For good reason, there’s a lot of interest about the potential value that an be unlocked from data. Many Private Equity companies are now asking what should our data strategy be, what should our analytics strategy be, and what should our AI strategy be? Alex Agran discusses data with digital and commercial strategy specialist Lisa Weaver-Lamber ...…

Brad Haller and Paul Cotter of West Monroe Partners, a household name in IT diligence, join me on this episode. We get into one increasingly important aspect within IT diligence, namely cybersecurity diligence. Securing your company’s data has become a vital aspect of running a business. There are serious costs in failing to secure that data. H ...…

So excited to finally be able to tell the story of Chicago-based Kinzie Capital Partners!Kinzie has an investment thesis that you'll hear from many other private equity firms, targeting lower middle market companies amidst transition in the consumer, manufacturing and services industries. But Kinzie is profoundly different in that it believes t ...…

Great episode here (though the audio quality isn't). You're undoubtedly hearing a lot about the virtues and benefits of the cloud when it comes to the software running potential acquisitions or portfolio companies. How do you make sense of all of it? In this concise 30-minute overview, Steve Holstad, Director at Perficient, provides a layperson ...…

Hiring the right tech executives to run your portfolio companies is a serious challenge. Alex Rawlings, of UK-based Raw Selection, dials in from across the pond with strategies and tips on how to find what you're looking for.By Alex Agran.

Renna Partners' Mike Bestvina dropped in to talk current private equity market IT trends and going ons. We cover two primary topics. First, that the game is just starting when it comes to private equity firms teaming up with IT service firms and strategic advisors in a premeditated way (think Apax buying ThoughtWorks, think Kinzie Capital partn ...…

Hardware, networking, infrastructure. These are commodities. Easily outsourced. Competitive advantages and efficiencies are gained via software. When your private equity firm prepares to execute its vision with a new portfolio company, I highly recommend a technology leader with a software background.…

Before you get to taking on big technology initiatives, you need to have a definitive understanding of your core business: what are the markets you serve, who are your customers, etc. You need to make sure that you’re designing technology solutions to fit the core business needs. How do you do this? Wayne Montague, the man who started and ran M ...…

It's not too late to get serious about how your private equity firm approaches the evaluation of technology's potential at targets and portfolio companies. The industry has been slow moving. Get started now!By Alex Agran.

Dear Private Equity Associates - You have an enormous opportunity to add value at your respective firms: go deep on understanding the technology both pre- and post-acquisition. Your bosses and bosses' bosses most likely don't have the time to get into it. Every company is run on technology. The more you understand about it, the more impact you ...…

Rightfully, more and more attention is being paid to how a portfolio company's operations and culture are affected by large changes to the technology that runs the business. When there are meaningful technological changes, it pays to not only consider how those changes will impact a company and its culture, but to put a plan in place to address ...…

A number of small-to-medium sized businesses assign technology decision making to their CFOs. This is unfortunate. Technology is an essential component of every business today and creates competitive advantages. Most CFOs have no background in implementing and building technology and therefore lack important context from which strategic technol ...…

Traditional RFIs and RFPs are painful experiences for both buyer and vendor. They're inefficient and often do a poor job of 1) conveying the actual business needs; and 2) vetting vendors. David Carlson, of Halsted Partners, has been on both sides of the traditional processes. Today, he bucks those traditions and deploys a process he calls Rapid ...…

If you haven't already figured, I am all in on the importance of user experience and interface design in enterprise software. If you’re creating enterprise software, you’re going to need a proper user experience and interface design. Traditional design firms are good for some things, but their traditional approach design isn't right for enterpr ...…

You absolutely cannot ignore The Law when it comes to the software running your portfolio companies. You need to be aware in both pre-acquisition diligence and post-close situations of how contracts are structured and more importantly, what software is yours versus what is licensed (teaser: beware of open source). Tim Nelson, of law firm Aronbe ...…

If you're building custom software at your portfolio companies, you're going to need a team of software developers with modern stack credentials and experience. Finding and hiring the right developers for the job is a tall order. Colleagues Kristen Byrne and Rob Paulson pop in to drop some tips and tricks that will improve your chances of findi ...…

Last week, a quote attributed to KKR's Anne Arlinghaus from the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum hit Twitter and made my year!By Alex Agran.

Software testing. Perhaps the most underrated component of the software development life cycle. Perhaps the most likely to be impacted by scope creep. Perhaps an aspect of the software development process that you should pay more attention to. John Frank joins me again to talk you through what it takes for your portfolio companies to properly t ...…

Agile. One of my favorite overused and not always understood phrases in the tech world. Why, as a private equity investor, should you care about what Agile is? Chances are that Agile is being used to develop software at your portfolio companies. Understanding enough about Agile will allow you to ask the right questions and make sure the right c ...…

This has been on my mind since last episode: Do you have tech expertise with you on monthly ops calls and quarterly board meetings? If not, why not?By Alex Agran.

This was a fire conversation with Jeff Piper, Managing Director, Svoboda Capital Partners. Tons of insight directly from the mouth of a private equity firm as it relates to tech decisions going on at portfolio companies. Jeff was even kind enough to drop a legitimate business opportunity into the laps of any IT due diligence firms listening. I ...…

Apax Partners, the well-known private equity firm, recently announced the acquisition of ThoughtWorks, the well-known developer of enterprise custom software solutions. Conveniently, with this acquisition, Apax helps to drive home this podcast's base theory that private equity firms should be leveraging technology to improve the outcomes of the ...…

The look and the feel of enterprise software is often (and wrongly) overlooked. The Consumerization of IT continues to pressure organizations to make their enterprise software appealing both visually experientially, to both customers and employees. Chris Bernard, Director of what used to be Truth Labs (www.truthlabs.com) and is now folded under ...…

When you're looking at (or own) a company whose revenues or key operations rely on proprietary technology, it probably makes sense to go much deeper than typical IT diligence, like into the actual software code itself, to understand whether that technology can scale to meet your goals. We call this Deep Dive IT Diligence. Steve Holstad, Directo ...…

Mike Bestvina of Liberty Advisor Group checked in to discuss the current state of IT diligence. It was great to hear that IT diligence has just about made its way into the standard pre-acquisition diligence process.By Alex Agran.

Great discussion with David Carlson of Halsted Partners about the intersection of operations and technology and his thoughts on how Private Equity should navigate this intersection. David has some serious technology street cred as well, having graduated in the 80s from the University of Illinois' computer science program.…

Laying out my base theory on why private equity needs to pay greater attention to the technology running its potential acquisitions and portfolio companies. Technology provides another weapon in your arsenal to generate returns, yet many of you don't understand enough about it to take advantage.By Alex Agran.