At Scaled, we guide founders through the evolving private equity (PE) landscape. The narrative around PE has shifted, and no one understands this better than our founder, Simon Penson.

Simon brings decades of experience as a board advisor and NED, working with both PE funds and portfolio companies. He’s seen how the next generation of PE has become founder-friendly, operator-led, and focused on building lasting value.

In the post below, Simon shares how founders can rethink PE – not as a threat, but as a true partner – and maximise both growth and personal de-risking.

Why the Old PE Playbook Stopped Working

The classic model: buy a business (~8× EBITDA), add leverage, cut costs, wait for multiple expansion, then sell (~12×).

It worked when capital was cheap. Today, costs are higher, LPs demand realised returns, and “multiple arbitrage” alone isn’t enough. Leading firms have shifted from financial engineering to capability building.

From Bankers to Builders

Top PE houses now act like operators. The first 100 days focus on scaling, not cutting, with attention to commercial strategy, GTM, pricing, and operational systems. They map the customer journey, instrument the funnel, professionalise pricing and packaging, and upgrade tech and data systems to create a single source of truth.

They also establish RevOps as a core function and implement operating rhythms like weekly dashboards and quarterly experiments to drive measurable results. Operational leverage now compounds faster than financial leverage ever did.

Founder-Friendly is a Competitive Advantage

Top funds behave like partners: they show up regularly, bring sector playbooks and operator benches, and share pattern recognition across multiple businesses.

At Scaled, we often sit in the middle, supporting both founders and funds with fractional GTM, sales, and marketing leadership. When everyone leans in, results are faster and less risky.

How PE Typically Invests

  • Majority recap with rollover: Sell 70–80% of equity, roll 20–30% into NewCo, de-risk while staying aligned with growth.

  • Growth equity (minority): Keep control while the fund accelerates GTM, product, or M&A.

  • Buy-and-build: Use your company as a platform for acquisitions, where integration, shared services, and brand architecture are critical.

Rollover matters: You de-risk upfront but retain a stake in future upside, often greater than the first cheque.

What Good PE Looks Like

A strong partner brings sector depth, operating muscle, evidence of day-one value creation, strong references, and aligned governance. Red flags include purely financial conversations, cost-cutting as the main lever, or vague growth plans.

What Founders Must Bring

Founders need honesty, ambition, and leadership capacity. Instrument your business, professionalise GTM, optimise pricing, and maintain a disciplined change cadence through experiments and quarterly themes.

How Scaled Helps

As NED and advisor, Simon Penson and the Scaled team:

  • Build value-creation plans pre-close

  • Provide fractional GTM leadership

  • Implement tech spine and reporting

  • Prove and scale the growth engine

When founder, fund, and operators align, rollover equity becomes a genuine wealth event.

Should You Consider PE as a Partner?

Yes, if you want to de-risk personally, professionalise operations, accelerate growth, or roll up a category.
No, if you prefer zero governance or operational change.

Founder’s Diligence Checklist: Sector proof, operating plan, attribution, governance, people plan, rollover math, exit logic.

Bottom Line

PE is no longer the villain. The best firms are force multipliers, combining capital, capability, and pattern recognition. Founders who embrace partnership scale faster, de-risk early, and retain meaningful stakes.

Old model: “buy cheap, cut hard, sell quick.”
New model: “build capability, drive growth, win together.”

At Scaled, led by Simon Penson, we provide fractional leadership and advisory expertise to protect the first cheque and maximise the second.