Orlando Bravo's Private Equity Playbook Revealed

In Brief:

As the software industry becomes increasingly fragmented with thousands of companies struggling to achieve operational discipline and sustainable profitability, the opportunity for specialized private equity to create value through operational transformation has reached unprecedented scale. Orlando Bravo, founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo—the world's largest software-focused private equity firm managing $179 billion in assets—shared his formula for building one of the industry's best-performing firms at the All-In Summit 2025. As the first Puerto Rico-born billionaire who recently raised $34.4 billion in a single fundraise and returned over $13 billion to investors last year, Bravo revealed the unconventional strategies behind his firm's extraordinary growth since 2008, explaining how his lean 80-person team has consistently delivered superior returns by transforming innovative software companies into sustainable, profitable businesses through operational excellence rather than financial engineering.

Big Picture Drivers:

• Operational excellence over financial engineering: Private equity's real value lies in transforming innovators into sustainable businesses, not just leveraging balance sheets

• Technology consolidation opportunity: The software industry remains fragmented with thousands of companies needing operational discipline and scale

• Talent retention philosophy: Working with existing leadership teams first, rather than wholesale replacement, yields better results

• Long-term relationship building: Tracking companies for years before acquisition enables better due diligence and outcomes

Key Themes:

• Small team, big impact: Thoma Bravo maintains a lean 80-person team focused on deep expertise rather than expanding into multiple strategies

• Patience in capital raising: The firm deliberately spaces out fundraising to maintain relationships and avoid market saturation

• Culture of mentorship: Following Carl Thoma's example of gifting the firm to partners, Bravo prioritizes developing the next generation over going public

• Contrarian talent approach: Attempting operational changes with existing teams before bringing in new leadership sets Thoma Bravo apart from industry norms

Key Insights:

• Product quality reveals itself in support metrics: Companies claiming great products but showing low gross margins on support calls are exposing fundamental product weaknesses that need addressing.

• Leadership assessment comes down to three factors: Open-mindedness, caring about numbers, and having strong followership from employees and customers are the essential traits Thoma Bravo seeks in portfolio company CEOs.

• Private equity consistently beats public markets when done right: Good private equity firms generate returns significantly above public market benchmarks by focusing on operational improvements rather than just financial engineering.

• Due diligence starts years before deals close: Thoma Bravo's $12 billion Dayforce acquisition came after tracking the company since 2008, demonstrating the value of patient relationship building.

• Cost-cutting should be one-time events: The philosophy is to eliminate inefficiencies once through restructuring, then focus entirely on profitable growth and add-on acquisitions rather than continuously revisiting margins.

• AI risk underwriting requires looking backward: Understanding how companies performed during previous technology transitions (mobile, cloud) provides the best predictor of how they'll navigate AI disruption.

Memorable Quotes:

• "We are in the business of turning great innovators into great businesses" - Orlando Bravo, explaining Thoma Bravo's core value proposition

• "If the leader is good, everything is good. If the leader is not good, nothing is good" - Orlando Bravo, on why CEO assessment is the most critical evaluation in any acquisition

• "Get the money, get the deal, improve the deal" - Orlando Bravo, distilling his entire business philosophy into six words

• "Going public does not help any of those things for us" - Orlando Bravo, explaining why Thoma Bravo has no plans to follow other PE giants like Blackstone and Apollo to public markets

The Wrap: 

Bravo's playbook reveals that private equity's future lies not in expansion into multiple asset classes, but in disciplined focus, patient capital deployment, and genuine operational expertise. His commitment to staying private while other mega-firms go public, combined with his contrarian approach to talent retention and small team philosophy, suggests that boutique specialization can compete with—and potentially outperform—the diversified giants. The broader implication for investors and entrepreneurs alike is that sustainable value creation in software still comes down to fundamentals: great products, strong leadership, and disciplined execution rather than financial wizardry.