The professionalisation of Private Equity with Henry Ward

In this episode, Alex Rawlings is joined by Henry Ward, CEO and Co-Founder of Carta, to explore the evolving landscape of private equity and venture capital through the lens of software, operations, and professionalization. Henry shares his journey building Carta into a multi-billion-dollar software business and how it’s transforming the infrastructure of private markets.

Henry dives into why private equity must evolve from its legacy of financial engineering to an operational value-add model—and how the next generation of firms is doing just that. He also unpacks Carta’s roadmap for building cloud-native tools for PE firms, including fund accounting, cap tables, waterfalls, and LP portals. Plus, he explains the two-speed mentality of balancing venture-style growth with private equity-level rigor—and what he’s learned along the way.

🕰️ Timestamps:
00:03 – Welcome and introduction to Henry Ward and Carta
00:29 – Carta’s mission and Henry’s background
00:58 – The outdated mindset in legacy PE firms
01:40 – Hard lessons building a multi-S-curve business
04:02 – Scaling in small markets and fast saturation
05:22 – Innovating inside a scaled company (recommendation: Loonshots)
07:18 – What Henry would do differently (spoiler: gather more info, faster)
09:41 – Grata ad spot
10:09 – Carta’s three-layer approach in venture: cap tables, fund ops, LP portals
12:54 – Applying the same playbook to private equity and private credit
13:50 – The speed of reporting in PE is accelerating—software must follow
14:48 – Why PE and VC have lagged in professionalization
16:15 – Influence of firms like Andreessen Horowitz in redefining fund operations
17:42 – Back-office vs strategic finance in PE firms
18:42 – Competition and differentiation are driving the need for change
19:37 – What should PE automate first? Fund accounting
20:36 – AI disruption in accounting and the end of manual debits and credits
22:03 – Cloud adoption in PE is still lagging—40% still on-prem!
22:31 – Balancing venture-style growth and PE-style discipline on Carta’s cap table
24:56 – Strategic value of PE investors when aligned with product growth
25:24 – Henry’s reading habits and framework (read the ends, skip the middle)
26:53 – Timeless business books and staying current with The Economist
27:23 – How to contact Henry

📌 Key Takeaways:

• PE is shifting from financial engineering to operational alpha.
• The professionalization of private equity firms is overdue and underway.
• Carta is bringing fund accounting, cap tables, and LP ops into the cloud.
• PE must adopt tech to compete, especially as investor and platform competition heats up.
• Automation of accounting and reporting is the low-hanging fruit for transformation.
• Balancing growth and discipline requires the right capital partners—and Carta has both.

📨 Connect with Henry Ward:
📧 Email: [email protected]

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent.
We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/
🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

 for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires.