Victor Vescovo on Mountaineering, Deep Sea Explorations and Co-Founding a Private Equity Firm

Today's Guest

We’re extremely excited to welcome Victor Vescovo to the podcast today.

Victor is an American private equity investor, co-founder of Insight Equity, retired naval officer, and undersea explorer, being the first person to reach the deepest points of four of the Earth’s five oceans during the Five Deeps Expedition of 2018-2019.

In 2017, Vescovo became the 12th American to complete the “Explorers Grand Slam” which requires climbing the highest peak on all seven of the world’s continents, including Mt. Everest.

For more than 20 years, Vescovo served as an office in the U.S. Navy Reserve, retiring in 2014. He served at various times on extended active duty, including Pearl Harbor where he was posted after the 9/11 attacks as a counter-terrorism specialist. 

In the Private Equity world, he is cofounder and Managing Partner of Private Equity firm Insight Equity, an industrial buyout firm with over $1B AUM, where he focuses on growing and enhancing aerospace and defence firms.

What’s in this episode?

In today’s episode Victor chats with Alex about his experiences in mountaineering and undersea exploration and draws on the strong parallels between working in Private Equity and doing expeditions and military operations.
 
What you'll learn

•  Why risk mitigation plays a vital role in both expeditions and Private Equity Investing
• Why hesitating on decision making can kill your business
• What Victor has drawn from his military background to influence his Private Equity firm today
• The most painful decision Victor has ever had to make
• What drove Victor to set up his current PE Firm, Insight Equity
• How 9/11 changed his life
• What makes some a great leader and top performer

Breakdown

4:40 - Why do some people take on more risk than others, in expeditions and in business?

8:45 - The biggest mistakes Victor sees people making in PE

10:16 - How Victor’s military background influences his decision making today

13:00 - Why Victor set up his PE Firm, Insight Equity

16:04 - Victor describes what was working in the military was like

17:30 - How to make partner in your firm

19:57 - Victor’s interpretation of what makes a great leader

22:34 - The makeup of a top performer

25:10 - Victor’s likes and dislikes in the Private Equity Industry

33:40 - what advice would you give to your 20 year old self

Resources

https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-vescovo-4a130775/

https://fivedeeps.com/

https://www.ted.com/speakers/victor_vescovo

https://www.insightequity.com/

Thank you for tuning in!

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Lastly, if you have any feedback on the podcast or want to reach out to Alex with any questions, send an email to [email protected]