Former institutional investor Donza Worden (co-founder, Clear Peak Capital) breaks down why many private equity pros aren’t truly investors—and what he’s doing differently as an independent sponsor who closed two platforms in year one (IT services & vertical SaaS).
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro & who Donza is (2 platforms, Capitalpad)
00:25 The spicy tweet: “Most PE investors aren’t really investors”
00:56 Why PE ≠ investor training: incentives & slow feedback loops
02:24 Donza’s origin story: island → banking → PE
04:27 The hangar conversation that changed his life
06:05 PE associate programs, fund velocity & early reps
07:27 Investment philosophy setup (industry → company → price)
07:51 Partnership — Capitalpad
08:31 Building conviction: Five Forces, 2–4 thesis pillars, price last
10:50 What he kept/ditched from institutional PE before launching
12:02 Why 2024 to launch Clear Peak; co-founding with Luke
14:55 Model choice: independent sponsor now, fund optionality later
16:24 Deal #1: cruise/maritime maintenance software—core thesis
18:10 Capital reality on Deal #1: family offices & cold-start relationships
18:58 Deal #2: faster process; staged diligence & value-creation session
20:29 Partnership — Spacebar Studios
21:08 Operating the portfolio: GTM at IT Sync; financial visibility at Entara
23:55 Back to market for Deal #3; discipline on timing
24:08 Highest-ROI levers post-close (company-specific, no cookie cutter)
25:17 Choosing investors: family offices vs. SBIC; red flags
27:20 Superpower & weakness: depth of work vs. time trade-offs
29:33 Taking risk: leaving institutional PE; AI’s coming impact
31:18 Hardest skill shift: decision-making rests with you
32:16 Hours & lifestyle now vs. institutional PE
33:12 Happiness & autonomy; what “winning” (MOIC/IRR) looks like
34:18 What he’s studying now (IT services, vertical SaaS, mental models)
35:12 Practicing intellectual curiosity; inviting dissent
36:22 Favorite book: Behave (Robert Sapolsky)
37:15 Wrap-up & future check-in
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