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Ep. 20: What It Takes to Source Elite Founder-Owned Software Companies

Summary

Jake Colognesi, founding partner of Mamba Growth, joins Dan Herr and Matt Rooney to discuss sourcing founder-owned, bootstrapped B2B software companies in the lower middle market growth equity space. Mamba targets an intentionally narrow slice of the market — $2-10M ARR, 50-100%+ YoY growth, 90%+ retention, founder-owned, non-venture-backed — which Jake acknowledges makes sourcing harder but the resulting portfolio stronger.

The conversation centers on how a first-time fund with no brand recognition breaks through the noise when every PE firm is emailing the same CEOs. Jake's answer is deceptively simple: lead with value, not with your AUM. He describes specific tactics — competitive intelligence, benchmarking data, customer introductions, even typing letters on a French typewriter — all aimed at demonstrating that you understand the founder's world before asking for anything. The episode also explores how LPs diligence sourcing capabilities, why a tightly defined investment lens matters for company identification, and why the future of sourcing is more human, not more automated.

Key Takeaways

  • Define your investment lens with concrete, non-subjective criteria — everyone on the team should give the same answer to "what is a Mamba deal?"
  • Lead outreach with value specific to the recipient: competitive intelligence, benchmarking data, customer/candidate introductions, payment processing insights
  • LPs rank sourcing capability at or near the top of their diligence criteria for growth equity managers — they ask pointed questions about conversion metrics and how deals were sourced
  • Every LP claims their GP has a proprietary tech-enabled sourcing advantage; LPs are skeptical of this as a differentiator
  • The future of sourcing favors in-person relationship-building and human connection over digital outreach, as AI-generated emails flood inboxes
  • Sourcing culture requires senior partners to lead from the front — get on planes, join cold calls, drop titles

Guest Background

  • Jake Colognesi — Founding Partner, Mamba Growth. Former Partner at Sageview Capital, spent 10+ years at Volition Capital (spun out of Fidelity Ventures). Career started as analyst at Cohen & Company (then SG Cowan).

Topics Discussed

  • Origination and Deal Sourcing — Mamba's all-hands sourcing model where everyone from junior to founding partner sources, cold calls, and meets entrepreneurs
  • Sourcing Culture — Building a team of competitive athletes and genuinely curious people who get fired up by entrepreneur stories; leading from the front; celebrating non-obvious contributions publicly and with LPs
  • Value-First Outreach — Putting yourself in the CEO's shoes; showing up with competitive intel, benchmarking, candidate introductions rather than AUM pitches
  • Investment Lens Definition — Why a tight, concrete buy box (not "capital efficiency" but "profitable") is the foundation of effective company identification
  • LP Diligence on Sourcing — LPs rank sourcing at the top of their diligence; they want nitty-gritty detail on how deals were sourced, conversion metrics, and experiments

Notable Quotes

"Put yourself in the shoes of the person who's receiving whatever message you're sending." — Jake Colognesi

"If you can come with some sort of value, whether it's competitive intelligence... maybe it's about a company that's looking to be acquired that could be an ideal tuck-in acquisition... the flip side is I think that it is certainly great to try 100% of the time." — Jake Colognesi

"I think the majority of private equity firms suck at messaging and suck at outreach today. It's very generic... it's about how many assets we have under management... me, me, me." — Dan Herr

"You can't swing a dead cat without hitting another private equity or growth equity firm. There are just so, so many of us. And so the LPs are like, listen, how on earth is your email getting responded to?" — Jake Colognesi

"Being as human as possible is oddly enough a differentiator." — Jake Colognesi

Frameworks & Concepts

  • Mamba Mentality — Doing the unsexy stuff when no one's looking; embracing high volume, grit, and persistence as the path to proprietary deal flow
  • Sea of Alternatives — Jake's visual of every PE firm name in tiny unreadable font under a sea, illustrating the saturation founders face
  • Data Snacks — Referenced from Kate Hopkins; small, productized pieces of intelligence that add value to founders (Jake cites embedded payments benchmarking as Mamba's version)

Cross-References