We sat down with Vinay Bachireddy, Partner at Weave Growth, to dive into emerging trends that are reshaping the deal-sourcing landscape. Read on for insights on these topics and more. This speaker q&a also focuses on how Weave Growth ensures alignment with its independent sponsor partners and the key factors that make a deal stand out in today’s competitive market. 

Q. What’s one emerging trend in deal sourcing that you believe is transforming the industry right now?

Direct, personalized outreach at scale is the most significant emerging trend in deal sourcing that we have seen at Weave. Enabled by new automation tools and increasingly by AI, it’s become much more accessible for sponsors to launch digital marketing campaigns to fill the very top of the deal funnel. This trend is really just getting started. In the not-too-distant future, you will have agents that can perform SDR tasks via email, social, and voice. This of course will have far-reaching impacts across many industries, not just private equity.

Q. How do you ensure alignment of interests between you and the independent sponsors you partner with?

Before we partner with an independent sponsor, we like to get to know the individual. We want to understand his background, motivations, and investment thesis. We also try to envision how it would be to work with this individual, as we are contemplating entering into a multi-year relationship. From there, if everything checks out, we are very upfront with any independent sponsors we partner with on the allocation of responsibilities as well as economics. Ultimately, we have been in the shoes of the emerging independent sponsor and believe in paying it forward. In the past, we have helped other independent sponsors navigate through difficult situations and welcome conversations with any independent sponsor about a specific opportunity and/or strategy.

Q. What factors make a deal particularly attractive to you in today’s market?

In today’s market, there are three factors that make a deal particularly attractive to Weave. First, we want to find a business that has a capable CEO who has demonstrated success and a desire to bring on partners in order to accelerate growth in the business. Second, we want to ensure that the CEO is operating in an industry that has favorable tailwinds. It’s far easier to earn a reasonable return in an industry that is growing as opposed to one that is stagnant or shrinking. Finally, we want to make sure that the deal is priced appropriately in today’s environment and that the overall headline valuation as well as the structure are fair to both parties and align everyone’s interests.

Q. Why will you be speaking at iGlobal Forum's Independent Sponsors Summit in NYC on September 17-18?

I’m speaking at the iGlobal Forum because at Weave, we want to help the independent sponsor community grow. We enjoy meeting other independent sponsors to share our learnings and experiences. I will be speaking on a panel about building a strong pipeline and winning deals. Weave Growth was started in 2019. We have had 5 years of experience as an independent sponsor and experimented with different sourcing strategies over that time period, so we are excited to share our learnings. This event is particularly significant to us because it is a wonderful opportunity to be in New York City and reconnect with our great capital provider partners and fellow independent sponsors to catch up on the year and share perspectives on the market.

Vinay will join a panel discussion on ‘Building A Strong Pipeline & Network To Always Win The Best Deals.’ They’ll examine topics like today’s top deal sourcing strategies, new platform difference from add-on acquisitions, how capital providers validate independent sponsors' sourcing methodologies, and more. Vinay will be joined on the panel by Ignacio Macias (CECOP USA), Darien K. Smith (D.K. Smith & Co.), Brandon Pettagrue (Stonehenge Capital), David Eshaghian (Panther Equity Group), and the panel will be moderated by  Eric Taylor (Trident).  Register now to join us this September at the Independent Sponsors Summit.