Act like an investor with your time by forming hypotheses about which industries are most likely to experience your key compelling events. By predicting where M&A or new market entries will occur (e.g., in telecom), you can proactively focus your territory on high-probability accounts before events are announced.

Amphenol runs as a federation of autonomous business units. This structure is key to its M&A success, as acquired companies retain their brand, culture, and customer intimacy. Sellers prefer Amphenol because they know their business won't be suffocated by a monolithic corporate hierarchy.

To source proprietary hybrid capital deals, avoid the capital markets teams at PE firms, as their job is to minimize cost of capital. Instead, build relationships directly with individual deal partners in specific industries. This allows you to become a trusted, go-to provider for complex, time-sensitive situations where speed and certainty are valued over price.

In a world of commoditized capital, offering a full suite of solutions creates a competitive advantage. By providing fund investments, co-investments, secondary liquidity, and portfolio company debt, a firm becomes an indispensable strategic partner to PE sponsors, generating proprietary and superior deal flow.

Instead of constantly chasing new leads, businesses can find immense growth by deepening existing relationships. A tech company ignored a referral partner for two years, but two follow-up meetings later generated $11.2 million, demonstrating the untapped potential within current networks.

To win highly sought-after deals, growth investors must build relationships years in advance. This involves providing tangible help with hiring, customer introductions, and strategic advice, effectively acting as an investor long before deploying capital.

Instead of pursuing large companies, elite sellers identify and focus on key business events, like mergers or new market entries, that create an urgent need for their product. This strategy shifts focus from account size to the probability of a timely need, leading to more efficient prospecting.

Instead of maximizing the volume of prospects at the top of the funnel, strategically narrow your focus to fewer, high-potential accounts. This 'martini glass' approach prioritizes depth and engagement over sheer productivity, leading to better quality opportunities.

Instead of a traditional 100-day plan, TA Associates' value creation process begins by defining what the business must look like in five years to achieve a successful exit. All subsequent initiatives are then mapped backward from this end goal, ensuring every action is aligned with the ultimate liquidity event.