Private Equity and Venture Capital

Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) helps private equity and venture capital investors learn about the competitive dynamics, technologies and legal issues affecting companies of interest by connecting them with highly specialized experts.

Current clients:

Seven of the ten largest private equity firms in the world and more than 100 venture capital and private equity firms have licensed access to the GLG platform and actively tap the expertise of the GLG Councils^SM. These clients range from regional sector-focused early-stage venture firms to global sector-agnostic late-stage buy-out firms.

How GLG helps:

GLG's systems and Council Members are used at every step of the research process.

• Sourcing - In advance of a deal or to identify investment opportunities, private equity and venture capital professionals research an investment theme or map a new industry with a survey, a series of telephone consultations or an in-person GLG Master Class from an industry or scientific thought-leader.
• Diligence - To perform diligence on a specific investment, private equity and venture capital clients most often tap outside experts with specialized knowledge of the products, services, or management teams of the target company. GLG Council Members impart knowledge through telephone consultations or customized written reports. Select GLG Council Members can be made available to join the deal team through in-person assignments to meet with management, visit the company, or work on the team full-time for several weeks.
• Portfolio Management - GLG Council Members provide relevant insights to active board members of existing portfolio companies as they research strategic options such as new market entries. Consultations are primarily through telephone calls. Meanwhile, expert-led GLG Seminars and Roundtables in major cities or at industry conferences provide a forum for updates on topics relevant to the portfolio. Board members of portfolio companies also tap the GLG Councils to identify and qualify key management hires.

Unique advantages:

Gerson Lehrman Group helps private equity and venture capital professionals find suitable experts for their research efforts; engage experts through a variety of consulting methods; and manage the use and ongoing relationship with experts, all within a carefully structured and rules-based environment.

Find:

• GLG's organization of 170+ Council Recruiters and Managers use proprietary tools to identify, contact and evangelize the benefits of the GLG Councils to thousands of professionals from around the world each month. Investment professionals with urgent requirements can request accelerated recruiting of particular expert populations or individuals.
• Once enrolled in the GLG Councils, experts are categorized within unique taxonomies, with dynamic questionnaires canvassing their experience with and knowledge of niche subjects. This continuous profiling helps GLG clients access targeted experts, even on short notice.
• GLG assesses Council Member quality through a proprietary GLG CouncilRank^SM algorithm. By enabling over ten thousand consulting transactions each month, GLG has rich data on the demonstrated value of experts.

Engage:

• Investment professionals do not have time to manage contracts and negotiate consulting fees for dozens of independent experts and consulting firms. GLG puts industry-standard contracting protocols in place before every interaction. Pre-set consulting rates and integrated payment procedures reduce strain on clients' finance departments.
• GLG Research Managers improve productivity at every step of the research process. They help frame the research question, present relevant experts and populations, propose the most effective screening tools, and facilitate complex projects and meetings.
• GLG systems and practices help maintain confidentiality. Online surveys can be double blind — and invitations for telephone consultations are double-blind by default.

Manage:

• GLG provides easy-to-use Web-based software for professionals to rate, tag, share, and search their directory of expert contacts. This eliminates the need to update personal address books and immediately improves the ease of communication among team members, while enabling the entire firm to build a proprietary and shared knowledge base.
• For investment teams and accounting staff seeking to allocate deal costs to opportunities, GLG provides tools to track usage and manage spending.

To learn more about Gerson Lehrman Group's services for private equity and venture capital funds, contact: Michael Duran, Managing Director at +1 212 984 3661 or mduran@glgroup.com.