Francisco Partners' Dipanjan ‘DJ’ Deb on investing in PE and taking a long term view

Dipanjan ‘DJ’ Deb, Co-Founder and CEO at Francisco Partners, joined Moonfare’s Co-CEO, Lorenz Jüngling, for the latest episode of the Deal Talk series — our regular fireside chats with leading global private equity dealmakers.

Based in San Francisco, Dipanjan ‘DJ’ Deb leads one of the most active and largest technology-focused investment firms in the world. To date, Francisco Partners has invested in or acquired over 400 technology companies.

In a conversation with Jüngling, ‘DJ’ Deb discussed lessons learned as a top dealmaker, provided his insights on technology investing and offered advice for first-time investors in private equity.

‍Complexity arbitrage: “Our strategy is straightforward — it's complexity arbitrage. We buy confusion, hopefully at a discount, and sell clarity, hopefully at a premium. This involves acquiring solid technology companies with strong customer bases that are not yet optimised. A common scenario in technology is companies losing focus on their core strengths and pursuing growth at any cost. We try to arbitrage this.”

On technology: “People always ask me if they have too much exposure to technology. And I tell them they don’t have enough exposure. Tech is horizontal, whether it’s in the government space, aerospace, fintech, healthtech or consumer, tech is pervasive and will displace anything that was done by hand before.”

Investing in private equity: “If you're going to invest in private equity make sure to take a long term view and don’t panic. The worst people can do is invest money at the top and take it out when things hit the bottom. There will be fits and starts along the way but I think equities are still the best asset class long term and I think technology is the best asset class within equity.”

Important notice: This content is for informational purposes only. The opinions expressed by the interviewee are their own. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Moonfare. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Private equity is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Subject to eligibility. Please see https://www.moonfare.com/disclaimers.