In a recent episode of Invest Like the Best (May 27, 2025), Graham Weaver, founder of Alpine Investors, crystallized his firm’s approach to private equity in four powerful words:
“Solve it with talent.”
Behind that phrase is a strategic insight that shapes how smart investors approach value creation—especially in lower-middle market companies undergoing generational transition.
Weaver was talking about a problem many private equity firms know well: businesses built by Baby Boomers and Gen X founders that have no clear succession plan. There are thousands of these companies across the U.S.—successful, profitable, and poised for growth—but lacking the leadership needed to get there. The founding CEO wants to step back. The org chart isn’t ready. The systems aren’t scalable.
The solution? Talent.
But not just any talent. The kind that comes prepared—with a plan, with support, and with the ability to lead from day one.
Leadership as a Multiplier
At Townsend Search Group, we’ve helped private equity clients place C-suite leaders into portfolio companies for nearly two decades. One pattern we see consistently: successful outcomes don’t come from capital alone. They require leadership.
When a firm installs the right CEO—one who’s aligned with the investment thesis, culturally attuned, and equipped to execute—that person becomes more than a hire. They become a multiplier.
That’s what “solve it with talent” really means. It’s not just filling a seat. It’s designing a system around the leader so they can turn a high potential investment into a high performance investment.
From Founders to Operators
Transitioning from founder-led to operator-led is one of the most pivotal moments in a portfolio company’s life cycle. It’s also one of the riskiest. If the new leader can’t earn trust, build a team, and drive results quickly, the investment stalls.
That’s why firms like Alpine don’t just hire executives—they prepare them. Weaver described how Alpine trains and provides new leaders with intellectual property: day-zero playbooks, 30-60-90 day scorecards, hiring frameworks, and system-level KPIs. The firm has built repeatable infrastructure around what it means to step into a small business as its new CEO and succeed.
We’ve seen that same principle work across industries and ownership models. A great placement is only part of the equation. The other part is making sure that person is ready—mentally, strategically, and structurally—to hit the ground running.
Beyond the C-Suite: Building a Talent Operating System
We work with firms that understand talent is not a one-and-done solution. Great leaders need strong teams, clear governance, and aligned incentives. They need insight into the culture they’re inheriting—and the one they’re building.
That’s why we collaborate with our clients to think beyond the CEO:
- What skills are missing in the next layer of management?
- Who needs to be upskilled or redeployed?
- How can we create a repeatable model for integrating leadership into founder-driven cultures?
Solving it with talent means designing for the long term—not just the transition.
Talent Is the Edge
In a market where capital is no longer scarce and deal competition is fierce, operational excellence is the differentiator. And operational excellence starts with people.
At Townsend Search Group, we help private equity firms solve for leadership—not just as a staffing function, but as a value creation strategy. We help our clients identify the problem behind the problem and solve it with talent.
Because in the end, your investment thesis is only as strong as the people who execute it.
About the Author
Tom Chinonis is a Senior Managing Director at Townsend Search Group and specializes in representing private equity firms with C-suite placement across middle market and lower middle market platforms across the country. Tom works closely with management teams and investment professionals identifying key leadership for multi-national organizations across wide ranging industries, typically with locations that serve both domestic and global markets. Tom began his career as a corporate attorney specializing in mergers and acquisitions at an AmLaw Top 50 law firm, then served as the CEO in multiple start-up organizations before joining Townsend Search Group in 2021.
