Can You Really Spot a Great Company Before Everyone Else Does? In this episode of REady2Scale, Jeannette Friedrich sits down with Lee McCabe, Partner at Claymore Partners and former executive at Meta, Alibaba, and Expedia. With deep experience in both technology and private equity, Lee shares how to uncover high-potential companies, particularly those hiding in โboringโ sectors, by focusing on digital transformation, data-driven operations, and overlooked growth levers.
Whether you're an investor, operator, or advisor, you'll gain practical insights into how leading firms are building value not just through financial engineering but through smarter marketing, better tech stacks, and operational efficiency.
Key Takeaways:
- Why old-school industries hold untapped value:Digitally underserved sectors like B2B and consumer services are ripe for disruption and value creation.
- The power of a functional tech stack: Many businesses lack proper data infrastructure. Building a connected, insight-driven stack is step one to scaling sustainably.
- What digital value creation really looks like:Private equity must shift from passive ownership to active operational involvement, especially in marketing and data analytics.
- Lead generation is the real business: CEOs in services should view themselves as running lead generation engines. Conversion begins with optimised websites and media spend tracked to ROI.
- AI hype versus reality: AI is not yet the silver bullet for most companies. Without basic data systems in place, AI becomes a distraction rather than a solution.
- How to avoid data overload: Focus on the 10 to 15 KPIs that truly drive performance instead of drowning in dashboards and vanity metrics.
- The real role of marketing agencies: Good agencies tie marketing spend directly to revenue and profitability instead of reporting on clicks and impressions.
- Advising todayโs private equity investors:Future-leading firms will use defined operational playbooks focused on digital execution from day one rather than relying on traditional financial levers.
- The compound effect of small steps:Lee shares his philosophy for building an extraordinary life: take consistent action every day, even when the direction is unclear.
Recommended Resources:
Book: The Predatorโs Ball by Connie Bruck
Podcast: Pivot and All-In
Connect with Lee McCabe: Find him on LinkedIn
Are you REady2Scale Your Multifamily Investments?
Learn more about growing your wealth, strengthening your portfolio, and scaling to the next level at www.bluelake-capital.com.
Credits
Producer: Blue Lake Capital
Strategist: Syed Mahmood
Editor: Emma Walker
Opening music: Pomplamoose
*๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐๐, ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ/๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.
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