Private equity’s old playbook did not break. It expired.

The weather changed and a lot of firms discovered the “operating model” was mostly just cheap debt, forgiving exits, and a decent haircut.

That was the core of my keynote at SuperReturn Operating Partners Miami.

For years, PE could get away with governance theatre and call it value creation. Quarterly board meetings. A few dashboards. An operating partner with plenty of opinions and very little authority. Everyone nods. Nothing changes.

That model worked when the market was doing half the job.

Now the maths are uglier.

To get to the same 2.5x MOIC over five years, firms used to need about 5% EBITDA growth.

Now they need 10 to 12%.

“12 is the new 5” is not a nice conference soundbite. It is the problem.

Growth is no longer optional. Neither is execution.

Which means operating partners cannot be part-time therapists for management teams. They need mandate, cadence, data, and the authority to intervene before year three arrives and everyone starts blaming “the market.”

The next era of private equity will not be won by the firms with the smartest deck.

It will be won by the firms that can actually operate.