Ask Carlo™ | Private Equity, Simplified

Venice Film Festival. Red carpet. A woman in a crimson gown catches the light — and so do her shoes. Jimmy Choo. The brand that turned footwear into art. But here’s the remarkable bit: it began in a small East London workshop in 1996, valued at just £18 million. Over the next 16 years, four private equity firms would each buy it, transform it, and sell it on — every time at a higher price. The final exit: $1.35 billion. A 75-fold increase.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
How Phoenix Equity Partners spotted an £18M brand hiding inside a couture...

London, 2018. A 33-year-old former Lehman Brothers trader sits in a modest flat, running a banking app with 3 million users. Traditional banks dismiss him. Regulators are cautious. Most venture capitalists want board control.DST Global sees something different. They invest €234 million for a minority stake at a €2 billion valuation – without taking a single board seat. Seven years later, Revolut is valued at €75 billion.Here's how.
You'll discover:- Why Nikolay Storonsky's experience at Lehman Brothers during its collapse shaped every decision that followed- How DST Global structured a €234M minority investment using protective provisions instead of operational control-...

What does an entrepreneur see that a career investor might miss? And what changes when that entrepreneur crosses the table to become the one writing the cheques?
In this episode, I welcome Shanu Sherwani — a private equity professional with a rather distinctive trajectory. He started as an entrepreneur, moved into fund management, and now serves as Chief Investment Officer of a single family office. That dual perspective — operator and capital allocator — shapes everything: how he assesses opportunities, how he reads people, and how he thinks about risk.
We cover considerable ground:
— The shift from founder to funder:...

Milan, 2017. A Renaissance convent sits abandoned in the Quadrilatero della Moda – five minutes from Via Montenapoleone. Frescoes deteriorating. Gardens overgrown. Most developers walk away: too complex, too expensive, too many heritage restrictions.
A Luxembourg-based private equity fund sees something different. They invest €87 million. Five years later, 22 ultra-luxury apartments sell for €183 million. Here’s how.

You’ll discover: Why heritage properties others avoid can generate 16% annual returns
- The four-phase execution strategy: approvals, structural restoration, hidden infrastructure, private sales
- How scarcity and location command pricing power in Europe’s most protected markets
- Why €15,000–18,000 per square...