Inside the Psychology of Elite Founders (What 9-Figure Exits All Share) with Greg Moran

Guest: Greg Moran – Multi-exit founder, investor, and Managing Partner at Evergreen Mountain Equity Partners
Host: Alex Rawlings, Founder of Raw Selection

⏱️ Timestamps & Topics

00:00 – Introduction to Greg Moran
Alex welcomes Greg Moran, a multi-exit founder turned investor, and Managing Partner at Evergreen Mountain Equity Partners. Greg introduces his background in scaling businesses, raising $500M+ in capital, and his current focus on future-of-work technologies.

01:29 – Biggest Mistakes in Private Equity & Venture
Greg highlights two major missteps:

1. Private Equity: Disrespecting existing leadership and stripping company culture.
2. Venture Capital: Failing to deeply understand a founder's motivations under pressure.

03:51 – Behavioral Due Diligence: The Adaptive Innovator
Greg explains how Evergreen Mountain uses a proprietary founder archetype model based on studying 100+ founders with multiple 9-figure exits.
📘 Book: The Adaptive Innovator
🔬 Assessment Tool: theadaptiveinnovator.ai

06:11 – The Four Pillars of the Adaptive Innovator Model

1. Creative Resilience – Performing better under pressure
2. Balanced Risk-Taking – Small experiments lead to bold moves
3. Humble Assertiveness – Leading without being the loudest voice
4. Strategic Accountability – Owning failures and empowering teams

09:09 – How the Assessment Works
Greg walks through the free assessment's design—competency-based and situational judgment questions that help reveal how founders respond under real pressure.

11:37 – From Operator to Investor: The Shift
Greg discusses the personal challenge of moving from "solver" to "sounding board" and helping founders overcome small thinking and incrementalism.

15:01 – Scaling Requires Talent Transformation
Once you think bigger, the next hurdle is team capability. Greg discusses the importance of upgrading talent and how average hires dilute culture and repel A-players.

18:26 – “Hire Fire and the Walking Dead”
Greg's framework on talent management:

• Hiring is easy
• Firing the clearly bad is manageable
• The real issue? Keeping the “walking dead” – the average, inoffensive underperformers who drain momentum.

20:21 – Coaching Founders Through Tough Talent Calls
Greg explains his approach as an investor: gently keeping the conversation alive, helping founders reach the inevitable realization themselves.
🗣️ Anecdote: The "5-second hesitation test" from a former board member.

31:27 – Recommended Reading & Interests
📖 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – a yearly re-read for Greg
🎒 Outdoor adventure and Alaska documentaries (his son is a bush pilot)

32:52 – How to Connect with Greg Moran

• 🌐 Website: gregmoran.me
• 🧠 Assessment: theadaptiveinnovator.ai
• 💼 Fund: emep.io
• 🔗 LinkedIn: Greg Moran
• 📺 YouTube & X (formerly Twitter): Active channels for the docuseries and insights

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com