How To SaaS

Many private market firms talk about having a data advantage. Few have been building one systematically for over 20 years. In this episode of the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast, Luke Sarsfield of Ridgepost Capital speaks with Shiv Narayanan about how their firm uses proprietary data to make better investment decisions—and how that same data creates value for the managers and LPs they partner with. Learn about selecting and vetting fund managers, the impact of focusing on the middle and lower middle market, and what it means to be a value-added LP rather than just a capital provider. Check out the full episode—the link is in the comments.

We had a great time hosting an “AI in Marketing” roundtable at the new Bull City Venture Partners office with a group of local CMOs. The format was simple but valuable - going around the room, sharing the biggest challenges teams are facing right now and digging into what’s actually working. A big thank you to Shiv Narayanan (How To SaaS) for flying in from Toronto to lead a highly collaborative discussion. Key themes that kept coming up: - Evolving content strategy in an AI-first world - Tightening sales and marketing alignment - Moving upmarket effectively - Rethinking cold outbound - Driving new logo demand - Practical adoption of AI across the org - Standing out in increasingly crowded markets Appreciate everyone who joined and contributed candidly. These conversations are only getting more important as the pace of change accelerates. #AIMarketing #B2BMarketing #DemandGen #CMO David, Carly, Joseph, Jason

Operating teams are becoming a core part of how many PE firms work with their portcos. But most teams still don't have a systematic approach to driving value across their portfolio with operational support. Where should PE firms get involved, and how deeply? Which companies and which initiatives need the most support? In this episode of the Private Equity Value Creation podcast, Ray Carey of Level Equity speaks with Shiv Narayanan to explore how those decisions get made across a portfolio. Hear how Level Equity prioritizes their time and resources, why they connect activities to valuation with metrics and how firms can identify where operational intervention will have the greatest impact. You'll learn how to build an effective operating team, how to create feedback loops, how firms can cheer, coach or play for their portfolio company teams and the factors that go into choosing the right approach. The link to the full episode is in the comments.

Got an email from How To SaaS this week that genuinely stopped me mid-scroll. The idea was simple: great content keeps paying dividends over time. Good content just... doesn't. And honestly? That hit different in 2026. We're living in a moment where AI can generate "good enough" content at infinite scale. Good enough is now the floor, not the ceiling. If what you're putting out there is just decent — it gets buried. Fast. The three levers they mentioned — quality, distribution, consistency — sound obvious until you realize how rarely all three actually show up together. Most people nail one. Maybe two. But the compounding happens when you commit to all three over a long enough timeline. I've been thinking about this in the context of my own work. It's easy to produce. It's hard to produce things worth revisiting six months later. So the question I'm sitting with: am I creating content that ages like wine, or content that expires like a news feed notification? If you're not subscribed to How to SaaS — genuinely worth it.

For some private equity firms, technology gaps are a reason to walk away from a deal. But what if those gaps are the value creation opportunity? On this week’s episode of the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast, Cory Eaves of BayPine speaks with Shiv Narayanan to discuss how his firm underwrites businesses that are behind on technology and turns that into a repeatable value creation strategy. Tune in to the full episode to hear how operations teams can work with management to better identify and prioritize technology opportunities across the investment lifecycle, and how to evaluate “analog to digital” transformation potential in traditional industries. You can find the link in the comments below.

For high-touch, talent-heavy businesses, growth has always been constrained by one thing: people. Riccardo Basile of Permira explores how AI and technology are reshaping workforce strategy inside portfolio companies. Many firms have expanded globally — opening centers in Lithuania, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, India, and the Philippines — simply to access enough qualified professionals. But eventually, you run out of talent to hire. AI changes that equation. Instead of scaling headcount linearly with revenue, companies can now increase output per employee. Technology enables teams to handle more volume, improve productivity and accelerate profitability without constantly adding new hires. This creates two major opportunities. First, it unlocks scalable growth without the traditional talent bottleneck. Second, it allows companies that have plateaued in profitability to rethink their cost structures and expand margins. 🎙️ Tune into the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gxkEsH3Z 👇🏽 Find Us Here https://lnkd.in/gTdPMk8P #privateequity #privateequitypodcast #privateequityvaluecreation

Founders who want to fully exit their business can send an unexpected signal to growth investors. Josh Christensen of Mercato Partners breaks down why a founder’s commitment to staying involved matters so much when underwriting aggressive growth, especially at the 100% growth level. The discussion explores how belief in the opportunity and alignment across the executive team factor into investment decisions. It also contrasts growth investing with buyout strategies, highlighting why different capital partners look for very different founder motivations. 🎙️ Tune into the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gxkEsH3Z 👇🏽 Find Us Here https://lnkd.in/gTdPMk8P #privateequity #privateequitypodcast #privateequityvaluecreation

In today’s market, valuation outcomes are increasingly shaped by how buyers interpret risk, durability, and positioning. On March 25, partners from JMI Equity, Waud Capital Partners, and Five Elms Capital will join SEG for a live discussion on how private equity investors are underwriting software companies in 2026. We will ask them directly: • What is driving valuation premiums in 2026? • How are buyers underwriting AI readiness and long-term durability? • How are macro conditions influencing deal structure and timing? • Which metrics remain critical, and where are founders over- or under-indexing? • What defines the “right profile” in today’s software M&A market? For founders evaluating exit timing or capital strategy, understanding how sponsors are answering these questions is increasingly consequential. Registration details: https://lnkd.in/gCybDg-t #Valuations #AI #Software #MnA #PE

When private equity firms talk about value creation, the focus often turns to familiar levers: pricing, go-to-market improvements or acquisitions. In our latest episode of the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast, Robert Brown of Motive Partners speaks with Shiv Narayanan about another lever that can be just as important but receives less attention: technology execution inside portfolio companies. Many portfolio companies already possess valuable assets—longstanding customer relationships, proprietary data and established products—but their technology infrastructure limits how effectively those assets are monetized. Tune in to the full episode to learn what an "investing, operating and innovating” model looks like in practice, and how to embed operating and technology expertise into PE teams. The link is in the comments.