In this episode, I sit down with Tollie Brown, Principal at Mainsail Partners and board member at Rentvine.
We talk about why Mainsail, a $4B growth equity firm, invested $74M into Rentvine, and what that means for property managers. Tollie breaks down the differences between venture capital, private equity, and growth equity, and why those distinctions matter when choosing software.
We also cover what makes PropTech appealing to investors, why trust matters as much as features, and how AI, integrations, and consolidation are shaping the future of property management software.
- (00:00:00) - Intro
- (00:01:32) - Tollie’s background and career
- (00:02:36) - Mainsail’s investment in Rentvine
- (00:07:03) - The importance of a technical co-founder when investing in SaaS companies
- (00:08:38) - Mainsail & growth equity firms
- (00:11:51) - What customers can expect from companies that take growth equity
- (00:14:38) - What makes PM interesting to growth equity firms
- (00:16:12) - Sponsor - RentEngine
- (00:18:09) - Why Rentvine was so interesting to Mainsail
- (00:23:25) - Risks and downsides for the PM industry
- (00:25:48) - What causes PMs to switch software providers?
- (00:32:32) - Founder reception to growth equity
- (00:35:01) - Sponsor - Crane
- (00:36:25) - Predictions for the industry
- (00:39:50) - The pressure on vendors to do more and charge less with technology
- (00:43:41) - Integration vs. consolidation
- (00:46:44) - The future of Mainsail
- (00:49:04) - Advice for folks getting into the equity side of business
- (00:51:27) - Get in touch
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