Private Equity Value Creation Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.