Private Equity Succession Planning Do’s and Don’ts
While growing investor enthusiasm has contributed to a historic $3 trillion of fundraising over the last five years, the PE industry faces increasing competition amongst firms, record-high multiples and other factors making it difficult to generate attractive returns. One aspect for consideration is succession planning, especially since CEO turnover at portfolio companies occurs at a rate of 73% and can increase hold times and decrease returns.
This article defines succession planning, and examines the best practices and mistakes to avoid in succession planning for PE portfolio companies. It also explores succession planning within private equity firms themselves, something PE firms have been uncharacteristically proactive about confronting recently.
Melissa Lin
Latin America M&A Best Practices
Latin America boasts great investment opportunities with attractive risk levels, higher returns than home markets, and access to a large population base with growing income. However, Latin American acquisitions require special attention and include a number of difficulties unique to the region.
This article provides insights gleaned from Finance Expert Emilio Labrador’s 15 years of experience in Latin American oil and gas M&A. It provides practical tips for foreign acquirers considering investments in Latin America, on topics ranging from risk premiums in valuation, accounting due diligence, and legal considerations.
Emilio Labrador
Startup Financing for Founders: Your Companion Checklist
Attention on the financial aspects of startups tends to focus on the external measure of fundraising. Yet before this, there are many aspects for an entrepreneur to consider regarding setting their business up for financial success.
In this article, we address eight vital considerations to take around the equity, budget, and valuation components of a startup.
Carolyn Deng, CFA
How to Build and Utilize a High-Impact Advisory Board
Advisory boards are undoubtedly controversial. While many articles sing their praises, others condemn them as mere headshots in pitch decks. The truth is that advisory boards are usually not silver bullets. Still, they can be powerful tools and yield strong ROI—if executed properly.
This article includes an overview of advisory boards, their economics, when they can and should be used, and a step-by-step guide to building one.
Patrick E. Donohue
Considerations for Raising Your Own Private Equity Fund
Starting a fund is an aspiration harbored by many financiers. While attention tends to focus on investing and deal making, the initial private equity fundraising process is riddled with uncertainty.
This guide presents the main considerations to take when raising a fund, covering the legal, accounting, staffing, and strategic roadblocks that will be encountered.
Martin Kemeny
Great Recent Examples of Competitive Strategy Successes
Competitive strategy frameworks are widely known and mainstays of university curricula, despite being almost 40 years old. We often hear the stories of Walmart and Southwest Airlines, but what modern competitive strategy examples are there? In this article we use Michael Porter’s activity positioning framework to show successful applications of competitive strategy from modern digital companies.
Toptal Talent Network Experts
Cybersecurity: What Every CEO and CFO Should Know
$7.35 million. That’s the average cost of a data breach is. Sure, cybersecurity isn’t sexy. However, in today’s digital age, it is undeniably critical for large corporations and small startups alike. This is compounded by the fact that hacks are becoming commonplace.
Read on to arm yourself with awareness to these invisible threats, and tangible steps you can take to protect yourself and your company.
Melissa Lin
Experts’ Corner: Pitch Deck Tips for Fundraising Success
Fundraising, for companies at any stage, is undoubtedly a challenging process. Even for seasoned entrepreneurs and startups already experiencing market traction, a compelling pitch and accompanying pitch deck are still necessary. While there is variance around stylistic delivery of the pitch and aesthetic of the deck itself, you might be relieved to hear that the infamous pitch deck boils down to a formula.
Melissa Lin
Advanced PowerPoint Presentation Tips and Hacks
Many have a love-hate relationship with Microsoft’s PowerPoint. While super flexible, the tool can also be manual, tedious, and all-consuming, especially for the uninitiated. Authored by a former management consultant and finance expert, this article will help every user—from the beginner to the advanced operator—smooth out some of their points of friction and become an expert-level user of the application.
Melissa Lin
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