Thoma Bravo’s Post

As I review our investment professionals' year-end assessments at Thoma Bravo, I find myself reflecting on what truly defines excellence in private equity.   Early in my career, I was drawn to this industry, like many, by the allure of landmark deals and headlines. The questions you often hear, especially as a young professional, center around "what deals did you work on?" While those moments matter, they're not where the real magic happens.   The past 24 months saw a slower pace of new deals across the industry, including at Thoma Bravo. Our focus has shifted to portfolio optimization and strategic exits, culminating in over $25 billion in realizations this year. It's during this period that I've gained an even deeper appreciation for our deal teams.   What I've witnessed has been remarkable: our mid-level professionals driving transformational change. At Instructure, their granular work on product line P&Ls led to two late-stage acquisitions that accelerated growth and enabled a successful sale to KKR. At Trader Canada, they engineered a transformational acquisition that paved the way for a strategic exit to Autoscout. At Anaplan, they executed a creative stock-for-stock transaction that expanded the technology capabilities. Across our portfolio, they've enhanced leadership teams, refinanced to reduce interest costs, and optimized organizational structures to fuel reinvestment.   This isn't just about improving around the edges — it's about fundamental transformation. It's cultural at Thoma Bravo, starting with Orlando Bravo himself.   Since our earliest days, Orlando has emphasized that while buying right is crucial, our secret sauce is the operational work that happens after the deal closes. That ethos has only intensified since; today, he spends his time not on the overwhelming majority of things that are going right, but on the handful that aren’t. Ditto for our operating partners. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.   2025 will mark a decade since the sale of Embarcadero and Sirius Computer Solutions — two material, early investments for Thoma Bravo. Both were companies underperforming our original expectations — exacerbated by the global financial crisis in 2008/09 — but that we transformed by creatively (and courageously) using stock to do accretive M&A when the economy was flashing red and overall sentiment was “risk off.”   Today, I see that same creativity and courage in the rising young leaders at our firm. They're not just upholding our standards — they're raising them. The way they approach complex challenges, their willingness to think differently, and their relentless drive to transform businesses makes me incredibly hopeful not just for Thoma Bravo or our industry, but for the next generation that will carry the torch of transformation.   To our investment professionals: your behind-the-scenes work may not make headlines, but it's what truly sets us apart. From the bottom of my heart: thank you.   Onward to 2025.