Guest Speaker: Alexander Wit

Yesterday, our Investment Club had the opportunity to welcome Alex Wit, an entrepreneur-turned-investor who shared a perspective on private equity that felt very different from the traditional narrative of leverage and financial engineering.

Alex began with his own journey. After launching an internet startup during the dot-com bubble and raising significant venture capital, he experienced firsthand what happens when markets collapse. Offices closed, investors demanded profitability, and growth without fundamentals proved unsustainable. That experience shaped his identity: he realized he was less interested in inventing new ideas and more energised by fixing broken businesses. This insight became the foundation of his private equity model.

A Different Approach to Private Equity

Unlike many traditional funds that acquire profitable companies and manage from the board level, Alex’s firm focuses on operational “heavy lift.” They specialise in:

• Turnarounds of distressed companies

• Corporate carve-outs from large multinationals

• Complex succession situations in founder-led businesses

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In many of these transactions, price is not the central issue. Sellers, whether global corporations or families, prioritise finding a buyer capable of managing complexity and ensuring continuity. His team typically acquires 100% ownership and becomes deeply involved in operations, rebuilding management structures, redefining strategy, and institutionalising processes.

Creating Value by Questioning Assumptions

One of the most compelling lessons was their emphasis on first-principles thinking. When entering a company, they challenge long-held assumptions that internal teams may never question. In one example, a business dramatically increased profitability after implementing pricing changes that employees initially believed would “kill the company.”

The takeaway was powerful: sometimes value creation does not require innovation, but courage, the willingness to test what everyone assumes is impossible.

Risk, Timing, and Discipline

Another important insight was the discipline behind exits. Even when a company still has growth potential, decisions must account for macroeconomic risks, geopolitical uncertainty, and investor time horizons.

Private equity, in this sense, is not about holding forever, it is about recognising when value has been realised and acting rationally.

The Human Side of Capital

Perhaps the most striking theme was trust. Selling a business, especially in succession-driven or family contexts, is emotional. Legacy, identity, and relationships often matter as much as valuation.

In a world increasingly shaped by automation and AI, Alex emphasised that negotiation, empathy, and human connection remain irreplaceable.

For us as young investors, the session reframed private equity as more than finance. It is about operational leadership, disciplined judgment, and the ability to ask better questions. Capital creates opportunity, but people create value.