[REPLAY] Private Equity Masters 3: Robert F. Smith – Vista Equity Partners (Capital Allocators, EP.202)

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Investing, Capitalallocation, Business

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Robert F. Smith is the Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vista Equity Partners. Vista is a private investment firm that focuses entirely on enterprise software companies and manages $75 billion in assets across private equity, permanent capital, credit and public vehicles.

Taken together, Vista’s current portfolio companies are about 70 in number and house 70,000 employees, 700,000 customers across 175 countries, and 200 million global users. Its combined revenue would make the portfolio one of the largest enterprise software companies in the world.

Our conversation covers Robert’s background, the special characteristics of enterprise software, screening potential targets, adding value through industry expertise, assessing management teams, employing operational and financial leverage, and exiting investments. We then turn to managing Vista and the competitive landscape, and close with reflections on Robert’s past mistakes and impact through philanthropy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Capital allocators is brought to you by my friends at WCM Investment Management.
0:07.5	To outperform the markets, you have to do something differently from others.
0:11.9	In my 30-something years investing in managers, there may be no one I've come across who does that as clearly and as well as WCM.
0:20.1	I've seen it up close as an investor in their
0:22.3	international growth strategy for the last five years. WCM is a global equity investment manager
0:28.9	majority owned by its employees. They believe that being based on the West Coast, away from
0:34.7	the influence of Wall Street Groupthink, provides them with the freedom
0:37.9	to live out their investment team's core values, think different, and get better.
0:43.5	As advocates of integrating culture research into the investment process and advancing
0:48.3	wide moat investing with the concept of moat trajectory, WCM has delivered differentiated returns while building concentrated
0:56.2	portfolios designed to stand out from the crowd. WCM is committed to defying the status quo
1:03.1	by dismantling outdated practices, believing in the extraordinary capabilities of its people,
1:08.8	and fostering optimism to inspire each individual
1:12.2	to become the best version of themselves. To learn more about WCM, visit their website at WCMinvest.com.
1:21.3	And tune in to this slot on the show to hear more about WCM all year long.
1:26.9	This testimonial is being provided by Ted Sides and capital allocators who have been
1:30.2	compensated a flat fee by WCM.
1:31.9	His payment was made in connection with capital allocators' testimonial and production
1:34.4	of podcasts, and does not depend on the success or level of business generated.
1:37.7	The opinions expressed are solely those of capital allocators and may not reflect the opinions
1:40.5	of others.
1:41.1	Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principle.
	...

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