Deal Talk: Interviews with Private Markets Leaders

Steve Klinsky has been in private equity since before it was an industry. He co-founded Goldman Sachs' first buyout group in 1981, later had a front-row seat at the famous RJR Nabisco deal and, in 1999, started New Mountain Capital by rejecting the then-prevalent debt-heavy style of dealmaking. Today, the firm manages $60bn, has a negligible loss rate and recently closed a record fund against a difficult market.¹

In conversation with Steffen Pauls, Klinsky explains the thinking behind their track record and where he believes private equity is heading next. Here are a just couple of key takeaways:

Defensive growth as a filter
New Mountain operates across 12 sectors and 25 subsectors, all selected for their ability to hold up regardless of the macro environment. "It's like building your house on solid ground," Klinsky says. "You want to be in an industry that can do well whether times are good or bad."

The great opportunity of the mid-market
Klinsky argues it is easier to take a company from $500mn to $2bn than from $10bn to $40bn as there are more buyers, more room to grow and more things a founder never had the chance to do.

The distribution backlog is a 2021 problem
The companies stuck in portfolios today are largely those bought at peak valuations in 2021. "Companies being bought now may be some of the best buys ever, six years from now," Klinsky argues.

Private equity only works if you pick the right manager
With thousands of funds in the market, Klinsky believes the asset class delivers for investors who select well and fails those who don't. "The job of identifying a good fund from a bad fund is a very sophisticated, difficult task."

¹ New Mountain 2026

Important notice: This content is for informational purposes only. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Private equity is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Subject to eligibility. Please see https://www.moonfare.com/disclaimers.

This edition of Deal Talk features a conversation with Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst, one of the world’s most prominent venture firms with more than $40 billion in assets under management and a portfolio of over 800 companies, including Stripe, Airbnb, Canva and Snap.

Taneja’s background is notable: born in Delhi and raised in Boston from the age of 15, he went on to earn five degrees from MIT, founded and sold a mobile software company early in his career, and joined General Catalyst in 2002 as an entrepreneur-in-residence. He later became Managing Director and, in 2021, CEO.

He has also emerged as one of the industry’s leading advocates for responsible innovation, emphasising accountability, ethics and long-term societal impact in AI and technology.

The discussion with Steffen Pauls, Moonfare’s Founder and co-CEO, explored General Catalyst’s playbook for investing through uncertain markets, the opportunities emerging in Europe and India, and Taneja’s view on why market bubbles can sometimes be beneficial.

Here're a couple of highlights from the conversation:

Why bubbles can be a good thing
When a bubble forms, it mobilises many of the world’s smartest people and a significant amount of capital to pursue breakthrough ideas. We saw this with the early internet—many companies didn’t survive, but it also produced Google, Meta and Amazon. The same happened with the cloud era, which led to the rise of major SaaS companies.
We’re seeing a similar dynamic with AI. Not every company receiving funding today will succeed, and there will be capital losses. But from an investment perspective, this is one of the most interesting moments to be active. Periods like this often produce extraordinary outcomes.

What makes a great founder
The founders we work with — the ones who build category-defining companies — are strong leaders who are absolutely obsessed with learning. After we back them, you can see them develop into global leaders in the way they think and build their companies. They have magnetic personalities that attract teams, customers and partners, and they constantly strive for excellence.

India: sleeping giant of entrepreneurship
India is highly entrepreneurial, and people there live and breathe this entrepreneurial spirit. Many have strong technical expertise and know how to build high-quality technology. There is also a cultural movement underway, with younger generations increasingly wanting to start companies. This is unlocking a great deal of latent potential, similar to what we’ve seen in Silicon Valley.

Learn more about our Deal Talk series: https://moonfa.re/4k6dV5l

Important notice: This content is for informational purposes only. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Private equity is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Subject to eligibility. Please see https://www.moonfare.com/disclaimers.

Bryan Taylor has been investing in technology for over 25 years, the last six years at Advent as Managing Partner. He’s been involved in a number of major transactions, such as one involving Wiz, a leading cloud security company, and McAfee, a global provider of antivirus and cybersecurity solutions.

Boston-based Advent is a powerhouse of private equity. It’s been in the industry for more than 35 years and currently manages over $90 billion in assets. The firm consistently ranks among top PE firms with an unparalleled global presence, particularly in Europe.

In this episode of Deal Talk series with Steffen Pauls, Moonfare’s Founder and Co-CEO, Bryan shared his views on a wide-range of topics — from opportunities in AI, current state of dealmaking to how Advent wins deals. Some of the highlights include:

Exit strategy: “We systematically make exits part of our underwriting. We’re looking for what we call multiple exit ramps. Not just one but multiple options to exit. As a result, we’ve had great strategic exits in the last two years as well as fantastic IPOs.”

Long-term relationships: “We have 200 investment professionals who are creating deals from the bottom up, finding off-the-beaten-path opportunities. Often, when a deal starts, we have already spent years working with the management team to put together a value-creation plan to drive performance.”

Investing in Europe: “It feels as though we’re approaching the golden years of tech investing in Europe. There is a dynamic of increased spend around innovation. We have seen a maturing of a very large cohort of companies founded in the last 5–10 years that have figured out how to go across borders. And there is still a relatively benign competitive environment.”

Life advice: “You have to learn from other great investors; they are not born but grown. I emphasise to my kids: make sure you work with people you respect, align on values and feel they invest in you.”

Important notice: This content is for informational purposes only. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Private equity is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Subject to eligibility. Please see https://www.moonfare.com/disclaimers.

Azeem Azhar is an investor, entrepreneur, best-selling author and creator of Exponential View, a leading newsletter and podcast on technology’s future.

Known for spotting emerging technology like DeepSeek, he’s been at the forefront of tech’s impact on society. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, New York Times, MIT Technology Review and more.

In this conversation, Azeem joins Mike O’Sullivan, Moonfare’s Chief Economist, to discuss:
- How AI has developed over the past five years
- Strategic AI race between the US, Europe and China
- Whether AI is driving compounding economic shifts, affecting industries, labor and productivity
- AI investment growth: where smart capital flows and trends that Azeem sees

Azeem and Mike finish the session with a Q&A submitted by webinar guests.

Learn about our upcoming live webinars: https://moonfa.re/471QVQp

Nic Humphries is one of Europe’s most prolific technology investors and the Senior Partner and Executive Chairman of Hg — a specialist in enterprise software with over $75 billion in assets under management and a portfolio of more than 50 companies.

Nic became part of Hg in 2001, where he also served as CEO for ten years before assuming the role of Chairman in 2017.

In an interview with Steffen Pauls, Moonfare’s CEO and Founder, Nic talks about what makes a capital compounder, the investment strategy behind great portfolio companies like Visma and the thought process that drives the firm's approach to exits — along with many other topics. Here are some of the key takeaways:

What makes a great capital compounder?

“The very best businesses have a great home market, offer the best quality products and services and attract customers who flock to them. However, that’s not sufficient to make a compounder. These businesses also have the ability to invest excess capital consistently over decades. There’s not a lot of these companies.”

Investment case for Visma

“Visma started as a leader in small business tax, accounting and payroll software in a small number of countries. We recognised we had the potential to transport that capability to many other markets. However, to do that you have to understand the culture, the tax and compliance rules in other countries — essentially you need to know how to operate in a local way and Visma had that from day one.”

Hg’s approach to exiting investments

“In an average portfolio, you have some good exits early on and poor investments that are left at the end. But that’s like cutting the flowers and watering the weeds. We wanted to reverse that by acknowledging that unfortunately, some investments won’t be so good, and selling them early to drive DPI and cash. You should then keep better investments for later.”

Advice to his younger self

“Pick a sector that will be growing for the next 10, 20 or 30 years, where the winds are at your back. I grew up in a mining town and lots of my friends went to work in the local pit. And I could have been the world's best miner and still wouldn't have a job today. But you could have been a very average software developer and you’d still do okay.”

Important notice: This content is for informational purposes only. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Private equity is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Subject to eligibility. Please see https://www.moonfare.com/disclaimers.