Private Equity Value Creation Podcast

On this episode, Matthew Wiener, Co-Head of Aon Transaction Solutions, shares how private equity firms can use insurance to manage the risks that diligence can’t fully eliminate. You’ll learn where post-close issues most often arise, how insured structures change buyer–seller negotiations and why even infrequent losses can have an outsized impact on fund-level returns.Hear how transaction risk insurance can be used in continuation funds, secondaries and GP stakes transactions to support liquidity, protect value and reduce friction—as well as what these policies will and won’t cover in today’s market.

Scott Adams, co-founder and managing partner at Soul Street and former robotics founder-operator, shares hands-on strategies for scaling with capital efficiency. He discusses common growth mistakes like overhiring and product perfection, using runway framing to force trade-offs, pinpointing true revenue drivers, and practical tech and AI levers to tighten operations and shorten sales cycles.

On this episode, Amyn Hassanally, Partner and Global Head of Private Equity Secondaries at Pantheon, explains the role secondaries play as a core portfolio management tool, rather than a source of distressed liquidity, and offers practical insight into how investors can use secondaries to manage timing, concentration and cash flow as exits slow.Learn how experienced investors diligence and assess value in secondaries, how motivation and repeatability are underwritten in practice, and why portfolio management and alignment are so essential in these types of deals.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Alan Taetle, General Partner at Noro-Moseley Partners, draws on decades of investing experience to share what makes portfolios and PE firms successful, including differentiated expertise and an aligned sense of purpose.Learn how to create long-term value through apprenticeship cultures, incentive and carry design, and thoughtful founder ownership structures. The episode explores what alignment looks like in practice, why playbooks fall short, and how collaboration and incentives influence outcomes long after the deal closes.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Jonathan Drillings, Partner at Riverside Acceleration Capital, discusses how B2B software companies can bridge the gap between early traction and scalable growth. Jonathan explains RAC’s sister fund model—how growth lending and growth equity are deployed at different moments, what each is designed to achieve and how the two work together as companies mature. Learn how investors assess durability before scale, and how AI is reshaping both risk and opportunity for growth-stage software companies, without changing the importance of fundamentals like retention and focus.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

On this episode, John Messer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Copilot Capital, breaks down how value is built in scaling European B2B software businesses—including how to professionalise go-to-market, sharpen customer segmentation and pricing and use M&A as a focused growth lever. Get practical guidance on sequencing international expansion, maintaining clarity as teams grow from 50 to 200 people, and applying AI in ways that genuinely improve products and internal efficiency rather than creating distraction. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

On this episode, Andrejka Bernatova, Founder and CEO of Dynamix Corporation, shares how investors can evaluate mission-critical energy and infrastructure businesses by focusing on fundamentals such as contract quality, customer durability and operating reality, rather than market sentiment or emerging-tech narratives. Learn about approaches to public-market pathways, including when SPACs offer advantages, what truly makes a company public-ready and the operational value-creation levers that matter most in capital-intensive sectors.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

On this episode, Dave Lambert of Right Side Capital Management shares what thousands of early-stage investments reveal about how pre-VC companies actually grow. Get clarity on how to evaluate early traction, set realistic fundraising paths and use capital efficiency to extend runway long enough for product-market fit to emerge.Tune in to hear how founders can avoid common mistakes in defining their ICP, structure rounds that keep exit options open and use real market data to understand what later-stage investors are looking for. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

In this episode, Giacomo Sonnino, Advisory Director and Operating Partner at Charlesbank Capital Partners, shares how top PE firms connect diligence, underwriting and value creation to shape the first 12–24 months of an investment. This discussion highlights how to identify and prioritize the value levers that matter most in services businesses—from upgrading sales engines to designing cross-sell motions that are genuinely executable. Learn how AI is redefining services today, with modernized offerings, targeted use cases and the build-vs-buy decisions that keep firms ahead of market shifts. The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

Caroline Tarpey, Managing Director at Lead Edge Capital, outlines a practical approach to AI adoption in PE-backed companies—grounded in trust, clear goals and disciplined execution. She explains why most AI initiatives fall short and where teams can quickly unlock better decision-making and operational efficiency.You’ll learn how AI is transforming go-to-market, from shifting buyer behavior to the rising importance of authority-driven content and deeper voice-of-customer insights. Tune in to hear how SaaS companies can stay competitive by leveraging proprietary data and refining their strategy for an AI-first buying journey.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.