Blog
AI and cloud economics for PE investors and portfolio company leaders
The Data Readiness Gap in AI Value Creation Plans
Most AI initiatives in portfolio companies fail on data rather than on models. What to check before underwriting the AI line in a value creation plan.
Read articleBuild, Buy, or Rent: Foundation Model Decisions
Four options for the model layer, what each actually costs, and the conditions under which anything other than renting is defensible.
Read articleWhat Should AI Cost? Benchmarks by Product Shape
AI cost as a share of revenue varies by an order of magnitude depending on where the model sits in the product. How to benchmark it and read the trajectory.
Read articleThe AI Diligence Question Bank
Forty questions to ask an AI-positioned target, organized by what each one is actually testing and what a bad answer tells you.
Read articleModel Tiering: The Fastest AI Cost Win Available
Most AI workloads route every request to the most capable model. Segmenting traffic by difficulty typically cuts inference costs 60-80%.
Read articleWhen AI-Powered Quietly Breaks Gross Margin
AI inference costs scale with usage while SaaS pricing stays fixed. Why that breaks unit economics, and how to model it during diligence.
Read articleAI Whitewashing: Telling Capability From a Wrapper
How to distinguish genuine AI capability from a thin wrapper around someone else's model during technical due diligence, and what each is worth.
Read articleReserved Instances vs. On-Demand: What PE Firms Need to Know
A non-technical guide to AWS commitment pricing for PE investors: Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, EDPs, coverage ratios and diligence red flags.
Read articlePreparing Cloud Infrastructure for Exit
What buyers look for in cloud infrastructure during diligence, and how 6-12 months of preparation can materially improve exit multiples.
Read articleWhy SaaS Companies Overspend on Cloud by 30-50%
Why SaaS companies routinely overspend on cloud by 30-50%, the patterns behind the waste, and the direct impact on gross margins and valuation.
Read articlePost-Acquisition Cloud Optimization: The First 90 Days
A 90-day cloud optimization playbook for PE operating teams: phased milestones, expected savings timelines, and practical implementation guidance.
Read articleTranslating Cloud Infrastructure into Valuation Multiples
How cloud infrastructure efficiency moves valuation, with a Technology Risk Assessment framework for scoring maturity against EBITDA multiples.
Read articleFinOps for Private Equity: Why Portfolio Companies Need It
What FinOps is, why PE-backed companies need it, and how its three phases — Inform, Optimize, Operate — drive EBITDA and higher exit multiples.
Read articleCloud Due Diligence Checklist for PE Transactions
A comprehensive cloud due diligence framework for PE transactions covering cost management, architecture, security, operations, and vendor relationships.
Read articleThe True Cost of Cloud Waste in Portfolio Companies
Explore the four major categories of cloud waste in PE portfolio companies, with confidence levels and typical dollar impact for each category.
Read articleHow Cloud Costs Impact EBITDA: A Guide for PE Investors
Understand how cloud infrastructure costs flow through financial statements and directly impact EBITDA, with practical optimization examples for PE investors.
Read article5 Cloud Red Flags PE Firms Miss During Due Diligence
Five cloud infrastructure warning signs PE firms overlook during due diligence, and why each one directly changes deal economics.
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