Webinar Recording: The Data Driving Private Equity Investment - An Executive Leadership Roundtable

0:00 Intro
5:46 Key Factors in Private Equity Evaluation
9:20 Impact of Accurate Financial Reporting
13:15 Forward-Thinking Financial Leadership in PE
17:36 Exploring "Quality of Earnings" and First 100 Days
22:52 Navigating Mergers/Acquisitions with NetSuite
26:00 Private Equity's Goal in the First 100 Days
29:40 "Technology as a Talent Magnet" Concept
34:50 Real-World KPIs in Decision Making
38:39 Importance of "Single Source of Data Truth"
41:49 Influence of Organizational Leadership in Investment
46:00 Evolving Analytics and FP&A Software Impact
52:48 Q&A Wrap-up

Join the executive leadership of three organizations navigating the Private Equity ecosystem for a roundtable discussion focused on the KPIs that are driving investment.

David Smooha is the leader of Business Solution Partners (BSP) - a business software consultancy focused on the NetSuite ERP.

Nathan Chandrasekaran is the principal partner of Columbia River Partners (CRP) - a Private Equity firm with emphasis on the technology software and services sector.

Alan Chaffee is the CEO of Turning Point Strategic Advisors (TP) - an organization delivering staffing and advisory services around all things financial.

The conversation is led by Craig Cook - Chief Marketing Officer for BSP.

(05:46) Our conversation begins Nathan providing some context around the key factors that private equity firms use to evaluate potential acquisitions and delves into some of the specific baseline KPIs that drive decision making.

(09:20) We hear from David about the impact of accurate financial reporting and the importance of integrated business systems that provide a holistic view of your financial and operational health.

(13:15) Alan explores the correlation between forward thinking financial leadership and successfully navigating the Private Equity landscape, and identifies some of the roadblocks to engagement.

(17:36) We turn back to Nathan who takes a moment to discuss the concept of "Quality of Earnings" - a reporting process that dissects an organizations sources of income and rates the mix of income against organizational goals. Then he shifts gears to expand upon the first 100 days, and how PE Firms align acquisitions for collaboration.

(22:52) David discuss how an ERP system like NetSuite helps organizations navigate mergers and/or acquisitions. He highlights the importance of planning ahead, and ensuring systems and processes are aligned to the expected growth - acknowledging the demands of disruptive actions like onboarding a large number of new employees.

(26:00) We turn back to the "100 Day Plan Post-Closing" as Nathan continues to define the goal of Private Equity - ensuring that the business has the tools, talent and technology to meet the expectations of growth and the increased demands on a business post investment.

(29:40) Craig poses the concept of "Technology as a Talent Magnet" and turns to Alan for some insights. Nathan then talks about the challenges of evaluating, implementing and integrating new technologies to stay at the forefront of the marketplace.

(34:50) Craig asks the panel to get down to brass tacks, and list some real world KPIs that are at the top of the decision making hierarchy. Nathan provides a comprehensive list with definitions including Quality of Revenue, Profitability from a Gross Margin perspective, EBIDTA / EBIDTA Margins, and the EBIDTA to Free Cash Flow view. Alan identifies Capital Efficiency, Inventory Turns, Debt Service and Leverage. David add that a host of non-financial KPIs - like labor force efficiency and turnover - play an important role, ultimately influencing the bottom line.

(38:39) David discusses the importance of a "single source of data truth" and the complications of siloed data in disparate systems. He outlines the role of integrations between software systems with the goal of data transparency and trustworthiness.

(41:49) We turn to Alan who discusses the importance of organizational leadership, and how different leadership capabilities and focus influence investment decisions. He shift gears to

(46:00) We turn to Nathan with a question about the evolving capabilities of analytics and how that might influence the future of investment. We shift to David to discuss FP&A software, specifically calling out Workday Adaptive Planning, to understand the importance of financial forecasting.

(52:48) We introduce BSP Account Executive Anthony Meshnick as a point-of-contact for any follow-up our audience may require. Then David fields a question from the audience around KPI visualization and we wrap up with a decision around anomaly / exemption reporting.