
Holden Spaht of Thoma Bravo discusses how he built his career at a major private equity firm, software as a unique sector focus, the benefits (or not) of an engineering degree, and the prevalence of tennis talent at his firm.

From ‘Ground Floor’ to Managing Partner

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The veteran private equity investor, who rose to prominence with the turnaround of Japan’s Shinsei Bank, discusses why he is bullish on wealth management, the “real” phenomenon of disintermediation, his analysis of the 2008 financial meltdown, why the next recession will not hit banks as hard, and why he is worried about China. Sponsored by Alter Domus.

JC Flowers: The Financial Services Opportunity


Value-creation experts from Sun Capital and AlixPartners discuss the latest techniques for operational due diligence ahead of private equity investments. The experts also discuss the advantage that PE firms can get by having operating partners engage in due diligence as early as possible, the need for speed in ODD, and the limits in using benchmarking to assess company performance. 

PE Challenge: Creating a Plan of Action from Operational Due Diligence


The veteran financial services private equity investor explains why he thinks Bitcoin as a method of payment is “laughable,” and why he has one bet on a crypto-related company.

JC Flowers: Skeptical About Bitcoin


Behind the creation of Novata, which aims to solve the “chaos” and “frustration” around ESG reporting. Two senior executives from Novata and Hamilton Lane (one of Novata’s backers) discuss the goals of the consortium, which also includes the Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network and S&P;, and why GPs and LPs alike have been searching for a better way to track and quantify ESG data.

A Public-Benefit Platform for ESG in Private Markets is Born


Part 2 of 2. A co-founder of private equity firm Ara Partners describes his firm’s investment in a plastics recycling platform called Circulus. Troy Thacker also discusses how to turn plastic waste into resins for many applications as well as the application of new technologies to sustainable business plans. 

From ‘Ground Floor’ to Managing Partner

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