Founding Haveli & AI's Real Cost | Brian Sheth, Haveli Investments

Most people who spend two decades building one of the most consequential enterprise software investment platforms in private equity don't stop and start over from scratch. Brian Sheth did.Brian spent his career defining what technology-focused private equity looks like at the highest level before founding Haveli Investments, now managing billions across enterprise software, gaming, and more. In this episode, Carried Interest host Sam Andersen sits down with Brian to talk relationships, AI, and what actually drives returns in private equity.Inside this conversation:Brian breaks down the mentors who shaped him early, Frank Quattrone and Gene Sykes, and a hard early lesson about alignment on one of his first deals. He explains why relationships, not transactions, win in tech-focused PE, and tells the story of the phone call that led to Haveli's Cohesity investment. The two dig into AI's real cost for portfolio companies, why "software is dead" is the wrong narrative, and what's driving the LP liquidity crisis right now. Brian also opens up about founding Haveli as an engine for giving, his conservation work in Manitoba, and what he wants his legacy to be.If you work in private equity—or want to—this one's worth your time.Carried Interest is a podcast by Affinity.🔗 Affinity: https://buff.ly/11jDF7y🔗 Haveli Investments: https://www.haveliinvestments.com/ Connect with Sam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samander/Follow Haveli Investments: https://www.linkedin.com/company/haveli-investments/Follow AffinityYouTube: @affinity_presentsYouTube (product): @affinity_coInstagram: @affinity.hqLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-affinity/ (00:00) - Why management teams matter more than anything else (00:36) - Meet Brian Sheth (01:24) - Early lessons from Frank Quattrone and Gene Sykes (03:30) - The early deal that taught him about alignment (05:37) - Relationships in a "transactional" business (07:16) - The call that led to the Cohesity investment (09:10) - Urgent vs. important: playing the long game (11:38) - What Brian looks for in people (15:17) - Is "software dead"? Debunking the SaaS apocalypse (21:29) - Where AI is creating winners and losers (25:40) - Cybersecurity, zero-days, and the boy who cried wolf (26:46) - How AI is raising the bar for portfolio companies (29:00) - Growth expectations: VC vs. PE (venture vs. private equity) (31:16) - Where AI investing will be in five years (34:31) - The LP liquidity crisis, explained (37:19) - What Brian looks for as an LP himself (39:22) - Why private equity isn't a part-time business (41:36) - Building Haveli's fund one in the ChatGPT era (43:42) - How AI actually changes the diligence process (45:29) - Haveli's playbook for creating value post close (48:53) - Why management, not strategy, drives returns (49:11) - Lessons from four decades of market cycles (54:38) - Founding Haveli as an engine for giving (56:08) - Inside Haveli's Manitoba conservation project (58:07) - What Brian hopes his legacy will be (59:40) - What he wants the "brand of Brian" to represent (01:01:00) - Lightning round (01:02:47) - Closing thoughts