Private Equity Podcast: Karma School of Business

Sean Mooney, Founder and CEO of BluWave, speaks with JB Wautier, Founder of the Wautier Family Office, board member at Pershing Square Holdings and Howard Hughes Holdings, and former Chairman of the Investment Committee and CIO of BC Partners, about the long game in investing. JB describes a career that looks planned in hindsight but was serendipitous, from Sciences Po and audit to Morgan Stanley and 20 years at BC Partners. He tells the story of Allflex, a contrarian animal health bet that stayed flat for years before it paid off, and what it took to hold the vision and rebuild the sales organization along the way. He shares three lessons on time: embrace it, stop trying to time the market, and respect compounding. He also explains why he thinks AI may be the biggest industrial revolution yet, why he is optimistic about it, and why trust, accountability, and human connection will keep people in the loop. He closes with the advice he would give his 22-year-old self. Episode Highlights 1:00 – From Sciences Po and audit to Morgan Stanley, IK Investment Partners, and BC Partners: a serendipitous career 6:00 – Sailing as meditation, and a lesson in humility 11:00 – Allflex: the contrarian animal health bet that stayed flat for years before a sale to Merck 19:00 – The pivot that was not in the base case: rebuilding the sales organization 22:00 – Three lessons on time: embrace it, stop trying to time the market, and respect compounding 27:00 – Why AI may be the biggest industrial revolution yet, and why every opportunity and risk now runs through it 29:00 – What stays human: emotional intelligence, life experience, and social capital 33:00 – Human touch from hotels to radiology, and why people still want a person for bad news 36:00 – Trust and accountability: why humans stay in the loop 39:00 – Advice for a 22-year-old self: trust the system, know your edge, and remember it is a long game 45:00 – Why JB credits the Fed for his investing success, and what sits outside your control For more on the Wautier Family Office, visit: https://wautier.co.uk/ For more on JB Wautier, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-baptiste-wautier/ For more on BluWave, visit: https://www.bluwave.net/

Sean Mooney, Founder and CEO of BluWave, breaks down BluWave's Q3 2026 Private Equity Insights Report: a market that stretched hold periods and portfolios that kept building. He explains why fewer deals reached full diligence, why value creation held at 84% of all BluWave activity, and why demand for interim executives grew while recruiting lagged. AI advisory demand climbed 175% year over year (YoY), with industrial services leading the way. Sean also gives a Q3 update on BluWave's 2026 predictions and shares how to play each one to win. His read on deals: delayed, not derailed. For PE leaders deciding where to act while the deal market waits, it's the quarter's data and the next move in one listen. Episode Highlights 1:00 – Hold periods stretch again as fewer deals reach full diligence 3:00 – Why the deal market paused: Middle East conflict, oil-driven inflation, AI uncertainty, and midterm elections 5:00 – Reading the backdrop: U.S. gross domestic product tracking at 3.6% per the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow, and a strengthening manufacturing sector 9:00 – Deal flow rose and the mix shifted toward B and B-minus companies, where PE has traditionally created the most value 12:00 – Private Equity Priority (PEP) Index: profitability led growth in three of the last five quarters 15:00 – Value creation held at 84% of activity and due diligence at 16%, compared with 70% and 30% in Q3 2025 19:00 – Interim executive demand grew while recruiting lagged: a late-hold approach to the C-suite 20:00 – Technology rose to 25% of BluWave projects from 18% in Q3 2025, and AI advisor demand grew 175% YoY 21:00 – The surprise: industrial and industrial services led AI demand 25:00 – Software selection and implementation demand grew 114% YoY, and why fixing a stalled implementation beats replacing it 27:00 – Why the deal resurgence is delayed, not derailed, and how to phase-gate diligence scopes as deals return 31:00 – Data demand grew 133% YoY, and why the early AI winners put data first For more on BluWave, visit: https://www.bluwave.net/ To request the full Q3 2026 Insights Report, visit: https://bluwave.net/resources/insights-report

Adi Filipovic, Managing Director at Resurgens Technology Partners, joins Sean Mooney to discuss his path from Bosnia to Georgia, football to finance, and ultimately into private equity software investing. He shares how mentorship, resilience, and a commitment to operational excellence shaped his career and the way Resurgens partners with software companies. Adi also explains why the software deal market has slowed, how AI is changing investor behavior, and where real value creation may emerge as firms separate hype from durable ROI. This is a grounded conversation on software, resilience, and building value through uncertainty—hit play. Episode Highlights 1:20 – Adi's journey from Bosnia to Augusta, Georgia as a refugee 2:46 – Playing college football at Furman and finding discipline through sports 5:45 – A random networking meeting that led to HIG Capital and private equity 10:22 – Why Adi tells young professionals to optimize for great people 14:29 – Resilience, discomfort, and the hard moments that shape a career 20:13 – How Resurgens integrates operators, talent, and value creation resources 25:38 – Why the software deal market is slower amid AI disruption and uncertainty 35:43 – Adi's book recommendation: behavioral economics and better decision-making For more on Resurgens, visit Resurgenstech.com For more on Adi Filipovic, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/adifilipovic/

In a rare introspective episode, Sean Mooney, Founder and CEO of BluWave, marks the company's 10th anniversary with the full origin story — from Austin and 120-hour investment-banking weeks, into private equity, to the Ratatouille moment that convinced him to walk away from a partner's seat and build something new. He tells how BluWave nearly died in its first year, how asking friends and customers for help turned it around, and how bootstrapping plus a one-of-one dataset and homegrown AI built before ChatGPT sent the flywheel spinning. Along the way he shares the lessons that stuck: values and people both matter ('and,' not 'or'), speed and agility are non-negotiable, and to drink your own Kool-Aid. It's a candid, hard-won founder's story, and a preview of where BluWave goes next. Press play. Episode Highlights: 3:15 - Austin roots, 120-hour investment-banking weeks, and "experience in dog years" 9:20 - How private equity forced a shift from architects to engineers to general contractors 12:10 - The $3,000-an-hour problem that became BluWave: an "Amazon meets Gartner" for business building 15:00 - The Ratatouille moment (and the Bumbys' "utterly honest read") that pushed Sean to leave PE 19:30 - Nearly shutting down in year one — and the two questions that turned it around 25:10 - Speed and agility, taught by a John Cusack ski scene: fall, dust off, keep going 29:00 - Where BluWave goes next, and the "make two groups successful" North Star For more on BluWave, visit https://www.bluwave.net/

Ann McCloskey, Managing Director at Accel-KKR, joins Sean Mooney for the human side of private equity value creation — the part no amount of AI replaces. From accounting and organizational development into one of PE's founding operations teams at Vista, Ann breaks down the leadership traits she screens for (self-awareness first), why acting on talent faster is every CEO's biggest regret, and how Accel-KKR's Base Camp, Ascend, and Peak programs turn functional experts into real leaders. She gets practical on feedback that actually lands, why a message needs repeating 21 times to stick, and leading people like "fully functioning adults" through constant change. A candid, genuinely useful conversation on the craft of developing people. Episode Highlights: 1:20 - From accounting and org development to a front-row seat on Vista's founding ops team 9:55 - The leadership traits Ann screens for first — starting with self-awareness 17:00 - Why "act on talent faster" is every CEO's biggest regret, and how to know it's time 20:10 - Inside Accel-KKR's Base Camp, Ascend, and Peak leadership programs 24:30 - Feedback that lands: the "spinach in the teeth" rule and why half of it is about you 28:10 - Why a message now takes 21 repetitions to stick, and the "chief repeater" job of a leader 36:10 - The dead-simple travel habit that killed Ann's jet lag for good For more on Accel-KKR, visit https://www.accel-kkr.com/ For more on Ann McCloskey, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-mccloskey-a504b66/