Peter Lohmann's Podcast Trust, Tech, & Growth at Rentvine with Tollie Brown
Sep 18, 2025
Tollie Brown, Principal at Mainsail Partners and board member at Rentvine, dives into the intriguing world of growth equity investments. She explains why Mainsail invested $74M into Rentvine and the critical role of technical co-founders in SaaS. The conversation highlights the appeal of PropTech to investors, the importance of customer trust, and how AI and consolidation are shaping the industry. Tollie also discusses market risks, customer software-switching behavior, and Mainsail’s innovative future strategies.
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Founders Turn Websites Into Full PMS
- Dave Borden and John Ewan built RentVine from PMW website roots into a full PMS and accounting platform.
- Mainsail initially offered in 2023, was rebuffed, then successfully invested $74M in 2024 after building trust.
Where Growth Equity Fits
- Growth equity sits between venture capital and buyout private equity, focusing on scaling profitable, product-market-fit businesses.
- Mainsail emphasizes growth, team building, product investment, and a flexible 3–5 year horizon rather than short-term financial engineering.
What Customers Should Expect After Funding
- Expect growth equity to invest in hiring, product innovation, and customer support rather than only extracting value.
- Use a growth partner to scale teams and launch new products while preserving customer focus.