Navigating PE Acquisition w/ Jake Levine

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Private equity is one of the biggest flashpoints in the MSP world: some welcome it, others dread it.

Today’s guest offers a perspective that’s less emotional and more practical.

Brian sits down with Jake Levine, CEO of Robo, an MSP that’s grown from nearly $10M in revenue at acquisition to an expected $23M this year. Jake has worked with private equity his entire career, first getting hooked on the challenge in grad school, then joining NextGen Growth Partners and never looking back.

Jake shares how he first got introduced to the MSP space, what truly sparked his interest in PE, and the real differences between running a founder-led company and a private equity–backed one. From discipline and execution to leadership traits and inevitable tradeoffs, this conversation lays out the pros, cons, and misconceptions so you can decide what actually fits your business.

Whether you’re PE-backed, PE-curious, or firmly opposed, you’ll walk away with a clearer lens for what it takes to win under either model.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Introduction
1:06 - Episode open
1:33 - What it takes to run a PE-backed MSP
5:58 - The difference in decision-making
8:25 - Jake’s story
17:07 - Where is Robo at today?
20:05 - The reality of being a CEO
25:54 - Building credibility (w/ an already established team)
29:44 - Tensions between an owner and private equity
33:32 - “Healthy tension”
37:48 - “How has your leadership grown?”
41:37 - The ‘squishy’ concepts and replacing yourself
45:17 - Biggest mistake Jake has made as a CEO
50:04 - Rapid fire
56:23 - Episode wrap-up

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Like Our Guest? Check out more on Jake Levine

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