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

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

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