Episode Overview:

In this episode, Alex Rawlings speaks with Richard Fitzgerald of CapitalSpring, a private equity firm specializing in foodservice and multi-location consumer businesses. Richard shares insights into CapitalSpring’s differentiated, sector-focused approach, how they’ve scaled over 20 years, and the recent $1B+ exit to Bain Capital. He also unpacks their latest fundraising success in a tough market and the importance of specialization in today's crowded PE landscape.

Timestamps & Key Topics:

00:00 – Introduction
Overview of CapitalSpring’s focus and two key topics: fundraising success and a $1B+ exit.

00:54 – Richard’s Background
From investment banking to founding CapitalSpring in 2005 with a sector-specialist mindset.

03:19 – Why Multi-Location Businesses?
Opportunities found on Main Street—resilient, everyday consumer services often overlooked in PE.

04:43 – Starting Small, Scaling Big
CapitalSpring began with $3M; now 300 investments and $4B deployed across 100+ brands.

06:30 – Specialization as a Differentiator
Why generalist firms struggle, and how deep focus wins deals without being the highest bidder.

08:55 – $1B+ Exit: Sizzling Platter to Bain Capital
Growth from 400 to 800+ locations across multiple brands and markets, despite COVID headwinds.

14:03 – Key Learning: Labor-Light Models
Pandemic emphasized the value of operational efficiency and low labor reliance in QSR investments.

15:27 – Fund VII: First Close Success
How CapitalSpring raised in a tough market by showcasing portfolio resilience and a hybrid debt/equity model.

17:44 – Hybrid Capital Strategy
Flexibility to invest via debt, equity, or both—offering solutions to founders and mitigating risk for LPs.

20:04 – Book Recommendation: Give and Take by Adam Grant
The power of relationships in PE—not just financial modeling.

21:57 – Connect with Richard
Email: [email protected]
| LinkedIn & website via CapitalSpring.

Top Takeaways:

• Specialization is key in today’s competitive PE environment.
• Hybrid investing (debt + equity) offers flexibility and downside protection.
• Operationally light, multi-unit businesses prove resilient—even in crises.
• Long-term success in PE depends on relationships, not just technical skills.

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/

🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

🎧 Episode Summary:
In this episode, Alex Rawlings speaks with Chris Sznewajs of Pacific Avenue Capital Partners about building a private equity firm focused on complex corporate carve-outs and businesses owned by “unnatural owners.” Chris shares how Pacific Avenue identifies overlooked assets, drives value through operational focus, and recently expanded into Europe with a team-first approach.

He dives into the lessons from building out their Paris office, the firm’s unique deal sourcing strategy, and a case study involving a complex carve-out from Total Energy. Chris also unpacks their value creation model, why they invest heavily in operational talent, and how they maintain culture across borders.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro to Chris & Pacific Avenue
01:28 – Key mistakes in PE & portfolio strategy
03:52 – Why Europe? Lessons from expansion
05:47 – Building and integrating cross-border teams
10:57 – Defining “complex transactions”
12:24 – Total Energy carve-out case study
15:17 – Proprietary sourcing via corporate relationships
17:25 – Investing in ops: value creation strategy
20:16 – How their ops team is structured
22:45 – Chris’s interests & offer to connect

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Focus on carve-outs and “unnatural owners” enables deep value creation.
• Expansion to Europe was led by people, not just strategy.
• A proprietary sourcing approach is key in competitive processes.
• Ops team = generalists with deep business acumen who partner with management.
• Carve-outs require patience, resources, and a consistent strategy.

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/

🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

In this episode, Alex Rawlings is joined by Alex Sabel, Vice President at THL Partners, to explore how the firm is embracing AI across its operations and portfolio. Alex leads THL’s research function and AI strategy, bringing a data-driven, quant mindset to private equity.

He shares how THL uses AI internally to improve investment workflows, how portfolio companies are deploying AI to drive product innovation and efficiency, and what he’s learned from both successes and failures. Whether you’re exploring AI adoption or refining your strategy, this episode offers clear, practical insights from the front lines.

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro to Alex Sabel & THL’s AI Focus
AI at the firm, portfolio, and personal level.

00:55 – Alex’s Background
From public markets to PE, building THL’s research and AI function.

03:12 – Common Mistakes in AI Adoption
Why firms must focus on data foundations first.

04:35 – Real-Time Insight vs. Info Overload
The value of surfacing insights at the right time.

06:02 – Investing in the Global Compute Ecosystem
THL’s thesis: look beyond GPUs to second-order AI winners.

09:19 – THL’s Three-Pronged AI Strategy
Invest in AI, use it internally, and support portfolio adoption.

11:42 – How THL Supports Portfolio Innovation
Roundtables, tech summits, and a vendor ecosystem to foster AI experimentation.

13:36 – Case Studies: Binder, FourKites & Sentria
Examples of AI-driven product innovation and operational efficiency.

17:57 – When AI Fails
Why THL embraces “fail fast” and knows when to build vs. buy.

22:12 – Deciding When to Use AI
Break problems into first principles—GenAI isn’t always the answer.

25:26 – What’s Blown Alex’s Mind
AI organizing and standardizing messy, fragmented enterprise data.

27:45 – Daily Tools & Tips
Coding assistants and using multiple LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Groq) for varied insights.

31:06 – What to Read
Short term: WSJ, FT, Economist.
Deep dives: SemiAnalysis and top Substacks.

32:31 – Connect with Alex Sabel
Open to collaborating on AI, compute infrastructure, and emerging vendors.

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

In this episode, Giovanni Zangani joins Alex Rawlings to share insights from operating in Vietnam’s emerging private equity landscape. As Managing Partner at Maestro Equity Partners, Giovanni discusses the firm’s hands-on approach to investing in consumer and F&B businesses, the challenges of deal execution in emerging markets, and why local understanding is critical to success.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro to Giovanni & Maestro Equity
Vietnam-focused, growth equity firm backing brick-and-mortar and F&B businesses with tickets of $5–20M.

01:25 – Key Mistakes in Emerging Markets
Investors often misjudge deals by relying on personal experiences or Western legal frameworks without cultural alignment.

03:16 – Who Makes These Errors?
Regional and international funds rushing due diligence or avoiding deeper market engagement.

04:41 – Why Vietnam?
Giovanni's move from the US to Vietnam, spotting talent gaps, and seizing untapped opportunities.

07:30 – Mature vs. Emerging Market Investing
Faster growth, lower costs, and higher returns—but requires entrepreneurial execution.

09:23 – PE in Vietnam is a Different Game
You must own every part of the process—legal, operational, strategic—and be hands-on daily.

11:17 – Due Diligence = Partnership Building
Guide founders through compliance and process; the relationship starts before the investment closes.

14:40 – Post-Investment Involvement
Maintaining founder focus and execution requires credibility, patience, and close collaboration.

16:35 – Lean but Deep Team
A 10-person team making fewer, more impactful investments with long-term vision.

17:59 – Vietnam’s Outlook
More consolidation, founder maturity, and market sophistication ahead—making it ripe for growth and future competition.

20:19 – Giovanni’s Recommendations
🎧 All-In Podcast
📘 The Game – Alex Hormozi
📘 The 5 Types of Wealth

21:40 – Connect with Giovanni
📧 [email protected]

🔗 Giovanni Zangani on LinkedIn

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/

🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

In this episode, Sam and Taavo from CEO Advantage return to dive into the 5X CEO Assessment—a diagnostic tool developed from two years of research into top-performing private equity-backed CEOs who delivered 5x+ MOIC.

The conversation explores how the 5X model—comprised of Strategic Clarity, Scalable Talent, Relentless Focus, Disciplined Execution, and Energized Culture—is used not just as a conceptual framework, but as a practical tool to evaluate and upgrade leadership team performance.

🔑 Key Discussion Points

▶ 5X Model Overview

• Built from studying CEOs with 5x+ returns
• Five components: Strategic Clarity, Scalable Talent, Relentless Focus, Disciplined Execution, Energized Culture

▶ How the Assessment Works

• Each component includes 10–12 statements to rate by importance and performance
• Includes open-ended responses for actionable feedback
• Results are color-coded (Red-Yellow-Green) for fast clarity and prioritization
• Used with leadership teams and optionally with boards or PE partners

▶ Strategic Clarity

• Aligning the CEO, leadership, and board on the value creation plan
• Communicating strategy throughout the organization—down to the receptionist
• The role of repetition in embedding strategy (11x rule)

▶ Energized Culture

• Holding people accountable for behavior, not just results
• Measuring employee engagement and culture with data (e.g. eNPS)
• Example: CEOs who stack-rank team collaboration to highlight friction and teamwork

▶ Scalable Talent

• Focus on A-players in critical value-driving roles, not just execs
• Using 9-box performance vs. potential models, shared with boards
• CEOs with strong HR leaders outperform—talent as a strategic function

▶ Relentless Focus

• Simplifying execution to “do now, do next, don’t do”
• Avoiding shiny object syndrome and internal distraction
• Ensuring alignment on key initiatives and managing PE firm inputs

▶ Disciplined Execution

• Tracking both leading and lagging KPIs tied to the value creation plan
• Establishing a management cadence and operating system
• Example: AI-driven measurement of customer conversations to boost growth
• Tying metrics directly into compensation and incentive systems

▶ How PE Firms Use the Tool

• As part of diligence or onboarding of new CEOs
• To drive annual CEO performance reviews
• To create a shared language between CEOs and sponsors on team performance

📘 Resources Mentioned

• Book: The 5X CEO – Available on Amazon and Audible
• The Private Equity Playbook series by Adam Coffey
• Move by Sandy Ogg (Talent to Value)
• Works by Patrick Lencioni on leadership and clarity

🌐 Learn more about the 5X model and CEO Advantage at www.AdvantageCEO.com

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/

🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

In this episode, Alex Rawlings is joined by Tim Schulte, Value Creation Partner at Council Capital, a Nashville-based private equity firm investing in healthcare businesses across tech-enabled services, outsourced services, and provider platforms.

Tim brings a unique blend of consulting, operational, and investing experience. He shares how Council Capital drives value creation through collaboration, leadership development, and a structured yet flexible approach to talent and operations.

🔑 Key Highlights:

00:00 – Introduction
Tim’s background: consulting → startup growth → private equity. At Council for 6+ years, focused on scaling healthcare companies.

01:15 – Common Mistake in PE
Reinventing the wheel. Tim advocates for leveraging shared knowledge and collaboration across portfolio companies instead of starting from scratch.

02:12 – Three PE Value Creation Models
Tim outlines three styles:

1. Collaborative but shallow
2. Substantive but rigid
3. Collaborative and substantive – Council Capital’s approach

03:37 – Collaboration in Practice
Council’s CEO Council is made up of 30+ senior leaders who are both advisors and investors. Their involvement creates mentorship and alignment without top-down pressure.

05:02 – Council’s Value Creation Team
A large internal team supports portfolio companies with tailored toolkits (not rigid playbooks) across growth, ops, and talent.

06:11 – Hiring Top Executives
Talent is central to value creation. Council uses:

• Topgrading
• Aptitude & personality assessments
• In-depth referencing
• Case studies
  ...to ensure fit and long-term success.

09:05 – Role of Assessments
Assessments aren’t used to screen candidates out, but to guide interview questions and identify fit. Council tracks data across hundreds of hires to correlate traits with performance.

12:27 – Broader Talent Support
Beyond the C-suite, Council helps portfolio teams:

• Implement HR tech
• Refine hiring processes
• Improve onboarding
• Structure incentive plans

14:38 – First 100 Days for CEOs
New CEOs are expected to:

1. Align on strategy
2. Build out the right team
3. Ensure reliable data systems to track performance

16:58 – Recommended Resources
Tim recommends:

• Acquired – for business case studies
• Founders – for leadership traits & human stories

17:52 – Connect with Tim Schulte
Best via LinkedIn or at Council Capital

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

🎧 Guest: Maxwell Nee – Chairman, Family Office Insider & Managing Partner, Black Mountain Capital
🌍 Episode Theme: 10X Deals, Market Gaps & Global Investing

In this episode, Alex Rawlings is joined by Maxwell Nee to explore how thinking bigger—10X bigger—can simplify investing and unlock outsized returns. Maxwell shares his 3-leg framework for identifying high-potential opportunities and dives into emerging trends across waste-to-value, renewables, and infrastructure.

You’ll hear about:

• What 10X deals really mean and why they’re often easier to execute
• The 3 key components of any game-changing opportunity
• Turning waste (like avocado seeds or Guinness beer) into profits
• Where Maxwell is putting capital now: mining, energy, biofuels
• How family offices differ from traditional PE firms
• Lessons from global dealmaking and the role of geopolitics

⏱️ Time Stamps:

00:00 – Intro to Maxwell Nee
01:00 – Founding Family Office Insider during COVID
02:30 – Common PE mistakes: overextension, distraction
04:00 – What makes a 10X deal
07:00 – The 3-leg framework: Market Gap, Team, Funding
08:30 – Real examples: bioplastics, energy, solar
11:00 – Investing globally & understanding country strengths
18:50 – PE vs. Family Office mindsets
21:00 – Book recs: How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, Time is a Tool
22:30 – Connect with Maxwell on LinkedIn

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

In this powerful episode, Marc Adams shares his remarkable journey from a stage 4 cancer diagnosis to a full recovery—and how that experience inspired him to rethink private equity. Now leading Acquisitions for You, Marc helps business owners double their company’s value and cash out tax-free—without debt, dilution, or outside capital.

With 40+ years in leadership, IPOs, and M&A, Marc discusses his “Double and Keep It” framework, raising over $350M to support non-traditional exits, and how PE firms can create more value by going deeper into operations. He also shares how a question from his 10-year-old son sparked a mission to help business owners keep more of what they’ve built.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro to Marc & his corporate background
01:27 – Life-changing cancer diagnosis during the pandemic
05:34 – A pivotal question from Marc’s son: “Who helps the business owners?”
07:01 – Miraculous recovery and new purpose
09:24 – Writing a bestselling book to help owners increase value
10:16 – The “Double and Keep It” framework explained
11:43 – $350M raised to support exits without debt or dilution
13:08 – How structuring right helps owners keep 70–90% post-sale
15:01 – Helping younger founders take chips off the table
18:52 – From $140M to $1B valuation: how it was done
22:09 – Case study: $0 to $950M in 18 months
23:36 – Why PE must engage with operating teams
25:26 – Reducing founder resistance and aligning incentives
27:49 – Leaving room for buyers’ value creation
30:09 – Example: $6B tech buyer building value via synergy
32:29 – When forced changes from PE go wrong
34:28 – Why personal brand and social media matter more than ever
37:21 – 19-year-old entrepreneur’s turnaround and success
40:38 – Helping overlooked businesses unlock true value
42:02 – How to connect with Marc and access his free resources

📘 Resources

• Contact Marc: [email protected]
• Visit: acquisitionsforyou.com
• Free tools & book via Marc’s Linktree (shared in episode)

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

Overview:
In this high-energy episode, Alex Rawlings is joined by Brad Pilcher, Partner and Co-Founder at Bonaccord Capital Partners, a leading mid-market GP Stakes investor. Brad shares his fascinating journey from aspiring concert pianist to private equity investor, and dives deep into how the private equity world is evolving — particularly around culture, capital, talent, and growth.

They explore how mid-market firms can scale successfully, the five principles guiding Bonaccord’s strategy, and why “professionalization” is now essential across PE — from investor relations and origination to team structuring and multi-product growth.

🔑 Key Topics:

• [00:00] Brad’s background & founding Bonaccord Capital Partners
• [01:54] Lessons from Bridgewater: culture, ambition, client-focus
• [06:34] Brad’s 5 core principles for investing and business success
• [13:05] Why Bonaccord targets the mid-market: stability + growth
• [17:38] Institutional capital shift towards mid-market PE
• [20:29] Mistakes PE firms make: lack of evolution, strategy, or value creation
• [24:17] Fundraising playbook: off-cycle marketing, transparency, and LP engagement
• [31:18] The professionalization of private equity – talent, IR, and origination
• [36:07] State of the GP Stakes market & why liquidity concerns are overblown
• [42:04] Surge in control acquisitions & how it impacts GP Stakes
• [44:50] What Brad reads: quarterly reports, Bridgewater research, biographies & astrophysics

📌 Notable Quotes:

📚 Resources & Mentions:

• Bonaccord Capital Partners – bonaccordcapital.com
• Brad Pilcher on LinkedIn – Connect Here
• Edgar SEC Filings, Bridgewater macro research, A.V. Loeb’s astrophysics work

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

In this episode, host Alex Rawlings speaks with Eric Wiklendt, Managing Director at SpeySide Equity, a private equity firm focused on lower middle-market manufacturing businesses.

Eric shares his “fix and build” value creation strategy, the key elements of successful human capital alignment, and why cost accounting is the hidden killer in many portfolio companies. With deep operational experience, Eric offers a grounded perspective on how to avoid overcomplicating PE value creation.

🔍 Key Highlights:

• Fix & Build Framework: Phase 1 focuses on EBITDA improvement; Phase 2 drives growth.
• Top Phase 1 Levers:
  • Aligning and incentivizing management
  • Rationalizing the revenue portfolio
  • Optimizing the operational footprint
• Biggest Friction Point: Getting the people side right—human capital alignment and talent quality.
• Always an Issue: Poor cost accounting systems that impact pricing and margins.
• Hiring Better Leaders: SpeySide’s edge comes from having “been there, done that” as former operators.
• Walk-Away Red Flag: Dishonesty or lack of transparency in due diligence.
• Industry Mistake: Relying on too many value levers—hope is not a strategy.

📚 Eric Recommends:

Books on economics, behavioral psychology, and sociology to better understand how people think and make decisions.

💼 Connect with Eric:

• LinkedIn: Eric Wiklendt
  
  
• Website: www.speysideequity.com
  
  

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/

🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires.