🎙️ The Private Equity Podcast – Mark Strauch, Founding Partner & President, Alpine Investors
⏱️ Key Takeaways & Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
Alex welcomes Mark Strauch to discuss Alpine’s unique leadership-driven approach in private equity.
01:00 – From CEO to PE Leader
Mark shares his journey from operator to co-founding Alpine, now with $20B+ AUM.
02:08 – The Industry’s Problem: Lack of Differentiation
Alpine avoids the “deal shop” model, focusing instead on mission-driven, talent-led investing.
05:24 – Talent as Strategy
Alpine’s core philosophy: talent wins. Their “Unleashing Heroes” mantra puts leadership at the heart of every investment.
06:50 – Add-On Acquisitions at Scale
Over 1,000 deals to date, using each as an opportunity to deploy great talent and drive integration.
08:39 – Alpine’s Internal Playbook
Quarterly OFI (Opportunities for Improvement) projects, one-page strategic plans, and a long-term vision define how Alpine operates like a portfolio company.
10:59 – Lessons from Failure
Fund 1 struggled, prompting a shift to talent-first strategy during the 2008 crisis, guided by executive coach Tom Vacola.
15:00 – Building the CEO Bench
Programs like CEO-in-Residence and CEO-in-Training (CIT) bring in and develop top talent—Alpine is now the top recruiter at elite business schools.
18:31 – Attributes Over Resumes
They hire for grit, humility, and emotional intelligence—qualities highly correlated with CEO success.
20:00 – Real-Time Leadership Development
CITs train on the job with structured learning in both hard and soft skills, plus internal peer-learning pods.
24:00 – What Great CEOs Do
Traits include pace, clarity, resilience, focus, and the ability to inspire and win.
27:37 – Alpine’s Ongoing Constraint: Talent
Even now, talent remains the #1 priority across Alpine and its talent-constrained portfolio sectors.
30:47 – Lessons in Building Alpine
Create a strategy only you can win—play a different game, not the same one better.
32:38 – Operator Empathy = Better Investing
Being a former CEO helps Mark bring realism and focus to underwriting and board roles.
34:05 – Book & Coaching Insights
Recent reads include Boyd, The Bible, and classic philosophy. Coaching tip: great coaches help you unlock your own answers.
39:50 – Connect with Mark
💼 Alpine Investors
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
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