Former private equity operator. Current CEO. Sharing deals, stories, and lessons from my career | book recs: peoperator.co
Joined November 2020
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Mar 11
I once presented a billionaire some of the highest-ROI projects I'd ever found.
Some north of 1,000% IRR.
I have never forgotten his response.
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Trump completes the Iran deal and will celebrate with a UFC event at the White House. Not a bad 80th birthday!
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PEoperator⚡️ retweeted
9 Aug 2025
One of the best follows on here is @PEoperator
He constantly shares real-world, applicable leadership lessons related to operating a business.
This type of content is what makes this platform so valuable.
Highly recommend following him at @PEoperator
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In my experience, the best operators are driven by solving problems because they HAVE to. It’s their nature.
Building wealth is a byproduct.
Take, for example, my favorite operator, John Malone:
“Wealth is never what drove me, though I have been incredibly successful, beyond anything I ever could have expected. What really drove me was a desire to bring order to chaos.”
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Jun 12
In investment banking I worked for an MD who technology challenged.
We were working the sell side on a deal where we were talking to buyers in Europe.
This is early 2000s.
One day he walks back to the bullpen, earnest and serious.
Looks across a bunch of 20 something analysts and asks how we could get in touch with people in Europe.
Everyone totally puzzled is dumbstruck. No one knows what he’s really asking.
So one analyst finally pipes up and says: “email?”
The MD immediately replies:
“They got email over there?”
At this point none of us know what’s going on. He is dead serious.
So the analysis responds: “yes, but you have to put “intercontinental email” in the subject line or it won’t go through.”
At this point the bullpen can barely control itself. Lots of hands in front of faces and covering mouths.
MD says “ok great thanks” and walks away.
When he’s out of earshot, the bullpen finally erupts.
Still have no idea what that MD put in the subject line.
When you’re young, those kind of bullpen experience are so fun.
The comradely you can build when you’re just starting out is amazing.
The workload is often high but try to appreciate that phase of your career and not just focus on getting ahead.
Someday you’ll miss it!
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Jun 11
This was a lot more controversial than I expected.
Comments split into two opposite camps.
Jun 11
Was talking with our CFO.
He coaches little league. Got into it with the other coach.
CFO’s player (bats last) gets HBP in the head/neck. Gets dizzy.
He decides to sit him out. Kids mom agrees.
Other coach comes over… hey whats the rule here?
Like he’s being totally objective.
In fact, he’s trying to get an automatic out.
These are 9 yo kids. This “adult” man is trying to win a game at the expense of a 9 yo.
So the hurt 9 yo feels bad, says “I can go.” CFO coach (former coach of the year btw) says no way, we’ll just take the out.
The opposing coach is hiding behind the rules. “Just trying to understand.”
No you’re not. You’re pathetic scum trying to find a way to win a 9 yo baseball game. At a 9 yo kids expense.
The point I want to make here is: you can’t compartmentalize your soul.
That coach may console himself “I’m a great family man”, or “I volunteer” or “I’m a deacon at church.”
But that is not your identity, those are just things you do.
Same is true in business. Just because it’s allowed doesn’t mean you should do it.
You know that but you still justify behavior sometimes by what’s allowed.
I know because I’ve done it too.
How you do things matter. You are a collection of little decisions. The big ones are easier. It’s the little behaviors that end up making you who you are.
I posted about an MD who, through a banker buddy, reached out to a former employee to surmise his status.
The point wasn’t that he can’t do that… he can. These point is, for 2 years, he’s been denigrating this employee after an acrimonious departure. And for those 2 years he’s been worried sick because he knows that guy could hurt him.
Imagine looking in the mirror every night and knowing you’re a fraud.
That MD probably has a family and considers himself a good person. Meanwhile in business, he does things he wouldn’t tell his priest.
Not because the priest wouldn’t forgive him, but because he has justified this behavior so much he doesn’t see a problem with it.
Meanwhile his soul erodes.
That’s the same as this little league coach. He’s out there volunteering, just checking on the rules but actually asking for a 9 yo with a concussion to either get back out there or be the reason his team loses.
If he wins the game like that, he loses some self respect.
But actually- he didn’t win.
The CFO coach decided to take the out for the kid and in the last inning, his team rallied and won the game!
In fact they rallied so hard that they batted all the way through and the kid sitting out cost them two automatic outs.
CFO coach left with a the respect of the crowd, his own self respect, and a win.
The loser coach went home to justify himself in the mirror.
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Jun 11
Was talking with our CFO.
He coaches little league. Got into it with the other coach.
CFO’s player (bats last) gets HBP in the head/neck. Gets dizzy.
He decides to sit him out. Kids mom agrees.
Other coach comes over… hey whats the rule here?
Like he’s being totally objective.
In fact, he’s trying to get an automatic out.
These are 9 yo kids. This “adult” man is trying to win a game at the expense of a 9 yo.
So the hurt 9 yo feels bad, says “I can go.” CFO coach (former coach of the year btw) says no way, we’ll just take the out.
The opposing coach is hiding behind the rules. “Just trying to understand.”
No you’re not. You’re pathetic scum trying to find a way to win a 9 yo baseball game. At a 9 yo kids expense.
The point I want to make here is: you can’t compartmentalize your soul.
That coach may console himself “I’m a great family man”, or “I volunteer” or “I’m a deacon at church.”
But that is not your identity, those are just things you do.
Same is true in business. Just because it’s allowed doesn’t mean you should do it.
You know that but you still justify behavior sometimes by what’s allowed.
I know because I’ve done it too.
How you do things matter. You are a collection of little decisions. The big ones are easier. It’s the little behaviors that end up making you who you are.
I posted about an MD who, through a banker buddy, reached out to a former employee to surmise his status.
The point wasn’t that he can’t do that… he can. These point is, for 2 years, he’s been denigrating this employee after an acrimonious departure. And for those 2 years he’s been worried sick because he knows that guy could hurt him.
Imagine looking in the mirror every night and knowing you’re a fraud.
That MD probably has a family and considers himself a good person. Meanwhile in business, he does things he wouldn’t tell his priest.
Not because the priest wouldn’t forgive him, but because he has justified this behavior so much he doesn’t see a problem with it.
Meanwhile his soul erodes.
That’s the same as this little league coach. He’s out there volunteering, just checking on the rules but actually asking for a 9 yo with a concussion to either get back out there or be the reason his team loses.
If he wins the game like that, he loses some self respect.
But actually- he didn’t win.
The CFO coach decided to take the out for the kid and in the last inning, his team rallied and won the game!
In fact they rallied so hard that they batted all the way through and the kid sitting out cost them two automatic outs.
CFO coach left with a the respect of the crowd, his own self respect, and a win.
The loser coach went home to justify himself in the mirror.
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Jun 11
I’m currently reading a book purely to ingratiate myself to a proprietary target.
Seller recommends—>I read —>he likes me—>we do business.
Not taught in business schools.
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Jun 10
I’m on the board of this little PE business where a goofy, bumbling CEO going to get a 5x MOIC.
We bought the business about six years ago.
It was small. A couple million of EBITDA.
Even during diligence, Management was a question mark.
They had been around a long time and done a good job stewarding the business, but they weren’t the guys to take it to the next level.
The business was stagnant and in a sleepy industry.
But we loved the business itself. Sticky customers, annual price increases, and plenty of fragmentation in the industry.
I was more heavily involved early on- advising on basic management and helping the MD think through options.
Eventually he decided it was time for a change at CEO.
So we brought in a guy from a different industry with a similar operating model.
He was definitely an upgrade.
But he never really evolved. Was avoiding hard decisions and was very reactionary.
So we brought in a CFO.
Immediate upgrade to the business. Huge impact. Organization, dialogues sophistication all near immediately upgraded.
Then the PE firm brought in a sales leader from the space. Sales grew.
Then the PE firm led seven add-ons. Great fits- some tuck ins, some adjacent bolt ons.
Multiples started to appreciate. The multiple will roughly double from what we paid. The space got hot.
So this goofy CEO who is constantly two steps forward, one step back, that no one is thrilled with will end up with a great result.
Maybe even a 6x.
Credit to the guy for getting into a good situation.
Who knows what the business could do with a top tier CEO? Maybe it would have grown more, or faster…
But at this point the firm is thinking of exiting and no one wants to make a change this late in the game.
Great value creation story for the firm, no doubt.
Just painful to think about what (maybe) could have been.
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Jun 9
When I was in college I thought I wanted to be an Econ professor.
So, I called Harvard from my dorm landline and asked if they’d rather see a math minor or accounting minor for Econ graduate work.
They transferred me to the dept head.
I asked my question, he said math, and so I chose that.
Moral of the story: you can literally talk to people at the top of their profession, just by calling.
Maybe counter-intuitive, but it’s even easier when you are young or an upstart.
People are often more willing to help and impressed that you’re trying so hard or made it all the way to them.
Can’t tell you how many doors have opened for me just because I knocked.
Knock. Call. Ask.
The worst that can happen is they say no.
The best that can happen is your life changes forever.
Asymmetric opportunity.
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Jun 8
My grandfather farmed and built that his son might engineer. His son engineered that his son could private equity in order to give his children a right to venture capital.
-John Adams
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Jun 7
If you are the person who posted this to Reddit, I would love to talk
Jun 7
This is the tough lesson that a lot of people are learning the hard way
AI might have made building apps a lot easier, but it also set the barrier to entry at zero
Because anyone can do it, there is no moat left
The only edge left in the future will be sales and marketing
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Jun 7
Great read.
Captivating stories and lessons from @jonmcneill ‘s wide-ranging career, most notably as President of Tesla.
Lots of Elon content and an efficient, quick read (practicing what he preaches).
Definitely recommend.
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Jun 7
Here’s a video where Jon discusses some of the lessons
May 14
I thought this was a really great interview with the former president of Tesla.
Many practical takeaways. Here are mine:
- CEO interviews every new hire, manager and above
- Ask interviewees a) about a problem they solved and b) about how they would tackle one of your problems
---> Go deep here
- Walk the floor. Observe. Be quiet. Listen.
- Watch the customer try to use the product
- Keep emails succinct - three sentences: Problem - Root Cause - Solution
Highly recommend watching.
@ShaanVP @jonmcneill
youtube.com/watch?v=GG4TwQEY…
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Jun 6
Over the last couple weeks, I reread The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
It was a welcomed departure from my normal non-fiction routine.
Those books get better with every reading.
And man, did I recognize a lot of company names!
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Jun 5
Met with a company yesterday-
No website, no signage, no marketing
$90M sales / $18M EBITDA
2 guys started it 5 years ago
Absolutely insane and goes to show just how much opportunity there is out there.
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