If I were building an LP pitch today
I’d spend 5 minutes on past returns
and 25 on how we actually create value.
Because past returns don’t win the next deal. And they certainly don’t justify 2 and 20 in a market where PE is getting harder.
The days of buying low, levering up, cutting a few heads, and flipping it to the next fund are fading fast.
Multiples are tighter. Debt’s more expensive. Competition is smarter.
You want LP money today? You’d better have a story beyond “we’ve done this before.”
You need to show how you grow companies.
Organically. Repeatedly. Predictably.
Show them:
• The revenue levers you know how to pull
• The talent you can attract and deploy
• The sales engines you’ve built from scratch
• The marketing channels that scale in low-capex businesses
• The playbooks you’ve pressure-tested, broken, rebuilt
• The integration processes that don’t burn culture or customers
• And how all of that is operationalised—not just theory
Most decks are full of charts and hockey sticks.
Few can articulate how value is actually created.
That’s where the real differentiation is.
If I were an LP, I wouldn’t care how many deals you’ve done.
I’d care how many companies you’ve built.