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Permira’s Brian Ruder Talks AI, Squarespace Acquisition, and the Value of Co-Leadership
In a recent conversation with TechCrunch, Brian Ruder, the managing partner at Permira, weighed in on a range of topics, including his firm’s acquisition of Squarespace.
Ruder emphasized that it was “the right time” for the private equity firm to take the website and e-commerce platform provider public. He noted that while some might be surprised by Permira’s decision not to shake up the leadership at Squarespace, he stressed that the company’s original founder and CEO, Anthony Casalena, would remain in his position.
“It’s got to be the right time both for us and the company,” Ruder said. “Especially for public companies — you can’t buy those companies at the low-end, as it’s very hard to get boards to transact there. And justifiably so — it doesn’t make a lot of sense for those boards to want to sell unless the company’s in distress.”
He also highlighted Permira’s approach to private equity, which focuses on acquiring “quality assets” rather than distressed or troubled businesses.
“We are believers that we can generate better returns to the power of compounding behind great unit economics,” Ruder said. “And that approach tends to be very appealing to people who care about where their businesses go. And for that reason, we kind of gravitate into situations where we’ve got founders.”
Ruder also touched on the topic of AI and its potential impact on the private equity industry.
“We believe there’s going to be a huge amount of disruption in our space,” he said. “I think you’re going to see a lot more data-driven decision making, which I think will change the way we do business forever.”
However, Ruder stressed that Permira is not looking to replace human judgment with AI, but rather augment it.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point where AI replaces all human judgment,” he said. “I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to use more data-driven insights to inform our decisions, and then use our expertise to make the best decision.”
Ruder also highlighted the importance of co-leadership in the private equity world.
“I don’t know if it’s unique to our firm, but I do think that co-leadership models are very powerful,” he said. “It allows us to have a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of businesses we’re investing in.”
Source: techcrunch.com
