Independent Sponsor, Should They Chair the Board?
Should the Independent Sponsor always be the Chair of the Board? Yes, it sounds nice, you control the narrative, and
Operations
37 posts
"You never keep 100% of the EBITDA that you buy."
Alan and Dana bluntly state that you never keep 100% of the EBITDA that you buy. Execution always leaks value.
How to hire A+ players
How do you hire true A+ players, and not settle for “good enough”? When hiring, it’s common to fall
Raise your prices, now
Happy New Year! 🎆 Start 2026 by raising your prices. Raising prices is the fastest way to increase your profits. Yet
Board meeting scheduling
Board meeting scheduling: best practices. • Schedule at least 6 months in advance. People feel really important when you send them
Deals should never go to $0
Craig Dupper, based in Park City, Utah, founded Elan Growth Partners after years of seeing how the traditional fund model
Pay up for a strong mgmt team
If you don't pay up for a strong management team, then the buyer of your business will have
Purpose-driven independent sponsorship
Quinten Griffiths of GoodCapital in Canada bought his first business, a struggling Govt SaaS carveout from a bigger (healthier) enterprise
Board member comps in the LMM
Board member compensations in the lower-middle market: Investors who take board seats will usually be free. After all, they weren’
Options for excess cash
"What should we do with our excess cash?" is everyone's favorite question at a board meeting.
"We are not founder-friendly."
"We are not founder-friendly," said Nathan Chandrasekaran, cheekily. In his experience, only 1 of 4 founders can succeed
Optimism vs. Distress
"I've been too optimistic about what there is left for me to do." - Searcher with
CEO should earn more than the Independent Sponsor
Sir Alex Ferguson, former manager of Manchester United, had a clause inserted into his contract that stipulated no player should
Advisory board for accountability
An advisory board is a great accountability partner. Advisors don’t need a formal arrangement or hefty compensation. Weekly emails,
Investor Reporting as a Differentiator
Reporting is an area where independent sponsors can differentiate and excel, and it is the best way to build strong,
Board mtg length vs. EBITDA growth
There's an inverse relationship between the length of a board meeting and EBITDA growth.
70% cost savings w/ remote work
Competitive edge: 70% cost savings by mastering remote work. An expert on hiring & managing an offshore workforce, Nick Huber&
Post-Closing Mgmt. Options
Post-closing your company can be managed by: (1) The pre-acquisition incumbent (2) Yourself (3) Newly hired professional management
Measure → Monitor → Manage → Master
KPIs: Measure → Monitor → Manage → Master Data is crucially important, and whatever you look at regularly you’ll start caring about.
Tariffs Impact Businesses Very Differently
Tariffs impact businesses very differently. In stark contrast to my nosediving public equity portfolio, here’s a somewhat positive real-life
Eisenhower 2x2 Matrix
The Eisenhower 2x2 Matrix: important vs. urgent. Operators typically have their hands full with urgent items in day-to-day management. Independent
Don't Buy Seller's "Lifestyle" Argument
"The seller has treated it like a lifestyle business" is a sponsor's code for suggesting it&
Lex Word Cloud
Thousands of online reviews = Perfect input for a word cloud 🔥💙💚 🆒 Great piece of marketing collateral to both customers and employees.
Lame Duck Deal
definition: lame duck private equity deal (noun) A "Lame Duck PE Deal" refers to a private equity investment
