PEoperator⚡️

I once presented a billionaire some of the highest-ROI projects I'd ever found. Some north of 1,000% IRR. I have never forgotten his response.

@JackieHirsch_ Dang Jackie you are ON IT

I work so hard at staying healthy and vibrant. Eating super clean, no sugar, no alcohol, working out 5-6 days a week and still jumping on the trampoline with my teenager and doing trapeze. That’s in addition to the deal flow. And my face and wrinkles are all real and all mine 😊

Interviewed a CFO candidate yesterday. Hey pal, what’s your name? Ethan. And please don’t call me pal. I have adjectives. Adjectives? What do you mean adjectives? It says it at the bottom of the email I sent with my resume. Ah, ok, let’s see here. “I just see: sent from my iPhone.” Just above that. “Smart / handsome?” Yes! Exactly. Please refer to me by those adjectives, or Ethan is fine. Alright, Ethan. So tell me about yourself. Sure, yeah. Well I’m a smart / handsome CFO who takes very seriously his responsibility to make 40,000 strangers happy every day... I live for efficiency and ROI. What else? I’ve got a dog and a wife. I prioritize them in that order. Never use gridlines. Oh, and I have an iPhone. Alright pal, er…, Ethan, I meant tell me about your work not some game you play on facebook. Facebook?! Ethan exclaimed. Facebook?! I said I was smart / handsome not dumb / drone. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I work with someone who thinks I’m on Facebook. YOUR loss, grandpa. I sat back in my chair. That was weird. I’m only 39. Grandpa? I opened my email on my phone and scrolled back to Ethan’s resume. Just then, another email popped up. It was from Ethan. “Didn’t get the job. Plz fix. Thx. Sent from my iPhone.” I knew what I had to do. I immediately emailed him back. “This is the kind of persistence we reward here. You’re hired. Sent from my Blackberry. Please excuse any typos.” That man was @alt_w_v_g, one of my new favorite follows.

@JackieHirsch_ You look younger. I’m just an incredibly old soul.

@PEoperator This was funny. I didn’t realize I was older than you!

@alt_w_v_g Wanted to let you know the board has decided to make you CEO. I tendered my resignation willingly as you are obviously more qualified (I accidentally used gridlines). Warmest regards, PEOperator Sent from my Android (no longer on company plan)

Confirming receipt. A couple of comments / questions: 1. What is a Facebook. Is this 2007? 2. Clarification: I don't make people happy (negative ROI) 3. A Blackberry confirms the 39 4. Confirming I own an iPhone My analyst will send the offer redlines by EOD. Plz fix. Thx. Best, Ethan Brooks Identified Adjectives: Smart / Handsome Sent from my iPhone

@_FlipMan Parkinson’s law!

Nobody is more efficient than a guy paid on piecework and nobody is slower than a guy paid hourly even if they’re the same guy.

@DadInvest 😂 Had this exact same experience last night.

Watching bball tonight, I turn on the quad box to test it out on my son. After a minute he goes “I don’t like this view. Can we just watch the UNC game?” It was like that Harry Chapin song - It occurred to me He’d grown up just like me My boy was just like me

@valuedassociate 😂 Need a scoffing woman in the background defending the hair version

Blowouts you say?

@BustedAuction Define unsuccessful

I’m genuinely surprised that so many jacked people are pretty unsuccessful professionally. It’s such a disciplined based journey, even if you’re on 💩, I would think it would transfer to other areas of life

So many phonies, so few who are the real deal

@APompliano It’s awful and so easily spottable. Hard to believe people think it’s a good idea. 🤝

@PEoperator BAN THE SLOP! 😂🤝

Great list on deploying AI at companies. I copied his list and provided my own takes below each. Bottom line up front: this is a pivotal moment. It’s hard, but those who put the work in stand to build a lead, maybe even a moat. Lessons from deploying AI: 1. We haven’t replaced a single external SaaS tool with something we built internally. - we haven’t technically replaced, but we did avoid buying new SaaS 2. We have refrained from hiring numerous entry level jobs because AI can do the work faster/better/cheaper. - 100% same 3. The automation provided by AI highlights how much time every person was wasting on tedious tasks daily. - Agree although I wouldn’t call it wasted time as much as it was inefficient tasks. People were doing what they had to do, processes were just inefficient. AI eliminates that. Splitting hairs here… 4. Each company is capturing more revenue and each employee is becoming more productive. - Not yet for us but expect soon. (I’m sure we have more productive employees but haven’t measured yet) 5. There is still a bit of apprehension in giving agents full control of machines or systems. - We haven’t reached exploring agentic control yet but I expect the same. 6. There has been no obvious trend in age, gender, or role for those who adopt AI the fastest. More of a mindset than anything. - Generally agree although if you squint you’d see adoption skewing younger than our avg age 7. Many non-technical people have started to create software tools or products, which has changed the speed of execution across the companies. - We haven’t seen non- technical ppl build these yet on their own, but they are deeply involved. 8. One downside is the AI slop across written documents/memos. If humans don’t review the content, it is painful to read and I worry critical thinking gets lost. - I hate AI slop with a passion. It’s too long and it’s almost always poor thinking. I have an email drafted to the whole company BANNING slop. Make writing great again! 9. The implementations of AI are incredible once you get them done, but it is much more difficult to build/implement than most people want to communicate online. Persistence needed! - So hard. Tons of details. 10. We have walked away from numerous potential small acquisitions because we realized we could build the product ourselves for a fraction of the cost. - We are looking harder at acquisitions (industrial) because we believe we can win more buggy by leading on the deployment of AI. 11. Our best engineers are invincible now. They produce high quality products at warp speed. Forget 10x engineers, they are 1,000x engineers now. - No question. We would need at least five more to accomplish what we have to date. We have one. 12. The adoption of AI starts at the top. If the company leader is not constantly asking “how do we automate this?,” it is harder to drive internal change. - Agree strongly 13. I am personally working harder than I have in a long time and having more fun than ever. It feels like a moment in time that has to be seized. - Feel exactly the same. This is a moment.

GM. Wake up. Workout. Outwork.

@TheIcahnist Love this one! Top 10 for me

This book shows how industrial giants compound for decades. If you’re betting on industrials, read it. The TransDigm and Roper profiles are excellent.

Certified banger. If you’ve ever done a deal, you know this is true.

@aphysicist Jeff is just going to where the opportunity is. Those of us already here should be excited.

i wonder if he realizes that a) this ultimately creates more jobs, b) we are a generation way from automating factories

@IlliquidInsight Yes very true. Hopefully they deem some of the smaller companies not worth their time

@PEoperator I think that makes the big guys that are more sophisticated (Ares, Apollo) much better positioned for the down cycle.

The number of companies taken over by private credit doubled in ‘25. Lenders that can take equity and execute turnarounds have a big edge as distress grows.

@ddsmacks11 LOC

@PEoperator How were you able fully finance the deal with debt? Also congrats! Very tough getting a good deal done in today’s competitive market.

Closed on an acquisition today⚡️ PP multiple was 3.8x, adds 50% to inventory, 30% to sales. Funded with 100% debt. Synergies for days. To top it off, closed the deal from the gym this morning- the highest level of synergy.

@StarchAITech We used it a lot but nothing organized around it…. One off analyses

@PEoperator 100% debt on a 3.8x multiple with inventory and sales upside is a clean structure. Curious how much of your diligence process has shifted to AI-assisted workflows... deals like this used to eat weeks of analyst time on the model alone.

@SaliimAzrg Yes let’s definitely see that’s. love your skepticism.

@PEoperator Let’s see how it plays out