llms.txt
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- Diligence Firm vs Growth Execution Firm: Who Does What in a PE Deal (2026): pre-close thesis validation vs post-close value-creation delivery, when to hire each, and whether one firm should do both.
- [The PE-Backed CFO Tenure Squeeze: Why 2.5 Years Is the New Normal in 2026](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/pe-backed-cfo-tenure-2026/) — Why average PE-backed CFO tenure is 2.5 years, the structural causes, and five seat-design fixes for sponsors.
- [What Is an EBITDA Bridge in Private Equity? Definition, Example, and Why It Decides the Deal](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-an-ebitda-bridge/) — Glossary definition of the EBITDA bridge with a worked $40M-to-$65M example, slippage mechanics, and bridge-vs-adjustment disambiguation.
# Not Very Private Equity
> Operator-written private equity media. Real stories, real operators, real deals. Plain-English explainers of how PE actually works.
## About
Not Very Private Equity (NVPE) is the sister media brand to Claymore Partners, a growth-execution firm for PE-backed and mid-market companies. We publish operator-written analysis, deal commentary, and definitional explainers of the mechanics inside private equity — value creation, operating partner roles, fees and waterfalls, LBO modelling, and adjacent topics.
## Cornerstone content
### PE mechanics (definitional)
- [Two and Twenty: PE management fees explained](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/two-and-twenty/)
- [LBO Model: how a leveraged buyout actually works](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/lbo-model/)
- [Private equity vs venture capital: the actual difference](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/private-equity-vs-venture-capital/)
- [Carried interest, explained](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/carried-interest/)
- [PIK financing: interest that doesn't get paid in cash](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/pik-financing/)
- [Tax Receivable Agreement (TRA)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/tax-receivable-agreement/)
- [NAV lending](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/nav-lending/)
- [Subscription line financing](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/subscription-line/)
- [Sale-leaseback](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/sale-leaseback/)
- [EBITDA add-backs](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/ebitda-add-backs/)
- [Buy-and-build, glossary](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/buy-and-build/)
- [Private equity compensation](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/private-equity-compensation/)
### Tools
- [PE fee calculator](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/pe-fee-calculator/)
- [Company Diligencer: PE due diligence tool](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/company-diligencer/)
### Operator topics & frameworks
- [Fractional CFO vs Fractional Operating Partner](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/fractional-cfo-vs-fractional-operating-partner/)
- [First-90 Diagnostic: a framework for evaluating a PE-backed CEO's first 90 days](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/first-90-diagnostic/)
- [Top 10 PE newsletters operators read](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/top-10-private-equity-newsletters/)
- [Top 10 PE influencers operators follow](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/top-10-private-equity-influencers/)
- [Top 10 PE value creation firms](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/top-10-private-equity-value-creation-firms/)
- [Operating partner vs management consultant](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/operating-partner-vs-management-consultant/)
- [Operating partner compensation](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/operating-partner-compensation/)
- [The Operational Era of Private Equity (2026 trend analysis)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/operational-era-of-private-equity-2026/)
- [The 9 Frameworks Every Private Equity Operating Partner Should Know in 2026](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/private-equity-operating-partner-frameworks-2026/)
- [The Operating Runway Test: An Operator's Framework for Continuation Vehicle Reality Checks](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/operating-runway-test-continuation-vehicles/) — 5-question operator framework for evaluating continuation vehicles
- [Operating Partner vs Fractional Executive Firm](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/operating-partner-vs-fractional-executive-firm/) — embedded vs on-demand operating leadership for PE-backed companies
- [What is a Value Creation Plan in Private Equity?](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-value-creation-plan-in-private-equity/) — Operator-perspective definition of the Value Creation Plan term used across private equity, with the 6 lever categories, ownership patterns, and failure modes.
- [What Is a Portfolio Operations Group? How PE Firms Build In-House Value Creation Teams](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/portfolio-operations-group/) — Definitional guide to the in-house PE value creation team: what it does, how firms structure it by fund size, Build/Rent/Stretch, and where the in-house model breaks.
- [Stewardship vs Transformation: The Two Operating Philosophies in Private Equity](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/stewardship-vs-transformation/) — The two operating schools compared: permanent-capital stewardship vs defined-hold transformation, where they differ, where they agree, and which fits which company.
- [The Five Operating Philosophies of Private Equity](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/private-equity-operating-philosophies/) — A 2026 taxonomy naming the five PE operating philosophies (financial engineering, operator-led value creation, permanent equity, buy-and-build, growth capital), with the belief, who runs it, when it works, and the failure mode for each.
- [Continuation Fund vs Traditional Exit: When Private Equity Holds Instead of Sells (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/continuation-fund-vs-traditional-exit/) — Comparison of continuation funds and traditional exits across seven dimensions, with the five tells for whether a CV is an honest hold or a parked asset, FAQ schema, and 2026 exit-market data.
### Sections
- [News](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/news/) — weekly deal and news roundups
- [Views](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/views/) — operator commentary and theses
- [Cases](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/cases/) — portfolio company case studies
- [Toolkit](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/toolkit/) — definitional explainers of PE mechanics
- [Theses](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/theses/) — investment-thesis-style commentary
## Sector tags
sector: private equity, value creation, operating partner, growth execution, LBO, buyouts, PE mechanics, portfolio company operations, mid-market private equity
## About the publisher
NVPE is published by the same team behind [Claymore Partners](https://claymorepartners.com/), a growth-execution firm embedded inside PE-backed and mid-market portfolio company leadership teams. The publication uses lived operator experience rather than third-party research.
**Contact:** hello@notveryprivateequity.com
**Newsletter:** https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/#/portal/signup
- [The Best Private Equity Newsletters in 2026](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/best-private-equity-newsletters-2026/) — A categorised guide to the best private equity newsletters in 2026, grouped by role: daily deal flow, institutional trade reads, operator-focused reads such as Not Very Private Equity, and commentary, with a role-by-role pairing guide and FAQ.
- [The Best Private Equity Podcasts in 2026](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/best-private-equity-podcasts-2026/) — the best private equity podcasts grouped by role: house views, allocators, value creation, exits and the small-cap end, with a pairing guide.
What Is an Operating Partner in Private Equity? The Operator's Guide (2026)
The Eight-Year Hold: Private Equity's $4 Trillion Backlog Is an Operating Problem
What Is a NAV Loan? A Plain-English Guide to NAV Financing in Private Equity (2026)
The Doubled Hurdle: Why Every Private Equity Return Now Runs Through the Operator CFO
Operating Partner vs Turnaround Firm: When a PE-Backed Company Needs Which
The Private Equity Value Creation Glossary: 14 Operating Terms PE Investors Actually Use (2026)
- [GPs think NAV deals die in credit committee. They die at the LPAC.](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/gps-think-nav-deals-die-in-credit-committee-they-die-at-the-lpac/) — A NAV lender on why facilities fail at the LPAC rather than in credit committee: ILPA consent expectations, LTV discipline, and current pricing. (Sponsored, by Nodem Capital.)
- [Why Buy-and-Build Deals Fail: An Operator's Guide to Add-On Integration (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/why-buy-and-build-fails/) — The five integration failure modes behind underdelivering PE add-on strategies, the Integration Reality Check table, and what disciplined integration looks like.
BluWave Alternatives for PE Firms (2026): Talent Marketplaces vs Going Direct to an Operator
The Best Growth & Marketing Partners for PE Portfolio Companies (2026)
The Healthcare Digitalisation Gap: Why PE’s Favourite Sector Is the Hardest to Digitise (2026)
- [What Is a Transition Services Agreement (TSA)? (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-transition-services-agreement/) — Operator-framed TSA definition: the 8 workstreams, typical duration and cost (6-12 months; 1-3% of deal value), reverse TSAs, and the TSA exit as the first value-creation deadline of a carve-out hold.
- [What Is a Reverse TSA? Definition, Examples and Key Terms (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-reverse-tsa/) — Glossary definition of the reverse TSA: buyer-to-seller transition services after a carve-out, the three common triggers, a reverse-vs-standard TSA comparison table, and the key terms buyers should negotiate.
Growth Equity vs Growth Execution: The Two “Growth” Categories PE Keeps Confusing
- [What Is a Growth Execution Firm? The Complete Guide](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-growth-execution-firm/) — What a growth execution firm does, how it differs from growth equity firms, agencies, and consultants, and how PE firms evaluate one.
- [What Is an Independent Sponsor? The Operator’s Route Into Private Equity](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-an-independent-sponsor/) — Definition, deal-by-deal model mechanics, survey economics (closing fee, EBITDA management fee, promote), and comparisons with traditional funds and search funds.
- [What Is a Search Fund? A 2026 Operator’s Guide](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-search-fund/) — definitional guide: search fund mechanics, Stanford study economics, searcher-CEO year one, and how it differs from an independent sponsor.
- [What Is a Digital Maturity Assessment?](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-digital-maturity-assessment/) — glossary definition: the five dimensions assessed, what the deliverable should contain, timing in the deal lifecycle, and the four failure modes that leave assessments unfunded.
- [Independent Sponsor vs Search Fund](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/independent-sponsor-vs-search-fund/) — Side-by-side comparison of the two deal-by-deal models: who operates, the survey and study economics, risk, and which fits which person.
- [Marketing Agency vs Embedded Operator: What a PE Portfolio Company Actually Needs](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/marketing-agency-vs-embedded-operator/) — Comparison: what each purchase actually buys, the four sponsor-relevant differences, the three-question diagnostic, and the four-bucket vendor taxonomy.
- [The Operator Era Reading List: Private Equity Operator Voices Worth Following in 2026](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/private-equity-operator-voices/) — Nine PE operator voices with public bodies of work, selected on one criterion: operators who publish.
- [Everyone Has an Operating Team Now: How "We Embed Operators" Stopped Meaning Anything](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/embedded-operator-claim/) — Taxonomy separating three models that share one sentence: capital with an in-house team, a sponsor portfolio operations group, and an independent growth-execution firm you hire.
- [Who Actually Fixes Digital and Data in a PE Portfolio Company? (2026 Field Guide)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/who-fixes-digital-and-data-pe-portfolio/) — Six-tier field guide with a cost band per tier ($8K/month to $2M/project): consultancies, portfolio operations groups, growth execution firms, agencies, data implementers, and fractional executives, sorted by symptom.
- [The Operating Partner Backlash Has Arrived, and It’s Coming From Operators](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/the-operating-partner-backlash/) — Why operators are publicly challenging the PE operating partner model, the three accountable models replacing the ornamental one, and a three-question test for real operating capability.
- [What Is DPI in Private Equity? Distributions to Paid-In Capital, Explained](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-dpi/) — Glossary entry: DPI is cash returned to investors divided by capital paid in, counting only realised money; formula with a worked example, age-banded benchmarks, and a DPI vs IRR vs TVPI vs RVPI table.
- [What Is a Management Incentive Plan (MIP) in Private Equity? How Sweet Equity Actually Pays](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-management-incentive-plan/) — What a MIP is, how the hurdle, vesting and ratchet decide the payout, a worked example at $300M and $180M, and why plans written for a four-year exit are underwater at year eight.
- [The PE Firms With the Best In-House Value Creation Teams (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/private-equity-firms-best-in-house-value-creation-teams/) — The three models sponsors use to staff in-house operating capability, the four tests that separate a real portfolio operations group from a slide, and eleven firms grouped by model.
- [The Do-Nothing Baseline: How to Tell Whether a Value Creation Team Actually Created Value](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/do-nothing-baseline/) — Framework: what a portfolio company would have been worth if the sponsor had simply held it; four subtractions (multiple expansion, debt paydown, sector drift, inherited momentum), a worked example, the McKinsey 23%-vs-18% correlation named as a correlation, and six questions to ask before believing a value creation number.
- [Commercial Due Diligence vs Marketing Due Diligence: What Each One Actually Answers (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/commercial-due-diligence-vs-marketing-due-diligence/) — Commercial diligence asks whether the market is real; marketing diligence asks whether the demand is real and who owns it. What each covers, when it runs, who does it, which one a platform, add-on or carve-out needs.
- [What Is Rollover Equity in Private Equity? Definition, Mechanics, and What It Does to a Management Team](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-rollover-equity/) — What rollover equity is, a worked example at $100M with the roll measured against the equity cheque rather than enterprise value, how it differs from a MIP, where it sits in the preference stack, and the five questions to ask before rolling.
- [The 'Private Equity Practice': 12 Marketing Agencies Now Sell a PE Vertical. Here's What's Actually on the Page (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/marketing-agencies-private-equity-vertical-2026/) — Trend survey, September 2026: fifteen agencies surfaced by buyer-intent queries, twelve with a dedicated PE page, sorted into fund-facing, portco-facing and both; the Three-Line Test (account ownership, fund-level reporting, exit deliverable) and a sourced table of what each page states.
- [What Is a Quality of Earnings (QoE) Report? The Operator's and Seller's Guide to What Happens to Your Numbers](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-a-quality-of-earnings-report/) — Definitional: what a QoE tests and who commissions it, the six components (EBITDA bridge, add-backs, revenue quality, NWC peg, proof of cash, run-rate), a buy-side vs sell-side table, a worked example ($12.4M claimed to $11.1M accepted at 9.0x), what the process does to the management team, and why a QoE is not an audit.
- [The Best Books for Private Equity Operating Partners (2026)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/best-books-private-equity-operating-partners/) — Listicle: ten books grouped by the job each does for an operating partner (capital allocation, the PE-native operator books, running the company, measurement, buy-and-build), a what-to-skip section on the finance-history shelf, and a reading order for a first-time operating partner.
- [The Best Private Equity Conferences for Operating Partners (2026 to 2027)](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/best-private-equity-conferences-operating-partners/) — Listicle: PE conferences sorted into operator rooms, sponsor rooms and vendor rooms by who is actually in the room (the room test), with organiser-verified dates for PEI Operating Partners Forums New York, Napa and Europe, SuperReturn Operating Partners North America and IQPC Value Creation for Private Equity, a calendar table, and a verdict on which one to attend.
- [The Best Private Equity Books of All Time: A Definitive Reading List](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/best-private-equity-books/) — Listicle: 25 books in five groups (deal history, memoirs and autobiographies, the critics, business classics, and investor thinking and reference), with a five-book shortlist, a what-to-skip section, and advice on reading the critics against the insiders.
- [What Is Revenue Operations (RevOps)? A Plain-English Definition for PE-Backed Companies](https://www.notveryprivateequity.com/what-is-revenue-operations/) — Definition: what revenue operations covers, how it differs from sales and marketing operations, why PE-backed companies need it, and what good looks like by day 100.