Guest: Greg Moran – Multi-exit founder, investor, and Managing Partner at Evergreen Mountain Equity Partners
Host: Alex Rawlings, Founder of Raw Selection
⏱️ Timestamps & Topics
00:00 – Introduction to Greg Moran
Alex welcomes Greg Moran, a multi-exit founder turned investor, and Managing Partner at Evergreen Mountain Equity Partners. Greg introduces his background in scaling businesses, raising $500M+ in capital, and his current focus on future-of-work technologies.
01:29 – Biggest Mistakes in Private Equity & Venture
Greg highlights two major missteps:
- Private Equity: Disrespecting existing leadership and stripping company culture.
- Venture Capital: Failing to deeply understand a founder's motivations under pressure.
03:51 – Behavioral Due Diligence: The Adaptive Innovator
Greg explains how Evergreen Mountain uses a proprietary founder archetype model based on studying 100+ founders with multiple 9-figure exits.
📘 Book: The Adaptive Innovator
🔬 Assessment Tool: theadaptiveinnovator.ai
06:11 – The Four Pillars of the Adaptive Innovator Model
- Creative Resilience – Performing better under pressure
- Balanced Risk-Taking – Small experiments lead to bold moves
- Humble Assertiveness – Leading without being the loudest voice
- Strategic Accountability – Owning failures and empowering teams
09:09 – How the Assessment Works
Greg walks through the free assessment's design—competency-based and situational judgment questions that help reveal how founders respond under real pressure.
11:37 – From Operator to Investor: The Shift
Greg discusses the personal challenge of moving from "solver" to "sounding board" and helping founders overcome small thinking and incrementalism.
15:01 – Scaling Requires Talent Transformation
Once you think bigger, the next hurdle is team capability. Greg discusses the importance of upgrading talent and how average hires dilute culture and repel A-players.
18:26 – “Hire Fire and the Walking Dead”
Greg's framework on talent management:
- Hiring is easy
- Firing the clearly bad is manageable
- The real issue? Keeping the “walking dead” – the average, inoffensive underperformers who drain momentum.
20:21 – Coaching Founders Through Tough Talent Calls
Greg explains his approach as an investor: gently keeping the conversation alive, helping founders reach the inevitable realization themselves.
🗣️ Anecdote: The "5-second hesitation test" from a former board member.
31:27 – Recommended Reading & Interests
📖 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – a yearly re-read for Greg
🎒 Outdoor adventure and Alaska documentaries (his son is a bush pilot)
32:52 – How to Connect with Greg Moran
🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com
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