Wharton Private Equity Review: Finding Value in a Crowded Market - Knowledge@Wharton

This fascinating article first appeared in "Knowledge @ Wharton," and was forward by David Teten in his Brain Food Blog. The article caught my attention for several reasons. First, the participants in the Wharton conference on Private Equity highlighted the importance of placing a responsive mangement team at the helm of a portfolio company. Second, conference speakers expressed an interesting variety of opinions on the importance of a Private Equity firm taking firm control of the Board of Directors.

These two topics particularly caught my eye because, as my Executive Search practice grows and matures, I find myself spending a growing percentage of my time helping Private Equity firms (and Venture Capital firms, as well) to identify and hire operating leadership talent and Board of Directors talent to lead their portfolio companies. Many of these operating executives and Board members come from my network of former military leaders, others come from my network of senior leaders who have earned MBA's from top-tier business schools, and still others are best categorized as Renaissance Men and Women who bring broad and deep knowledge of the world and of human nature to the task of leading a company that is in transition.

Enjoy the article.

Al

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1457.cfm