Brydon CEOs-in-Residence (CIRs):

We accelerate the trajectory of outstanding mid-career operators who want to build & grow industry-leading platforms with private equity support, resources and capital.
Over 30% of our CIRs / CEOs come from veteran and under-represented minority backgrounds.

We have backed 3 cohorts and 19 individuals/teams to acquire small businesses in software, business services and healthcare services and others.

We apply our best practices from two decades in private equity, special operations leadership and CEO experience in small businesses to provide our CIRs and CEOs with the best tools, support and outcomes.

Brydon CEO-in-Residence Program:

We select 6-8 mid-career executives each year as Brydon CIRs:

  • We invest the equity to support a two-year sourcing phase
  • We look to invest $10-20M of equity per platform between initial equity check and add-on acquisitions (along with modest use of leverage)

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‍Better Economics: Salary and Equity

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  • We fund our CIRs at higher salary levels more commensurate with their experience
  • CIRs earn much more equity than standard PE-backed CEOs1

1 Selected Sources: The Market for CEOs: Evidence from Private Equity; Founders Network - CEO Salaries

What We Bring To Our CEOs

  • Committed capital
  • Robust private equity sourcing engine
  • Dedicated deal team and PE diligence processes
  • Speed – on average our CEOs are under LOI / in the CEO seat within a year
  • Value creation playbooks and support
  • Brydon-preferred external experts & 3rd parties, including committed Operating Council
  • Knowledge library – 300+ templates & case examples to enable fast ramp ups
  • Extensive CEO Professional Development program including functional training, executive coaching and leadership development to support your CEO journey

Mix of In-Person and Remote:

  • The CIR program kicks off with a week of cohort training in the Caribbean focused on sourcing, CRM best practices, and diligence; our CIRs begin reaching out to owners within their first week (and on average our CIRs have all been under LOI / in the CEO seat within a year)
  • We strongly encourage our CIRs to base their sourcing where they want to live
  • Through weekly one-on-ones, cohort calls and quarterly in-person offsites around the US, our CIRs build great connections and friendships, share insights and advice, and support one another throughout the challenges of sourcing and operating a small business

Better Support: Private Equity Sourcing, Diligence and Operating Resources

  • Brydon is “in the trenches” sourcing deals with our CIRs (in fact, we have sourced over half of the deals that we and our CIRs have closed in the last two years!)
  • We understand how frustrating it can feel to “re-create the wheel” when it comes to sourcing, diligence, valuation, deal structures, and operating best practices
  • We bring playbooks and best practices from large-cap PE and work hand-in-hand with our CIRs and CEOs to apply them across the full journey – from sourcing to diligence to closing and operating

CEO-in-Residence Backgrounds

What We Are Looking For:

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, but we generally look to partner with CIRs who have 3-12 years of post-business school experience (or equivalent)

For example:

  • You worked in banking or private equity on a PE-backed roll-up and see a similar opportunity with dedicated capital and support and a unique thesis
  • You are a McKinsey Associate Partner with extensive work experience and deep understanding of the growth levers in a sub-industry. Now you want to operate and build equity value in a business in that sub-industry
  • You ran a P&L or were General Manager in a vertical and know the space well. You see an opportunity to buy small mom and pop players in the space

We believe that industry-focus theses win: our CIR applicants either submit sub-industries / areas of interest or expand upon several of Brydon’s core theses (vertical market software, regulatory & compliance services, technical services, healthcare services, etc.)

Our Backgrounds – Service in Support of Our CIRs
Our founders have backgrounds in large cap private equity (Blackstone, Carlyle), bulge bracket banking (Goldman, JP Morgan) and in founding and running multiple software businesses (3 successful exits to private equity).
We also served together in combat in the most elite unit in the US military and bring best practices from special operations selection, training and leadership to our CIR program.
Our core value is service: we contribute a percentage of our revenue every year to non-profits.

applications

‍The application for our next cohort will open in Dec. 2025 for a May 2026 start. To explore other roles across our portfolio companies, check out our careers page.

explore roles
1/16: Virtual Information Session
Have questions? Please email Sarah at sarah.higgins@brydon.com
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Are you a student interested in our paid Undergrad Sourcing Internships or MBA Portfolio Intern program? We recruit for part-time paid spring and fall interns as well as full-time summer interns. Questions? Email Sarah at sarah.higgins@brydon.com
apply now