Escobari: Only LPs with skin in the game provide honest reference checks
Martin Escobari · Inside General Atlantic: How a $100B Growth Equity Firm Invests · Invest Like The Best · Nov 25, 2025 · at 59:50
Martín Escobari, Co-President of General Atlantic, explains his framework for conducting diligence and reference checks on founders in international growth markets.
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“For an investment, you do it with the family that has given you money to make investments. And you say, João, we're about to invest two hundred million dollars in this entrepreneur. You know his father, you know his grandfather. Do you think we should take this risk? And he's like, oh, no fucking way. He's a crook, son of a crook. Because he has money with you he tells you the truth. Yeah. If he didn't have money with you, he'd say, at worst, he'd say, I don't know, there's some noise, I would do my homework, or they're fine.”
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