Private Equity Podcast: Karma School of Business Laurens Goff on Focus, Visibility, and Driving Value in B2B Services
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Oct 8, 2025 Laurens Goff, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Stone Goff Partners, shares his journey from Providence to the world of private equity. He explains how focus, visibility, and recurring revenue are essential for success in B2B services. Laurens reveals his TEOS framework—Talent, Experts, Outsourced Resources, Support—that enhances value creation. He emphasizes the importance of management summits and peer collaboration in supporting portfolio companies, and offers insights on habit formation to boost operational discipline.
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From McDonald's Grill To Private Equity
- Laurens grew up in Providence, worked at McDonald's, and then studied finance at Boston College after switching from English.
- He joined SEI, left for NYC to pursue investment banking, and then used banking as a springboard to private equity.
Bootstrapping Stone Goff
- After eight years in PE, Laurens became an independent sponsor and later co-founded Stone Goff with Hannah Stone Craven in 2010.
- They bootstrapped the firm, leveraged shared resources, and targeted founder-aligned minority investments in lower-middle-market companies.
Visibility And Vertical Focus Wins
- Stone Goff prioritizes visibility in business models and vertical/ecosystem focus to create predictable growth and easier execution.
- Recurring revenue, long engagements, and niche vertical expertise make lower-middle-market B2B services investable.
