In this episode, Matt and Dan sit down with Carlos Soto, Head of U.S. Private Equity Business Development at H.I.G. Capital.

Carlos shares how he broke into PE business development in 2010, how the function has evolved into a true long-term career path, and what he learned while building and leading sourcing teams across multiple firms.

The conversation covers:

• How H.I.G. structures a 17-person U.S. business development team across core banking relationships, industry verticals, the long tail of intermediaries, and direct sourcing
• Why a dedicated BD function can act as a force multiplier for investment teams
• The importance of BD serving as the connective tissue, institutional memory, and “walking CRM” of the firm
• How to build trust and credibility with investment professionals across a large, multi-strategy organization
• The operating cadence, goals, and KPIs required to manage a scaled sourcing function
• What best-in-class banker coverage looks like and why the strongest relationships are built around long-term partnership rather than individual transactions
• How smaller firms can build meaningful banker relationships without the resources of a large platform
• Why the long tail of intermediaries still matters and how firms can cover it efficiently
• What Carlos looks for when recruiting BD talent and the skills junior professionals need to develop into future leaders

Carlos also explains why the best BD professionals understand their firm’s strategy, portfolio, people, and relationships better than almost anyone—and use that knowledge to connect the right opportunities with the right people at the right time.

Deal Sourcery is brought to you by Coastal Partners, the only executive search firm focused exclusively on private equity business development.

We help private equity firms build world-class business development teams—and publish the industry's leading research on PE business development compensation, hiring trends, and market intelligence.

Whether you're making your next hire or simply want to stay ahead of the market, visit coastalpartners.co

Learn more: Coastal Partners — coastalpartners.co | Tahoe Equity — tahoeequity.com