Ep. 27: Adam Solomon, Thoma Bravo | How to Identify and Scale High-Quality Software Companies

On this episode, Shiv interviews Adam Solomon, Partner at Thoma Bravo. Shiv and Adam discuss how Thoma Bravo’s focus on market-leading companies impacts their approach to evaluating assets and value creation. Hear how one of the biggest PE firms in the world approaches due diligence, performance metrics, profitable growth, and founder relationships in high-quality companies. Plus, learn how they leverage pattern recognition and internal benchmarks to maintain a competitive advantage. ⏱️ Time Stamps 0:00 Intro 2:22 Thoma Bravo’s approach to identifying and evaluating potential investments 8:57 What makes Thoma Bravo stand out in a competitive market 11:02 How to develop a value creation plan that drives alpha in high-quality assets 16:02 How to keep portfolio companies accountable with a hands-on approach to data 18:37 Laying the groundwork for high-impact value creation initiatives 22:03 How being a bigger firm impacts Thoma Bravo’s approach to due diligence 26:37 Which metrics in potential acquisitions are improvable, and which are harder to fix 30:13 How Thoma Bravo finds the balance between growth and sustainable profitability in the current market 33:37 How high-quality assets can grow while maintaining best-in-class margins 36:29 The ongoing market opportunity in software 39:08 A collaborative approach to working with founders and management teams that values market expertise and culture 🎙️ Tune into the Private Equity Value Creation Podcast: https://Uw0e0m.short.gy/OuguTr 👇🏽 Find Us Here https://Uw0e0m.short.gy/yXvEWt #privateequity #privateequitypodcast #privateequityvaluecreation