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The Private Equity Podcast, by Raw Selection

The Private Equity Podcast, by Raw Selection

By: Alex Rawlings
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Hosted by Alex Rawlings, Managing Partner of Raw Selection, a specialist executive search firm. Join us as we interview the leading experts in Private Equity, unlocking their secrets of success to share with you.

Discover how some of the top Private Equity professionals got into Private Equity, how they rose to success and learn about some of the mistakes they made along the way.

Alex has strong connections to the Private Equity industry through his executive search firm, Raw Selection, which specialises in working with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies across Europe and North America. Alex is straight talking and to the point and aims to unlock real gold you can build into your firm or portfolio companies. Find out more at www.raw-selection.com

© 2025 The Private Equity Podcast, by Raw Selection
Economics Personal Development Personal Finance Personal Success
Episodes
  • Investing in the hospitality industry with Nate Edgerly
    Jul 8 2025

    In this insightful episode, Nate Edgerly, CEO of Enzo Group Inc., discusses his journey from CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers to a seasoned private equity investor and executive leader in the hospitality industry. Nate shares valuable insights on leadership, long-term investing, and what makes hospitality businesses thrive or fail.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Nate’s journey from CPA to CEO, highlighting his pivotal experiences in private equity and operating roles.
    • Lessons learned from running a business, enhancing empathy, and effectively partnering with leadership teams.
    • What separates exceptional CEOs: empathy, people-focus, and creating a supportive culture.
    • Common private equity mistakes: prioritizing short-term gains over long-term strategic growth and cultural investment.
    • The decision behind Enzo Group's unique approach to raising capital—democratizing access beyond institutional investors.

    Notable Mentions:

    • Book Recommendations:
      • Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
      • Warren Buffett’s investor letters
      • Leadership insights by Simon Sinek, Daniel Pink, John Maxwell
      • Mastery by Robert Greene
    • Brands Admired:
      • Ladybird Taco, Original Chop Shop, Cava, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Golden Corral

    Timestamps:

    • 00:00 – Introduction to Nate Edgley
    • 02:30 – Nate’s early career and transition to private equity
    • 06:10 – What Nate learned from operating roles
    • 10:00 – Qualities of exceptional CEOs
    • 13:15 – Mistakes private equity firms make and Nate's long-term investment philosophy
    • 17:20 – Enzo Group’s unique capital-raising strategy
    • 21:45 – Why choose the volatile hospitality industry?
    • 27:30 – Critical success factors for restaurant businesses
    • 32:00 – Brands admired by Nate and reasons behind their success
    • 38:00 – Nate's insights on executive search firms
    • 42:00 – Influences, recommended readings, and learning resources
    • 45:20 – How to connect with Nate Edgley

    Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

    🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
    🌐 Visit Raw Selection www.raw-selection.com

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    30 mins
  • Building a $2.3 billion-dollar business from the ground up with Jeff Zwiefel
    Jul 1 2025

    In this episode, Alex speaks with Jeff Zwiefel, former President & COO of Life Time, about scaling the business from $139M to $2.3B in revenue and navigating multiple private equity exits and IPOs. Jeff shares how a people-first culture and rigorous training enabled long-term, sustainable growth in a competitive industry.

    Jeff discusses why private equity firms often miss the mark by focusing only on KPIs and financials, instead of investing in leadership, culture, and succession. He explains Life Time’s unique "casting" approach to hiring, their internal university for training, and the importance of empowering GMs as mini-CEOs of their locations.

    The conversation also covers trends in the health and wellness sector, the rise of personalized longevity services, and how private equity can unlock new value in this rapidly evolving space.

    🕰️ Timestamps:
    00:00 – Jeff Zwiefel’s background & journey at Life Time
    01:53 – The biggest mistake PE firms make
    03:21 – Why people, culture, and purpose drive success
    06:15 – How to assess leadership in health and fitness businesses
    08:13 – “Casting,” not hiring: Building the right team
    09:38 – Lifetime University & Navy SEAL-style GM training
    11:34 – Accountability, culture, and performance awards
    13:29 – The GM certification process & promotion pipeline
    17:20 – Investing in employees for long-term loyalty
    19:18 – Dashboards & career growth planning
    20:48 – Leadership by example: From towel folding to training
    22:43 – Core traits Jeff looks for in leaders
    24:09 – The 8 leadership attributes at Life Time
    25:36 – How ownership mindset and equity drives behavior
    28:29 – Interview strategies for soft skills and leadership potential
    32:18 – Measuring success through team development and turnover
    34:15 – Auditing the customer experience as a PE firm
    35:14 – Lessons from COVID: Digital experience & pricing
    39:07 – PE deal activity in health & fitness
    41:06 – Jeff’s new venture: Miura Performance & Longevity
    43:55 – Practical health advice for busy professionals
    46:20 – Supplements, red light, cold plunge, and more
    47:50 – Opportunity for PE in bundling wellness services
    48:17 – How to contact Jeff

    📌 Key Takeaways:

    • PE must look beyond financials to people and leadership.
    • High performance culture starts with casting, training, and accountability.
    • Wellness and longevity are emerging as investable and scalable PE categories.
    • Personalized health solutions offer huge market potential.

    📨 Connect with Jeff Zwiefel:
    🔗 LinkedIn
    🌐 jzweifel.com

    Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent.
    We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

    🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
    🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

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    49 mins
  • The professionalisation of Private Equity with Henry Ward
    Jun 24 2025

    In this episode, Alex Rawlings is joined by Henry Ward, CEO and Co-Founder of Carta, to explore the evolving landscape of private equity and venture capital through the lens of software, operations, and professionalization. Henry shares his journey building Carta into a multi-billion-dollar software business and how it’s transforming the infrastructure of private markets.

    Henry dives into why private equity must evolve from its legacy of financial engineering to an operational value-add model—and how the next generation of firms is doing just that. He also unpacks Carta’s roadmap for building cloud-native tools for PE firms, including fund accounting, cap tables, waterfalls, and LP portals. Plus, he explains the two-speed mentality of balancing venture-style growth with private equity-level rigor—and what he’s learned along the way.

    🕰️ Timestamps:
    00:03 – Welcome and introduction to Henry Ward and Carta
    00:29 – Carta’s mission and Henry’s background
    00:58 – The outdated mindset in legacy PE firms
    01:40 – Hard lessons building a multi-S-curve business
    04:02 – Scaling in small markets and fast saturation
    05:22 – Innovating inside a scaled company (recommendation: Loonshots)
    07:18 – What Henry would do differently (spoiler: gather more info, faster)
    09:41 – Grata ad spot
    10:09 – Carta’s three-layer approach in venture: cap tables, fund ops, LP portals
    12:54 – Applying the same playbook to private equity and private credit
    13:50 – The speed of reporting in PE is accelerating—software must follow
    14:48 – Why PE and VC have lagged in professionalization
    16:15 – Influence of firms like Andreessen Horowitz in redefining fund operations
    17:42 – Back-office vs strategic finance in PE firms
    18:42 – Competition and differentiation are driving the need for change
    19:37 – What should PE automate first? Fund accounting
    20:36 – AI disruption in accounting and the end of manual debits and credits
    22:03 – Cloud adoption in PE is still lagging—40% still on-prem!
    22:31 – Balancing venture-style growth and PE-style discipline on Carta’s cap table
    24:56 – Strategic value of PE investors when aligned with product growth
    25:24 – Henry’s reading habits and framework (read the ends, skip the middle)
    26:53 – Timeless business books and staying current with The Economist
    27:23 – How to contact Henry

    📌 Key Takeaways:

    • PE is shifting from financial engineering to operational alpha.
    • The professionalization of private equity firms is overdue and underway.
    • Carta is bringing fund accounting, cap tables, and LP ops into the cloud.
    • PE must adopt tech to compete, especially as investor and platform competition heats up.
    • Automation of accounting and reporting is the low-hanging fruit for transformation.
    • Balancing growth and discipline requires the right capital partners—and Carta has both.

    📨 Connect with Henry Ward:
    📧 Email: henry@carta.com

    Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent.
    We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

    🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
    🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

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    28 mins
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