How to Raise $450 Million at 31 with No Track Record (and Do 90+ Deals) | Urs Wietlisbach Research

Sep 30, 2025

Explore the ambitious journey of raising $450 million for a private equity fund without any prior track record. Discover the importance of having complementary founder strengths and the lessons learned from costly fundraising mistakes, like hiring a disappearing rainmaker. Urs emphasizes a long-term focus on partnerships, especially with pensioners, and shares insights on thematic research that drives their investment strategies. Learn how innovative hiring practices and proactive due diligence set them apart in a competitive market.

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ANECDOTE

Quitting Goldman To Build Something New

Urs and his co-founders left Goldman Sachs despite high pay and family pushback to start Partners Group.
Urs invested $200,000 and agreed to join as equal partner 18 months later to secure the venture.

ADVICE

Fill Your Backpack Before Leaving

Fill your backpack by learning aggressively while at large firms so you can leave with skills and courage.
Be curious, ask questions, and avoid getting comfortable to prepare for entrepreneurship.

ANECDOTE

The Upfront Rainmaker That Vanished

They paid a rainmaker 120,000 CHF up front and the man disappeared, a costly early mistake.
The team learned to never pay upfront for fundraising promises again and became much more cautious.

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Imagine being in your early 30s, launching a private equity fund, and raising $450 million for your first fund. (No track record. No rich father or uncle.)

Urs Wietlisbach, one of the three co-founders, led client relationships and fundraising, pushed proactive deal sourcing and thematic research, and kept the team focused on pensioners as the ultimate client.

Sponsors
This episode is brought to you by CapitalPad — a marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs who need capital with investors who want exposure to small-business deals. Standardized terms, governance, and distributions included. If you’re raising for a deal—or want to back operators—check out https://capitalpad.com/

ETA Europe — sharp weekly curation of European acquisitions, operators, and deals. Sign up, it's free: https://legacy-partners-newsletter.beehiiv.com/

You'll learn:
00:00 Why this episode & who it’s for
00:36 From “stocks & bonds are boring” to real assets; early AUM context
01:25 Independence as the goal; raising $450M with no track record
02:20 Three complementary founders is better than one “perfect” entrepreneur
03:12 Leaving Goldman: the coffee invite, risk, and family pushback
04:35 “Fill your backpack”: learn aggressively, then have the courage to leave
05:43 The costly fundraising mistake: paying an upfront “rainmaker” (and why never again)
06:08 Sponsor: CapitalPad (a marketplace for investors and acquisition entrepreneurs)
06:40 Why they IPO’d in 2006: talent, direct deals, and Asian credibility
10:05 Operating public, thinking private: ignore the ticker, focus long term
10:30 “We are responsible for dreams”: pensions as the true client
11:05 Proactive diligence: working 12–36 months before a sale is announced
12:05 Urs’s role today: fundraising, client relationships, and a 100+ person marketing team
12:45 The PE model now: ~53% equity / 47% debt; returns from business building
13:35 Edge vs. competitors: thematic sourcing and pre-work win auctions
14:40 Example: German deal log, 582 days of prep before the bank book
16:05 Returns stack vs. mega-peers; tailwinds, management being everything
16:36 Sponsor: ETA Europe newsletter (weekly EU ETA deal flow & analysis)
17:13 Four thematic teams: Healthcare, IT, Goods/Products, Services
18:00 Healthcare thesis in action: U.S. physiotherapy roll-up playbook
19:10 From 100 to 600+ clinics; EBITDA from ~$38M to ~$110M in four years
19:56 Why PE has outperformed publics: information, incentives, not leverage
21:00 Compensation design: “eat what you kill” + shared carry across teams
21:50 Hiring from industry, not just finance; sweat equity for managers
22:40 Heavyweight chairs matter: PCI Pharma example (4x MOIC)
23:40 What makes entrepreneurs succeed
24:45 Play to strengths, fix fast: people business above all

Support our Sponsors:
CapitalPad: https://capitalpad.com/
ETA Europe: https://legacy-partners-newsletter.beehiiv.com/

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