The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 25 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Buying Market Share With Cash Fails for 90% of Businesses
“There's just been a lot of overinvestment in that philosophy, saying a hoard of cash and buying market share can get you a great business at the end, and that is just not true for 90% of the business.”
Tech Downturn Won't Trigger a 2008-Style Systemic Crisis, Says Steve Pagliuca
“The positive side of this is all equity dollars, mainly invested. Where you go to a real problem, the crash of 2008 was, you know, based on, on just too much leverage everywhere. When that leverage gets pulled out, you have a crisis. Equity dollars are just lo…”
Steve Pagliuca Dropped Chelsea Bid After Sellers Permitted Debt and Raised Price
“And we had a group that, that came up with that money, and what was a very rich price, and unfortunately at the last minute they went away from that model, and they allowed debt to go in the business, and they asked for a much higher price than what we were ta…”
Success in Private Equity Requires Having an Ego, Says Steve Pagliuca
“You can't be successful in this business without an ego.”
Internal Employees Contributed Over $1B to Bain Capital's $12B Fund
“Where let's say our last twelve billion dollar fund over a billion of capital has come from all the people in the company. And that, that is, you know, a hundred times more in terms of percentage than most of the investor firms out there.”
The Boston Celtics Have the Most Executive Continuity in Sports
“We've had the most continuity of any sports franchise”
Firing Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge in 2007 Would Have Ruined Celtics
“Had we fired those guys, we'd be nowhere and those guys went on to be in the conference finals, and they, they're two of the best people in, in the business.”
Steve Pagliuca Operates on Full Trust but Demands Deep Reference Checks
“I believe in the full trust model until, until prove different, until it's proved wrong, and most people are very trustworthy, but in the due diligence, you know, it's always great to meet somebody personally, but you got to get references, and so we do a lot …”
Bain Capital Turned a $70M Gartner Acquisition Into a $20B Valuation
“It's basically gone from a 70, I think we bought for seventy million, it's worth over twenty billion today. And I'm still on the board.”
Cost-Cutting Alone No Longer Generates Successful Private Equity Returns
“You can't just come in and cut costs out, and cut benefits, and then actually make money in the investment, because People don't want something that, that is, is declining in sales.”
Most Private Equity Firms Outsource Operational Analysis to External Consultants
“In fact, most of the industry is adopting that now. They hire Bain and Company McKinsey to do what we do internally at Bain Capital.”
Measuring Fund Success by Deployed Capital Causes Real Trouble
“Just, you met, if you measure yourself by the amount of money you put out the door, we believe it costs real trouble. You want to measure yourself by the performance and the value that you create investing that money.”
Bain Capital Has Never Lost a Deal to Investment Committee Bottlenecks
“And so I would honestly say that we've never lost the deal because of an IC bottleneck.”
Running a Sports Franchise Based on Media Opinions Is a Major Mistake
“The worst thing you can do, with all due respect to you, Harry, the media, the worst thing you can do is run your team based on the media or based on what the media is saying that you should do”
Chelsea and Manchester United Each Have Up to 500 Million Global Fans
“Chelsea has four or five hundred million, Manchester United, four or five hundred million fans out there.”
Lack of Competitive Balance Eventually Diminishes All Sports Team Valuations
“You're gonna get that concentration if you have no competitive balance, and eventually that, I think, diminish the value of all the teams. Because you know, no one wants to see one team win everything, you know, every year.”
Sports Franchise Valuations Will Continue Rising Due to Globalization
“We'll keep going up. I think it'll keep going up because there's fundamental globalization and more modernization and more fan base being created as long as the leagues can keep that competitive balance and keep the product exciting.”
Vertex Acquired a Stem Cell Startup Co-Founded by Steve Pagliuca's Daughter-in-Law
“She was a co-founder of the company and now company Vertex has just bought the company and they're building it up and it looks like it's worked on the first patient.”
Avoid Emerging VC Managers Who Prioritize Carried Interest Over LP Outcomes
“Well, the first thing I look for is they have to have a passion for what they're investing into, and their passion has to extend to say they want to do a great job for investors. So when someone comes in with a pitch and says you know, I want to do this, and I…”
Buying the Boston Celtics Was Steve Pagliuca's Best Career Decision
“And I did struggle with the decision. I talked to my wife Judy and said, you know, should we do this? You know, should we invest in this team? And I decided I was passionate about it, that I overcame that fear and I invested in the team. And it's one of the be…”
Bain Capital Evolved From Pure Microeconomics to Evaluating Macro Trends
“And Bain Capital, we've always been micro economists. Take a business, and what can we do with the business, and how can we change it for the positive? And I think we've learned in the last 20 years, we've been much more looking at, okay, that's what we can do…”
Bain Capital's Edge Was Applying Management Consulting to Asset Ownership
“Well, I think the first element was the idea of taking the consulting skills developed at Bain & Company and applying that to actually, actually owning the businesses.”
Steve Pagliuca's Family Office Has Made Over 50 Biotech Investments
“So, so our family office has done about over 50 biotech investments.”
Steve Pagliuca's Venture Strategy Focuses on Biotech, AI, and Space Tech
“I'll always be affiliated in some way with Bain Capital, helping Bain Capital. I'm going to continue to build the sports group, which I love, and then continue to invest in these areas like biotech and artificial intelligence and space on a venture basis.”