacent-service extensions based on what a management team can realistically execute, and why trust with the existing workforce determines whether a transformation thesis lands. Hear how AI can expand a company's proprietary data advantage rather than just automating tasks—illustrated through a real portfolio company example. Learn why this data moat concept gets scoped into diligence before a deal closes, and how a services business can use it to differentiate on cost, speed or service beyond its original market. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 142: Sequoya Borgman, Borgman Capital | Buying Family Businesses and Preserving Culture

On this episode, Sequoya Borgman, Founder and CEO of Borgman Capital, discusses buying and holding family and founder-led businesses in manufacturing, industrials and other legacy industries. Learn why leverage—not growth—often drives returns in these deals, and why hold periods can stretch decades rather than the typical PE fund cycle. Hear how culture gets set early in a business, why professionalizing finance, systems and leadership takes years rather than the first 90 days and where AI is starting to play a role in capturing institutional knowledge that has only ever lived in an owner's head. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 141: Mike Magliochetti, Riverside Partners | Deep Operating Partnership in Healthcare

On this episode, Mike Magliochetti, Operating Partner at Riverside Partners, shares what it means to be a deeply engaged operating partner—and why he believes the role has to go far beyond an advisory or check-in function to add real value to portfolio companies. Learn what separates high-impact operating partners from the rest, what it takes to build trust and transparency with founding teams, and why a focused sector network is a critical advantage in healthcare private equity. Mike also shares key lessons from his book, Dancing Between the Toes of Elephants, written to demystify the language and dynamics of private equity for operators on both sides of the table. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 140: Jackie Joelson, Oracle NetSuite | Data and Technology as Growth Levers in Private Equity

On this episode, Jackie Joelson, Head of Private Equity and Venture Capital Practice at Oracle NetSuite, joins Shiv to break down why ERP transformation has become one of the established levers sponsors pull inside their portfolio companies. Learn how buy-and-build roll-ups, sponsor-backed carve-outs and decades-old legacy systems each demand a different approach to ROI and change management to unlock the full enterprise value potential. Plus, hear why clean, consolidated data has to be a priority, and the challenges of benchmarking AI readiness across portfolios. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 139: Ian Ross, Concentric Equity Partners | Investing Outside the Fund Cycle and Feeding Winners

On this episode, Ian Ross, Partner at Concentric Equity Partners, discusses how being a family backed private investment firm changes the economics of lower middle market investing. Learn why fund-cycle pressure pushes firms to sell their best companies early, and how removing that pressure supports a feed-the-winners strategy that keeps reinvesting in businesses as they grow, using growth, multiple arbitrage and leverage to build enterprise value along the way. Hear how portfolio companies can weigh short-term EBITDA dips against long-term payoff, why customer acquisition cost and lifetime value apply just as much to services businesses as SaaS, and how leadership teams can navigate AI-driven shifts in marketing and go-to-market strategy by building the trust needed to try new approaches with management. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 138: Aryeh Landsberg, 17Capital | NAV Lending and Fund-Level Capital Strategy

On this episode, Aryeh Landsberg, Managing Director at 17Capital, explains how NAV lending works as a flexible, fund-level capital tool for private equity managers—and why demand has been driven by opportunity rather than stress. Hear how NAV facilities fit alongside traditional portfolio company debt, subscription lines and continuation vehicles across the fund lifecycle. Learn how 17Capital underwrites deals by assessing manager track records, portfolio quality and the delta between entry assumptions and actual exit outcomes. Then learn how GPs are deploying fund-level capital for accretive M&A, AI infrastructure investment and public-to-private bids—and why the ability to move quickly with certainty has become a competitive edge in today’s environment. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 137: Jonathon Ferguson, AshGrove Capital | Bespoke Financing and Underwriting B2B Software

On this episode, Jonathon Ferguson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at AshGrove Capital, explains how bespoke financing solutions for B2B software differ fundamentally from both direct lending and venture debt—and why underwriting on conviction rather than exit optionality changes how you structure a deal. Hear how to think about valuing a software business as a lender, why proprietary data and vertical software have proved resilient as AI accelerates, and how performance-linked credit facilities tie capital deployment directly to growth milestones—with capacity that can grow organically as a company hits its plan. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 136: Jonty Yamisha, Axxonsoft | What It Takes to Execute a Value Creation Plan

On this episode, Jonty Yamisha, CEO of Axxonsoft, draws on a career that has spanned private equity underwriting, operating partner roles and the CEO seat to explain what gets lost when investors, operators and portco leaders don't speak the same language—and how to close that gap. Hear how the "what needs to be true" reframe transforms a top-down financial mandate into a shared problem-solving conversation, and why building a unified data taxonomy across marketing, sales and finance is the unglamorous prerequisite to any coherent value creation plan. Then learn how Jonty's three-factory model—delivery, customer success and go-to-market—uses the customer journey as connective tissue to align teams that otherwise default to blaming each other. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 135 : Tyler Newton, Catalyst | Growth Investing and Creating Value from Entry to Exit

On this episode, Tyler Newton, Managing Partner at Catalyst, makes the case for a disciplined approach to growth investing that sits between VC and buyout—and what operators and investors can learn from it. Learn how to underwrite deals at the growth stage without relying on leverage or the power law—and why paying a fair price in the right sector matters more than finding the perfect company. Hear how to build a five-year plan that underwrites to multiple compression rather than expansion, and what it takes to win deals in a competitive market when you don't have proprietary deal flow. From entry to exit, get a practical view of how to sequence leadership hires as a company scales, keep founders focused on three to five priorities per year, and build toward inflection points that open up multiple exit paths—from PE recap to strategic acquisition to IPO. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 134: Christian Chauvet, Lee Equity | Vertical Investing and Value Creation in Healthcare and Financial Services

On this episode, Christian Chauvet, Partner at Lee Equity, shares how vertical focus creates a structural advantage in healthcare and financial services investing—and what it takes to build and scale founder-led businesses in highly regulated, service-intensive industries. Hear how a people-process-systems playbook drives organic growth across healthcare and financial services portfolios, why boots-on-the-ground referral networks are a critical and often underutilized growth lever in community care and why many founder-led businesses have attractive CAC economics but are systematically underinvesting in growth. Learn how AI is enabling providers and advisors to spend more time on high-value work—and how to think about tech enablement as a value creation lever rather than a technology roadmap item. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 133: Michelle Noon, Clearhaven Partners | Partnership-Driven Software Investing in the AI Era

On this episode, Michelle Noon, Managing Partner and Founder of Clearhaven Partners, joins Shiv Narayanan to break down how investors and operators build enterprise value in software companies through true partnership, concentrated bets and operational depth. You'll learn why running fewer deals per fund changes the math on time, attention and alignment with management teams, and why intentionally entering investments with lower leverage keeps the latitude needed to operate. You'll also hear a candid view of how AI is reshaping software investing—the case for building an internal Claude skills marketplace, the mental model of pairing incumbency advantage with an AI-first mindset and how to re-imagine functions like sales from a blank sheet without ignoring the realities of change management. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 132: Eugene Polevoy, Blue C Capital | The Independent Sponsor Model and Alignment-First Deals

On this episode, Eugene Polevoy, Founder and Managing Partner at Blue C Capital, joins the show to unpack the independent sponsor model—how the firm closes nine-figure deals without raising a committed fund and structures economics around carry instead of management fees. Learn why the bottleneck inside a portfolio company shifts quarter to quarter, and why knowing when to exit is more art than science. Plus, learn how AI now lets a lean firm analyze working capital, benchmark cost per lead and pressure-test value creation plans in minutes. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 131: Matt Amico, Turn/River Capital | Growth Engineering and the FVCP Framework

On this episode, Matt Amico, Partner and Co-head of the Investment Team at Turn/River Capital, walks through the growth engineering playbook his firm uses to drive returns across its software portfolio. Learn why software investing has moved past financial engineering and cost engineering—and what it takes to apply a more systematic approach to revenue today. Hear how the FVCP framework—funnels, volume, conversion and pricing—breaks revenue into discrete funnels, identifies opportunities to scale lead volume, surfaces the micro-conversion gaps worth shrinking and exposes the pricing structures that quietly leak growth. Plus, learn how to sequence investment from the easiest dollar to the hardest—from renewals and expansion to inbound, channel and outbound—and how activity-based KPIs link precursor work to the pipeline targets a team needs to hit. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Ep. 130: Bobby Ocampo, Blueprint Equity | The Missing Middle and Hands-On Value Creation

On this episode, Bobby Ocampo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Blueprint Equity, discusses how to identify whether a bootstrapped business has what it takes to scale, and what it takes to build the go-to-market infrastructure that gets it there. Bobby walks through the three signals he looks for when assessing a company's growth potential, why resisting pressure to raise a larger fund can help firms stay competitive in the 'missing middle', and how an embedded operating team—funded out of management fees rather than charged to portcos—changes the nature of the investor-founder relationship.

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Ep. 129: Arjan Hannink, Keensight Capital | Building an Embedded Value Creation Team at Scale

On this episode, Arjan Hannink, Partner at Keensight Capital, explains how their growth buyout firm structures hands-on value creation support across a portfolio of B2B software and IT services companies. Learn why Keensight built an internal team of close to 40 value creation professionals—including in-house CPO, CTO, CMO and CRO functions—and how that team operates alongside management rather than above it. Hear about an approach to prioritizing growth initiatives when there is always more to do than bandwidth allows, why an all-you-can-eat resourcing model avoids the wrong incentives and how embedding value creation expertise into the deal process leads to faster execution post-close. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

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