Unlocking the Secrets of Private Equity with Johnny Conklin

Reverse the order of operations: take care of the people and give the business owner what they need, and the spreadsheets and the money will take care of themselves.

Founders are not bottlenecks to discard — they'll forget more about their business than an investor will ever know; keep their DNA in the company through an 'ambassador program' (advocacy, training, culture) even when they step back from day-to-day.

Size does not equal maturity — a company can be large but immature, or small and nimble and be a true leader; traditional PE prices for maturity you're not actually getting and piles on leverage to hit investor returns.

16 South starts investments with ZERO leverage — build a snowball of easy early wins (pricing, customer service, the website, even fixing the toilet), let culture take root, then use calculated debt only once the model is proven.

Solve for the founder's NON-economic goals and objectives first; the right chemistry is roughly two or three founders out of ten who know they need help and want to keep building.

Private equity has lost the marketing war — the industry is stigmatized, but a hands-dirty, force-multiplier partnership that actually does the work (not boardroom pontificating) is a different, better model.

Control what you can control: you can't control market dynamics, but you can control preparation, effort, and doing the simple blocking-and-tackling that builds momentum and trust.