#50 George Baker | Private Equity Rarely Loses

About the episode

George Baker swept his father’s commercial parking lots in downtown Dallas at 12. In 2010 he founded ParkHub to attack the one problem he had watched from the ground: cash leakage. Digitizing the transaction produced revenue lifts of 30 to more than 50 percent for operators. In 2014 he shut down his own reservation engine, called Ticketmaster, and rebuilt the company as B2B software. Growth ran 400 percent, then 300, then 200. Jerry Jones was an early investor. LLR Partners put in $100 million of growth equity. More than 20 bolt-on acquisitions followed, then a merger with the UK’s JustPark and an FTV Capital recap that moved Baker from chairman to director.

What he gave up was not the money. “We were a band of brothers. I don’t think I will ever have that much fun.” He has not seen much private equity put weight on culture or job creation, and he does not believe founder culture survives the invitation. He has made peace with that, and he is specific about the trade: four years of school runs and family dinners, after a decade of not being around.

He now runs 2 the Moon Ventures, backing Texas consumer brands. Asked what would excite him if a company walked into the room: “It’s not the company. It’s the entrepreneur or founding team and their ability to execute.” His advice before any transaction is to write down what success looks like, one sentence, date it, seal it in an envelope, because the deal will take two to three times longer than the LOI says and you will forget why you started.