Why I started Meridian

From PE to PE software

In 2023, I left Thoma Bravo to found Meridian. Leaving private equity to found a new company is not easy. As someone in their early-thirties in PE, you’re making more money than you know what to do with. The golden handcuffs are real. But the itch I felt quickly turned into a calling I couldn’t ignore. As the opportunity crystallized in my mind, I knew I had to take the leap.

I realized that if I wanted to make a meaningful impact on the industry, I couldn’t do it from the inside. I had to step out, take a risk, and build something new.

9 years learning the ropes

I spent 9 years investing at some of the top firms in the world, Blackstone, Thoma Bravo and CVC. Along the way, I worked with the brightest minds in the industry. It was intense, competitive and exhilarating. I loved every minute of it. But one thing became clear right away: the way we were managing the day-to-day of getting deals done was holding us back.

At first, I accepted things for what they were – after all, private equity is all about optimizing companies, so this must be the best way to operate, regardless of how inefficient it sometimes feels. Right?

When I started to question why we did things the way we did, the answer almost always ended up being “This is how it’s always been done.” Over the years, I spoke with thousands of dealmakers at all levels across the industry and gained a strong perspective on the most common areas of pain.

The status quo isn't good enough

One of the most recurring themes was the constant frustration investors at all levels had with bad software. These firms, despite their immense resources, either lacked software tools entirely or were saddled with outdated, legacy systems that nobody used unless required. Wresting with the software we had available to us ended up being a huge time suck, and not at all the source of leverage it was intended to be. Remember, these are also extremely expensive people so the firm is paying for the bad software twice - once for the license and once for the time suck.

I had a front row seat to three CRM implementations. All three projects were a disaster, even though we had chosen the top two CRM providers in the industry. I won’t name names, but you know who they are. The software was old, clunky and close to impossible to tailor towards firm-specific workflows. They were also massively expensive.

I realized I could build a 10x better tool myself and provide PE firms with an ROI not just on time and cost savings (although these are significant), but more importantly could help firms source better deals more efficiently.

This realization wasn’t just a light-bulb moment; it was the culmination of years of dealing with the pain and seeing colleagues and industry peers struggle with the same issues. I knew there was a significant gap in the market for a robust, modern CRM solution tailored specifically for private equity firms.

AI had just started to ripple through the tech industry and I knew we were entering a new era of software development where vertically integrated AI & software could create brand new user experiences never before possible.

The new way to manage deal flow in private markets

Over the past 12 months, we’ve been working closely with leading private equity and credit firms as design partners to build a next-generation CRM solution for modern private markets investors.

We have made immense progress and our design partners have become trusting customers who use Meridian daily. Here’s a sneak peek into how we help private markets firms optimize their dealmaking process:

Join the private markets revolution with data-driven dealmaking software

The industry is getting more competitive by day, and the cost of falling behind is high. I’ve seen it personally, and we’re building Meridian to be the answer– to help you source better deals and make data-driven investment decisions.

If you’re curious about how Meridian can help your firm, please reach out to sales@meridian-ai.com or book a demo.