Growth Equity, VCTs and Exits with Rupert West, Managing Director @ Puma Growth Partners
Rupert West of Puma Growth Partners makes a compelling case that the VC industry's obsession with pure entrepreneurial credentials is misguided—arguing that successful growth equity requires a blend of deal-making and operational expertise. His perspective on founder development is particularly sharp: he emphasizes that the leadership skills that get startups to 20 people will actively hurt them at 100, and that confidence without self-awareness is a deal killer in growth equity.
Key takeaways
- •VCs need both financial acumen and founder experience to generate actual returns, not just one skillset
- •Leadership skills that work at 20 employees become liabilities at 100—founders must actively evolve their management approach
- •Investment banking experience gives VCs a competitive advantage in exits, directly impacting DPI metrics that funds rarely discuss
- •Confidence without self-awareness kills growth equity deals—successful founders combine trust with rigorous self-evaluation
- •Growth equity investors can add value by identifying what later-stage investors will scrutinize during diligence before problems become unfixable
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Best moment
VCs need financial skills AND founder skills to generate actual returns
Yeah. It's great. And I think, you know, there's there's a sort of feeling that we only want, you know, x to the entrepreneurs as VCs in the market, and it's complete nonsense. We need a mix of skills that help not only with sealing and selecting and sealing, which is that winning the deal part, but also the selling element. Like, the venture industry has to get good at generating returns, not just on paper. And so I think it's important that venture teams have a good mix of that financial acumen as well as the maybe the more sort of founder type profile, and and there's no right or wrong. There's no one or the other. We need both in the industry. So I think that's great. And then maybe we could just talk a little bit about a recent transaction. Have is there a deal you've done recently that you can talk about?
Yeah. So our our most kind of very recent
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