Practical Founders Podcast

#132: Bootstrapper Serving Private Equity Firms Acquired by PE-Backed Strategic – Richard Change

21 Feb 2025

Audio

Description

Richard Change is co-founder and CEO of PFA Solutions, the provider of FirmView software. FirmView® is the leading carry and compensation management platform for private equity investors to manage their internal compensation from fees and carried interest. Richard was a senior architect for a large private equity firm when he discovered this complex problem that was being managed on spreadsheets. He left to start PFA Solutions and bootstrapped the development of FirmView with consulting revenue. From inception, through growth and ultimately acquisition, Richard never took any outside funding. FirmView adoption grew steadily, serving large private equity firms. PFA Solutions eventually grew to 34 employees before being acquired by Allvue Systems in 2024. Allvue is a private-equity-backed software company that serves the alternative investment industry. Quote from Richard Change, co-founder and CEO of PFA Solutions "Once you're in it, once you've decided to start a company, own it. No regrets. No one's going to save you. There's not a fairy godmother that will come and wave all your problems away. You have to own it. "There's no magic wand that will come and wave a wand and say, OK, all your problems are solved. And that magic wand in my mind wasn't outside capital; it wasn't VC funding. That wasn't magic because what do when the money runs out? "Is your product generating revenue? That's the real problem. If there's a problem to be solved and you have a great idea or solution, you can generate revenue from it. Prove to yourself and the world that this is viable and has product-market fit." Links PFA Solutions on LinkedIn PFA Solutions website Allvue Systems website Vista Equity Partners website Podcast Sponsor - Cypress Growth Capital This week's podcast is sponsored by my friends at Cypress Growth Capital. For 15 years, Cypress has provided non-dilutive growth funding to bootstrapped SaaS founders, including many successful founders I've interviewed here on this podcast. Message Cliff Sentell at Cypress to have an open discussion about your options. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com/newsletter.

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other episodes from Practical Founders Podcast

Transcribed and ready to explore now

#176: The Five Questions That Will Decide Your SaaS Progress Next Year - Greg Head

26 Dec 2025

Practical Founders Podcast

Practical Founders Podcast

#132: Bootstrapper Serving Private Equity Firms Acquired by PE-Backed Strategic – Richard Change

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from Practical Founders Podcast

#176: The Five Questions That Will Decide Your SaaS Progress Next Year - Greg Head

#175: The Hidden Founder Psychology Patterns Behind Stuck SaaS Companies - Dave Hersh

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment