The Advantages of Permanent Capital – an Interview with Peter Harris

This is the fifth interview in our Entrepreneur and Family-owned Business series.

These interviews are designed to help entrepreneurs and family business owners think through the benefits, implications, and consequences of taking outside investment.

As part of the project, I am interviewing private equity fund managers, middle-market investment bankers, attorneys, accountants, and consultants that advise privately held firms.

In this interview I speak with Peter Harris, Director of Corporate Development at Axel Johnson Inc., a family-owned business with over $3.4 billion in revenues.

Some of the highlights of this interview include:

• Why Axel Johnson is a less appealing buyer for investment bankers, but may be more attractive for business owners;
• The difference between thinking like an investor and thinking like an owner;
• Why controlling interests are overrated, and;
• The surprising limiter to growth (it’s not capital).

You can access the interview transcript here.