Now what?
FOUR INVESTORS SHARE WHAT IT TAKES TO TURN A COMPANY
INTO A MARKET LEADER
MITCHELL PETERSEN
areas of expertise:
Banking and financial institutions, small business management, entrepreneurship and risk management
- Recent research looks at how firms — especially small firms — are financed, as well as risk management and the role of debt markets in funding investments.
- Served on the editorial board of The Journal of Finance, Financial Management, and the Journal of Financial Intermediation, and as a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
If
you’re looking for a playbook for creating value through acquisitions, you can stop now: It doesn’t exist.
There is no formula, equation or model that works perfectly,” says Mitchell Petersen, the Glen Vasel Professor of Finance at Kellogg and director of the Heizer Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital. “There’s always something that hits you out of left field.”
The ambiguity and uncertainty that’s inherent to this process is a challenge in and of itself. But for investors who buy companies, the larger challenge is knowing when, where and how to make changes to a company that will generate the most value. These are not just financial decisions, but choices that impact everything from operations and strategy to marketing and human resources.
Four Kellogg alumni — three from private equity firms and one from a holding company — share how they’ve navigated this nebulous path and turned companies into market leaders. While their style as investors varies, each possesses a trait that Kellogg develops in its students: grit.
“If you get into this business and you cave at the first thing that goes wrong, you’ll never make it,” explains Petersen. “It’s that resistance and persistence that matters.”
NEXT: Patience is a virture »
