Our strength in depth helps to differentiate us.
The luxury of tech is that it’s such a big, growing and dynamic ecosystem. The challenge is that there’s just so much you could look at, particularly if you have a flexible mandate. We’re deeply thematic – we know the end markets where we have a strong view, and within those we can quickly come to a decision about what’s new and interesting. Over the past ten years, for example, we’ve become the leading investor in the payments space, and we’ve been at the forefront of some of the largest and most transformational investments in the sector on a global basis. In sectors where we have these strong perspectives informed by past experience and unique networks, we can drill down deep in a very differentiated way.
I want companies to look back positively on our investment.
One thing you hear loud and clear when you speak to executives in the Advent family is how much they’ve enjoyed working with our professionals. That can cover everything from ‘They were nice, caring people’ to ‘They were super-sharp in the end market, had a great network and were actually value-added partners.’ That spirit of partnership is there in every company we work with – and even when things aren’t going so well, entrepreneurs and executives know we are in their corner.
We’re passionate about cybersecurity because it touches everyone.
The risk to global digital infrastructure represents one of the greatest threats of our time. The sophistication of attackers is growing exponentially, as is the number of surfaces they can go after, thanks to the explosion in IoT devices and just how connected the world is now. Cyber is a true horizontal that covers all sectors, and the more time we spend in that space, the more we realize how important it is to have a full-spectrum approach. We need to know what incumbents as well as disruptors are doing, so we have a sense for where the real opportunity lies.
Making connections is the most satisfying part of the job.
The feeling of enabling growth and disruption and building something unique cuts through everything we do at Advent. Every single day, we have the opportunity to go out and talk to interesting, engaging people driving innovation around the world: we’re in a very fortunate place. When I look back on an average work week, it is always full of engaging conversations and new connections. That’s the part of the job I enjoy the most.