Investment Philosophy

Partners with Entrepreneurs and Management

Nearly all of our investment transactions have been with private company entrepreneurs, who almost always have reinvested with us to share in the future value creation rather than sell 100% of the company outright. The benefits that accrue to the selling entrepreneur as a result of our investment include: an opportunity to gain liquidity and diversification of personal assets while providing a vehicle for the entrepreneur to maintain a significant equity stake in the business for future upside, retain significant operating control, a reduced management role (only if desired), and the elimination of personal liability. Management always has a meaningful equity stake following our investment.

We have a long-standing reputation for integrity and fair dealing and pride ourselves in creating a balanced approach which results in a fair outcome for all parties. We have developed effective working partnerships with entrepreneurs over three decades and understand the unique role a founder plays in a business. We also understand the critical role that a firm’s culture has in the success of the business. Our goal is to maintain that culture and vision and provide additional resources for it to build upon.

Experienced, Value-Added Partner

Our expertise lies in our proven ability to transition entrepreneurial companies into professionally managed organizations. Our focus is on building the people and processes necessary to support a strategic growth plan. Working in partnership with management, which remains responsible for day-to-day operations and business decisions, Bounds Equity Partners principals seek to employ their experience and network to support the team’s common goal. Our network, built through 30 plus years of investing and over 70 transactions, provides a broad group of executives that have collectively lived through most of the challenges facing growing firms. In addition, our staff (see biographies) can provide hands-on financial, analytical and process improvement tools and help to our portfolio companies.

Growth Focus

We begin by collaborating with management to establish a strategic vision and then we help build an execution plan around it. Part of the plan is to identify the resources that will be needed to execute the growth plan successfully. Often, these resources are resident in the business or within Bounds Equity Partners or its network. We focus our support of the management team in the areas of strategy, financing, executive recruiting, building and incentivizing management teams, Asian sourcing, acquisitions and the development of new revenue opportunities. We concentrate on revenue growth strategies that include new product development, new channels of distribution and diversification of the customer base. We look to sustainable growth in profitability as the primary value driver, through both organic growth and add-on acquisitions.