Best But Never Final: Private Equity's Pursuit of Excellence Private Equity Operating Partners as Value Creation Translators with Mike Magliochetti
Dec 23, 2025
Mike Magliochetti, an Operating Partner at Riverside Partners and former PE-backed CEO, shares insights from his extensive career in private equity and chemical engineering. He discusses the vital role of operating partners in enhancing value, focusing on how trust and pattern recognition lead to better outcomes. Mike emphasizes the importance of aligning deal teams and founders while avoiding 'deal fever.' He also highlights that people are a company’s intellectual property and stresses the need for transparency and open communication among stakeholders.
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Founders Have Vision, Not A Playbook
- Founders often lack a practical playbook to scale their vision even when they have a clear goal.
- Operating partners translate that vision into execution by plugging leadership gaps and building repeatable functions.
Dancing Between The Toes Of Elephants Origin
- During diligence on an EHR adjunct, Mike learned big EHR vendors would give away the same service to win hospital customers.
- He stopped the deal; the team later validated his findings and walked away.
Plug Leadership Holes Immediately
- Fill executive gaps quickly, sometimes stepping in as interim CEO until a permanent leader is hired.
- Implement CRM, hire commercial leaders, and run weekly pipeline reviews to professionalize go-to-market.
