Episode 129

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Published on:

13th Feb 2025

Ep. 129: Paul W. Swaney III, Managing Partner at Swaney Group

Topics:

  • Why PE Should Hire Veterans
  • Navigating the Challenges of Growing Companies
  • How Mentors Play a Role in Breaking into PE

...and so much more.

Top Takeaways

  • What do your company and a brontosaurus have in common? As businesses grow, founders often struggle with transitioning from generalist roles to more focused leadership. Professor Carter Cast’s HBR article describes the Dinosaur Diagnostic that uses the brontosaurus' long neck to illustrate the growth curve. This diagnostic helps you pinpoint when it’s time to hire functional experts and stick to just your leadership hat. Understanding when and how to make this shift is essential for setting a company up for scalable success.
  • Acquisitions often stumble when integration begins. To avoid the "merger of equals" trap, establish clear leadership early, define KPIs, and integrate companies under one unified identity. Without proper management and measurable goals, acquisitions risk chaos, with overlapping teams and conflicting cultures. A dedicated integration team ensures smooth execution and helps keep everything on track.


  • Tip for transitioning veterans: start early and build a strong network. Transitioning from military to civilian life takes planning, so start at least a year in advance. Also, a mentor can make the process smoother by providing guidance and industry insights. In mentoring sessions, be ready to connect your military skills to civilian roles and ask thoughtful questions that show your genuine interest in the industry. With the right support, veterans can thrive in finance, offering fresh perspectives and strong leadership.


About Paul W. Swaney III

Paul W. Swaney III is a seasoned industrials investor and founder of Swaney Group. His diverse background spans military service in the U.S. Navy, roles at McKinsey & Company, and Amazon. Paul is passionate about supporting veterans transitioning to civilian careers through initiatives like SkillBridge. He is also the host of the LeverUp podcast, a community dedicated to demystifying banking, consulting, and PE for young professionals.


About Swaney Group

Swaney Group is a private equity firm with a focus on the industrial sector. The firm revitalizes struggling businesses and enhances successful ones through its proprietary Swaney Group Operating System (SGOS). SGOS optimizes management, tech systems, and culture to maximize value for both portfolio companies and investors.

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Investors & Operators
A Podcast by 51 Labs
The M&A market can be boring, but everyone has a story. The Investors & Operators podcast is about discovering the stories people were holding back, didn’t know how to tell, or forgot about. The goal is simple: fresh, authentic storytelling to bring people together in the M&A community.

With over 1M organic views and counting on LinkedIn, 51 Labs is disrupting the M&A market through the use of videography and content creation. In a market that longs for authenticity, 51 Labs helps strengthen your brand and tell your story. From concept to distribution, we strategize and produce thoughtful content to be used across a multitude of channels, to help you stand out in an otherwise traditionally boring market.

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Jordan Selleck

Founder. Recovering Investment Banker. 3x Entrepreneur. Philz Coffee Enthusiast.

Jordan Selleck is a recovering investment banker turned 3x entrepreneur. While teaching English in China, Jordan met an investment banker in a bar and before he knew it he’d spent six years in cross-border investment banking advising global corporates and private equity firms on M&A deals up to $250 million.

As much as Jordan loved investment banking, he always knew he was meant to do something more. In 2016, Jordan founded Debtmaven, a deal management platform for debt financing in the lower middle market. It was while he was marketing Debtmaven on LinkedIn that Jordan found his true passion: building meaningful relationships in the lower middle market.

Seeing over 50% of Debtmaven’s $450million+ in deals come from LinkedIn, he realized he’d found an untapped market and began his journey with LinkedIn consulting. Dozens of clients and a handful of extraordinarily talented employees later, 51 Labs is a thriving marketing agency for the lower middle market that produces captivating content and generates organic traffic across LinkedIn.

Jordan was born in San Diego, grew up in North Carolina and attended UNC-Chapel Hill. He has traveled to 32 countries, lived in China for 18 months, trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a fourth-generation private pilot, SCUBA dives, speaks Mandarin Chinese, and is a husband and father of 2.