Private equity – it’s all about the personalities

To those on the outside, it often seemed that these young technocrats were creating multi-billion entities with nothing more than a great idea and a smart PowerPoint presentation. Few really understood the roles played by venture capitalists behind these companies - they found and funded the entrepreneurs, and then supported them as the companies, and the responsibilities, grew.

This has also been true for the growth capital and buyout space, where senior professionals have, on many occasions, gone out on a limb for the sake of a deal they believed in. I have known of several deals that took years in making as professionals cultivated friendships with business owners and showed them how partnerships private equity could be mutually beneficial. In many cases, the chemistry, friendship and partnership between investor and investee is a crucial factor as to whether a deal thrives or flounders.

The people factor goes beyond portfolio companies and into the relationship between private equity firms themselves. As one senior GP famously said at one of our events, "Private equity professionals are like rugby players. They beat the hell out of each other in the pitch but once the game is over, they all meet at bar for a couple of beers." As competition for deals get more intense, private equity firms are encouraged to team up instead of try and outbid each other. However, it is pretty obvious that in these partnerships, the chemistry between the teams - especially the decision makers - is vital in making sure LPs are the winners in the end.

This week, AVCJ launches a series of profiles of some of the private equity professionals that make our industry so vibrant and interesting. These articles will look at the people behind the job titles and what they get up to away from the negotiating table. We start with Bill Owens of AEA, who I think is a particularly good choice. While his achievements in military and corporate world are widely documented, his enthusiasm for new businesses and technology is perhaps not so well known. We hope this series will help show Bill, and others, in a different light.

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• AEA Investors