What we like about private equity & VC clients

It’s been a rewarding experience every time we’ve gone to work for private equity and venture capital firms, and not just financially.

Firstly, the businesses they invest in usually require significant digital transformation or optimization. For us that can mean high-value, complex projects involving websites, e-commerce platforms, custom web applications, etc. The budgets compared to typical small- to mid-sized business projects can be significant.

Working for clients held by huge PE players like Insight Venture Partners (for example, ezCater and Appriss) means challenging work for companies with strong growth potential. Working with these types of companies gives us the opportunity to create sites for brands with substantial recognition or high stakes. We get to work with really smart people. It elevates our minds, our portfolio, and our reputation.

Another thing we like is the variety of work that comes with working with PE firms. They typically have diverse portfolios that span multiple industries, so we wind up working on a variety of brands, websites, and even business models that provide us with the chance to expand our expertise and experience. Variety of work has always been one of the most attractive aspects of being in the client service business for us.

We love the fact that we can directly impact business growth. PE firms obviously focus heavily on improving the operational and financial performance of their portfolio companies. Being directly part of this process by developing websites that enhance user experience, drive revenue, and increase the public profiles of our client companies is satisfying. Over the years our work has directly contributed to the growth and success of our client businesses, and has on many occasions helped drive rewarding strategic outcomes.

It wouldn’t be fair to leave out the challenges, though.

PE firms are results-driven, so there are always really high expectations, and pressure to deliver world-class work on tight deadlines. It definitely adds a stress component to our work, and longer working hours especially when expectations around performance and functionality are high.

Because PE firms are so focused on optimizing every aspect of a business, they usually have lots of revisions and updates to the sites we build. We know they’re just trying to meet evolving business needs or market conditions, but it can lead to a lot of back-and-forth which can be challenging to manage.

The sites we develop for portfolio companies usually require sophisticated features, like custom integrations with other systems, scalability, and advanced analytics. These complex technical requirements are exciting to work on, but they require a high level of expertise and problem-solving that sometimes pushes the limits of what’s actually even possible. That’s not a bad thing, of course.

We’ve rarely experienced imbalance in relationship power dynamics, but we know it can happen. PE people are driven, and can be aggressive or controlling at times. So can we, of course. This has the potential to affect the balance of our creative input and autonomy in decision-making, so it’s something we’re always on the lookout for and over many assignments have gotten progressively better at handling with our PE partners.

Bottom line, working as a web development partner for PE firms is rewarding in terms of financial compensation, the high-profile work, and professional growth. It can also come with a significant level of pressure, complex projects, and expectations, but we’re comfortable working in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment.

We thrive under pressure, so it’s a great fit for us.