Geoff Schneider

At Brightstar Capital Partners, we believe success begins with strong relationships built on trust, alignment, and a shared vision to help great businesses grow. While capital is essential, we focus on building long-term partnerships built through hands-on experience and a commitment to lasting value. Our investment evaluation process is grounded in sectors we know deeply. We focus on cash-flowing businesses where we see an opportunity to optimize operations and foster ownership culture, helping to grow the company better than it could on its own. Ultimately, we judge success by a simple question. Five or 10 years after we exit, if someone calls a founder or partner we’ve worked with and asks, “Should I work with Brightstar?” I want the answer to be yes. That is our definition of real value creation.

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I spoke with Christien Louviere of BDE Capital about his journey from a $330mm exit to becoming an independent sponsor. Christien shared excellent insights for folks looking to partner with business owners, rather than buy sellers out completely. Below are a few of the topics we covered: - Why he moved from “zero-to-one” startups to a buy-then-build strategy - How Christien's background shaped a focus on growth vs. cost-cutting - Why 20–40% rolled equity is central to his deal structures—and how it builds trust with sellers - Using scenario analysis with AI tools to evaluate management teams and uncover hidden key-person risks - How to identify when a $3–5M EBITDA company truly has a middle management layer—or is still founder-reliant For anyone investing in or buying small businesses, Christien’s approach provides a fresh lens on growth, alignment, and deal structuring. 🎥 Watch the full interview here → https://lnkd.in/ekfkaiej 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e86Agx6V

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What can Warburg Pincus LLC's $1B investment into mega RIA platform Cerity Partners tell us about where the wealth management industry is headed? The deal is emblematic of a number of current industry trends, which a recent report from ECHELON Partners highlighted. ➡️ Cerity Partners could continue to look for culture-aligned firms to merge into its platform, as it did recently with its merger with Verus. ➡️ M&A wealth management deal volume should continue to go from strength to strength, particularly for firms with $1B AUM and greater. ➡️ Continued consolidation will likely be driven by RIAs. Over 73% of 2025 acquisitions were completed by RIAs. ➡️ Private equity will continue to be a defining feature of today's wealth management market structure and will continue to shape the industry going forward. Almost 76% of 2025’s deals involved a private equity sponsor, either via a direct investment by a PE firm or a PE-backed RIA platform that consolidated with another wealth management firm. ➡️ Private markets meets private wealth. The growth of scaled platforms in the wealth management space has had a ripple effect on private markets and on the distribution of private markets solutions to the wealth channel. KKR's 2025 RIA Private Markets Survey highlighted that many advisors were looking to increase exposure to private markets. ➡️ Scale will bring the question (and challenge) of how RIAs balance customization with efficiency to the forefront of their business building activities. Perhaps this helps to explain recent OCIO consolidation, including Hightower Advisors / NEPC, LLC, Cresset / Monticello Associates, Cerity Partners / Agility and Cerity Partners / Verus. What does all of this mean for wealth management firms and alternative asset managers? Read on for more👇 This week's Alt Goes Mainstream's AGM Alts Weekly, brought to you by DealsPlus, covers: 🗂️ AGM Index, an index that tracks the leading publicly traded alternative asset managers. 💻 Who is hiring: Senior-level positions from companies Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Inc., Ares Management, EQT Group, Blue Owl Capital, Franklin Templeton, Fortress Investment Group, iCapital, Goldman Sachs, Partners Group, Ultimus Fund Solutions, Krilogy, MSCI Inc. Subscribe👇 to see the latest trends & navigate this rapidly changing landscape as alts go mainstream. https://lnkd.in/ewX-6sub

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Starboard Built Big Stake in BILL Holdings, Plans to Nominate Directors "Activist investor Starboard Value owns an 8.5% stake in BILL Holdings and intends to run a boardroom challenge to push for changes at the financial automation software company that serves small and midsize businesses around the world, it said in a filing on Thursday. "BILL Holdings, which has a market value of nearly $5 billion and sees more than 1% of U.S. gross domestic product flow through its platform, saw its stock price lose nearly half of its value since January." #corporategovernance #boardsofdirectors #activistinvesting #shareholderactivism #governancearbitrage https://lnkd.in/gQhi_A5b

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💡Emerging GP Fundraising Insight #9: Portfolio Construction Questions Will Come Early LPs will press you on: • Follow-on strategy • Pro-rata participation • When you don't follow on • How much concentration risk you'll tolerate You don't need perfect answers but you do need thoughtful ones. If you haven't considered these scenarios, LPs will question your ability to manage a portfolio. Takeaway: Even hypothetical scenarios deserve a thoughtful response. Lack of prep reads as lack of capability. What's the toughest portfolio construction question you've gotten from an LP?

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Wealth professionals looking to introduce private market investments into client portfolios are finding that client education is essential. Managing Director James Martin shares a key insight from our Global Private Wealth Survey that highlights how stronger education equips clients to confidently embrace private markets.

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ASVLP 2026 | EMERGING FUND MANAGERS ROUNDTABLE Navigating the 2026 VC Cycle: Opportunities, Constraints & Competitive Edge for Emerging Fund Managers Raising and deploying capital as an emerging fund manager in 2026 is no longer about momentum. It’s about positioning, credibility, and structural advantage. LP expectations have tightened. Capital formation is slower and more selective. And differentiation is no longer declared — it’s demonstrated. At ASVLP — Africa Startup & VC Landscape Preview, this high‑signal roundtable brings together experienced investors, capital allocators, and ecosystem leaders to unpack what it truly takes to compete — and survive — as a new fund manager in the current cycle. This is not a discussion about starting funds. It is a candid examination of how capital is actually being allocated, where emerging managers face real constraints, and what separates those who scale institutional credibility from those who stall. Speakers Emmie van Halder — @/MPower Netherlands Varun Turlapati — Chaanakya Capital Abiola Adediran, MBA, FCA, FIMC, CMC, M.CIoD — GENEA FAMILY OFFICE Emmanuel Adegboye — Madica Mope Abudu — AfriGloCal VC Zachariah George — Launch Africa Ventures Amb. Dr. Dunston P. — Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al‑Qassimi Moderator Maha M. — COREangels MEA The conversation will explore: • What LPs are truly underwriting in emerging managers today • Where structural constraints — not talent — limit fund performance • How new managers can build defensible edge in portfolio construction, signalling, and partnerships • What must change for emerging funds to graduate into durable institutions Who should attend Emerging fund managers, LPs, DFIs, and ecosystem builders focused on shaping Africa & MENA’s next generation of venture capital — with discipline, not hype. ASVLP 2026 Participation is FREE but strictly by invitation. To join: Repost and comment #ASVLP2026 — your registration link will be sent via DM. This Session is Powered by COREangels MEA

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PitchBook's quarterly Venture Monitor report shows a market that is beginning to move again, but unevenly. These are discussions we have with customers every day and we have seen these trends play out across the market. But the numbers certainly speak for themselves. In 2025, AI accounted for about 65% of total deal value and nearly 40% of deal count, driving a highly concentrated environment where 50% of deal value went to just half of 1% of deals. Deal activity increased across every stage, with early-stage and first financings nearing 2021 highs, even as fundraising and liquidity remain constrained. It seems that opportunity is returning, but selectivity and differentiation matter more than ever. As always, we strive to ensure we are helping our clients across the private capital market ecosystem navigate the current environment. http://spr.ly/6045CFwD5

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