Josh Christensen, Director at Mercato Partners, shares how minority growth investors can turn ecosystem-building into a true competitive advantage—without taking control or over-engineering outcomes. Drawing on his experience scaling Mercato’s playbook across non-coastal markets, Josh breaks down what it takes to embed sales, marketing, and human capital excellence from first touch through IPO, and how to focus resources where they actually accelerate 100%+ growth.

Learn why authentic relationship-building drives stronger deal flow and portfolio performance, how community initiatives can surface the best opportunities ahead of a fundraise, and what it takes to measure value creation beyond capital returns.

Riccardo Basile, Operating Partner, Head of Value Creation at Permira, shares how firms can turn value creation into a true competitive advantage—without overcomplicating the model. Drawing on his experience building and scaling Permira’s 24-person value creation team, Riccardo breaks down what it takes to embed operating excellence from diligence through exit, and how to focus resources where they actually drive growth.

Tune in to learn how to balance in-house and external expertise, measure impact credibly for LPs, and make emerging tools like GenAI deliver commercial results today. Whether you’re refining your operating model or building one from scratch, Riccardo’s perspective offers a playbook for making value creation more strategic, measurable and fund-defining.

On this episode Shiv interviews Rita Fiorentino, Co-Founder of Arc Capital Development, to unpack a battle-tested playbook for steering portfolio companies through economic downturns—especially when AI disruption, political volatility, and geopolitical shocks are compressing growth.

Rita lays out a disciplined sequence that starts with risk assessment and financial hygiene, then moves to locking down customers, building an all-A-player team, and only then deploying AI for process efficiency and product innovation. She warns against the common trap of slapping “AI” on legacy products or slashing headcount too soon, and shares real-world examples of how companies that follow the right order emerge stronger.

She also covers why this downturn is categorically different, how to educate boards and investors, and why skating to where the puck is going—not where it’s been—is the ultimate survival edge.

On this episode Shiv interviews Jeremy Schein, Partner and Member of the Buyouts Investment Committee at Corsair Capital, to discuss how private equity firms can drive enterprise value in financial services through collaborative operating expertise.

Jeremy shares Corsair’s approach to partnering with management teams in fintech, payments, and adjacent sectors, emphasizing the importance of aligning on value creation strategies early. He explores how their operating partner model leverages technical expertise in human capital, product technology, and go-to-market strategies to transform portfolio companies.

He also dives into navigating the complexities of AI integration, balancing short-term priorities with long-term investments like rebranding, and ensuring management teams are equipped to execute on ambitious growth plans.

On this episode Shiv Narayanan interviews Ed Byrne, co-founder of Scaleworks, a venture equity firm based in San Antonio.

Ed shares his background as a software entrepreneur and the lessons learned from his experiences that led to founding Scaleworks ten years ago with partner Lou Moorman. The discussion explores the concept of "venture equity" as a hybrid model between traditional VC and private equity, emphasizing sustainable growth over high-risk VC funding. Key topics include the downsides of VC (such as portfolio theory encouraging all-or-nothing scaling), the benefits of bootstrapping or using debt for most software businesses, avoiding premature scaling, prioritizing customer-funded growth, and Scaleworks' approach to acquiring and accelerating 5-10M revenue SaaS companies by building go-to-market teams in-house, bringing in new CEOs, and focusing on levers like pricing, category specialization, and dispassionate product decisions. Ed also covers deal structures, value creation through centralization in San Antonio, resistance to playbooks, and aiming for acquisitions driven by inbound interest rather than fixed timelines.

On this episode Shiv interviews Lindsay Gray, Partner at Pacific Lake, to explore how the firm backs entrepreneurs through the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) or search fund model—an approach that turns traditional private equity on its head by starting with the entrepreneur before the company.

Lindsay walks through Pacific Lake’s industry thesis–driven search process, explaining how they identify and support first-time CEOs, often straight out of business school, to acquire and scale small to mid-sized businesses. She details what Pacific Lake looks for in potential searchers—from “followership” and “figure-it-out-ness” to true commitment to the ETA path—and how their team of experts guides these entrepreneurs through diligence, acquisition, and operational scaling.

The conversation also covers how Pacific Lake structures incentives and equity for searchers, maintains a 70%+ acquisition rate, and leverages a dedicated value creation team to help new CEOs build leadership capacity, professionalize go-to-market and operations, and pursue add-on acquisitions. Lindsay also discusses their long-term hold strategy, designed to give successful CEOs liquidity while continuing to compound value in the firm’s strongest companies.

This episode offers a deep look at how Pacific Lake has helped shape the ETA ecosystem, supporting over 300 search funds and more than 150 acquisitions, and the lessons they’ve learned about people, prioritization, and partnership as the foundation of value creation.

On this episode, Shiv interviews Kelly Ford Buckley, General Partner at Edison Partners, a growth equity firm with over 39 years of experience investing in high-growth software companies in secondary markets.

Kelly dives into Edison's hands-on approach to value creation, emphasizing their preference for taking on execution risk over product or market risk, and how they use maturity assessments across five centers of excellence—like go-to-market, product, and finance—to identify and prioritize opportunities for portfolio companies.

She shares real-world examples of transforming pricing models, aligning sales and marketing for faster growth, and building operational muscle to scale without paralysis, while stressing the importance of capital efficiency in today's macro environment. Kelly also discusses the role of AI as an efficiency tool rather than a distraction, the advantages of focusing on secondary markets for more grounded founders, and how Edison's domain expertise in verticals like fintech and healthcare IT drives repeatable success. This episode offers actionable insights for investors and operators looking to maximize enterprise value through focused, low-risk execution.

In this solo episode of the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast, Shiv Narayanan breaks down the challenges facing portfolio companies in today’s market—and shares a clear roadmap for investors, CEOs, and revenue leaders to drive growth.

From slowing sales pipelines to rising competitive pressures and the impact of AI, many companies are underperforming compared to previous years. Shiv outlines actionable strategies to:

• Cut wasted marketing spend and improve efficiency

• Reignite stalled deals and boost close rates

• Maximize existing customer value through upsells and account expansion

• Leverage intent data and contextual outreach for short-term wins

• Build long-term enterprise value with authentic thought leadership

On this episode Shiv Narayanan interviews Craig Jones of TPE Boulder to discuss value creation in lower middle market private equity, focusing on smaller companies with $2-5 million in EBITDA.

Craig shares TPE Boulder’s approach to scaling businesses through organic growth, emphasizing diversification by location and provider, strengthening management teams, and addressing technology deficits. He explains how they align with founders on a 5-year growth plan, manage key risks like founder dependency, and prioritize initiatives to ensure scalability without overwhelming limited resources.

Craig also highlights the importance of investing in high-growth healthcare markets, such as neuropathy treatment and interventional radiology, to drive enterprise value and attract larger PE buyers for higher EBITDA multiples at exit.

The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

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.