The Private Equity Podcast, by Raw Selection

Billion-dollar portfolio executive to infrastructure private equity investor with Chris Rozzell

20 snips

May 27, 2025

Chris Rozzell, Managing Partner at Cresta, brings a wealth of experience from scaling businesses and investing in decarbonization-focused infrastructure. He dives into the importance of fostering trust with management teams and the need to go all-in on early-stage infrastructure. Rozzell shares insights on blending venture capital with large infrastructure investments, emphasizing the significance of solutions in high-emission sectors. He's all about pragmatic approaches, advocating for scalable, cost-effective tech while navigating the complexities of ESG and climate discourse.

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ANECDOTE

Rozzell's Journey from Analyst to Founder

Chris Rozzell started as an analyst and grew a startup to a several-billion-dollar enterprise, then went public and was sold to a competitor.
He became CCO, gaining critical leadership experience, eventually founding Cresta with partners from that journey.

INSIGHT

Leadership Learned in the Trenches

Real leadership skills are best learned inside operating companies, not just in transactional roles like banking.
Rozzell gained invaluable management and field experience by building from scratch and dealing with permitting and construction.

INSIGHT

Trust Bridges Investor Insight Gaps

Portfolio executives get direct, unfiltered customer insights that investors miss.
Private equity must build deep trust with management teams to overcome this information gap.

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Chris Rozell, Managing Partner at Cresta, joins us to discuss his journey from portfolio exec to founding a PE firm, scaling businesses to billions, and investing in decarbonization-focused infrastructure. He shares pragmatic insights on ESG, early-stage infra, and building trust with management teams—plus how Cresta bridges the gap between VC and large infra players.

[00:00] Chris Rizel, Managing Partner at Cresta, on infra investing, founding a PE firm, LP returns, and ESG.

[00:29] Early career: banking, power, then scaling Regency to billions and launching Cresta.

[01:49] Lessons from CCO role—scaling a PE-backed startup to public exit.

[02:40] Real leadership is learned in the trenches, not in transactions.

[04:33] Portfolio vs. PE firm: loss of customer insight, importance of trust.

[06:24] Mistake: avoiding early-stage infra. Cresta tackles it head-on.

[08:20] Built Cresta Fund Services to support early-stage founders.

[09:18] Go all-in on early infra—don’t dabble.

[10:17] Why decarbonization? Deep sector knowledge, big opportunity.

[11:44] Focused on waste, ag, logistics, and industry—high emission areas.

[12:43] Not impact-first. Returns come from low-cost, proven tech.

[14:08] Avoid high-cost hype. Stick to scalable, pragmatic solutions.

[15:35] Investing in “dirty” sectors to drive green efficiency and profit.

[16:56] Strategy: build from scratch, bridge gap between VC and big infra.

[18:21] Targeting the “missing middle” — commercial but small-scale tech.

[19:48] De-risk, scale, exit to strategics or infra roll-ups.

[21:41] Trends like RNG and biofuels are consolidating—Cresta’s in it.

[23:37] Long-term contracts appeal to infra buyers—interest growing.

[24:01] ESG: take a pragmatic, cost-first approach.

[25:27] Climate’s real, but so are other global issues—balance the spend.

[26:51] Keep climate solutions affordable to avoid wider harm.

[27:18] Influences: Founders Podcast, Acquired, stoicism.

[29:10] Stoic mindset: control your response, not external events.

Connect with Chris Rozzell on LinkedIn. Thanks for tuning in.

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Got feedback or questions? Email Alex at alex.rawlings@raw-selection.com. Until next time—keep smashing it!

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent.

We focus on de-risking executive search 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

The discussion in this podcast is for informational purposes and should not be relied on as investment advice or an offer to sell or a solicitation for an offer to buy any securities. Any opinions expressed are those of the speaker and are subject to change. Any discussion of past performance is provided for informational purposes only, is not track record information and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance. Any information regarding the performance of prior companies was discussed in order to illustrate the experience of the partners of the firm and does not reflect