David Berkal
CEO
,
Banyan
Search Type
Solo
Search launch
2017
Investment year
2017
“Pacific Lake and its Long-Term Hold strategy was the right fit for Banyan. We know and trust the Pacific Lake team. We didn’t talk to anyone else to lead the recap in 2020.”
“Pacific Lake and its Long-Term Hold strategy was the right fit for Banyan. We know and trust the Pacific Lake team. We didn’t talk to anyone else to lead the recap in 2020.”
David’s search started in 2017 with an idea: buy software businesses. Today, his company Banyan acquires, builds, and grows high quality enterprise software businesses. But he's learned that the journey to becoming a great CEO comes with time — and experience.
Why David chose to search
In the beginning, David met with investors outside of the search community. He found that they had a harder time betting on him as a younger entrepreneur out of the gate. The strength of searching with Pacific Lake is that we’re positioned to back a less experienced individual when there's drive and ambition partnered with a strong willingness to learn lessons about leadership (and life) along the search fund journey.
Why we backed David
We first met David in 2013 when he was in his first year at Stanford GSB and immediately saw in him ambition, intellectual horsepower, and a deep belief in a thesis around which he could build a big businesses. David conceived of the Banyan model in our Boston office in partnership with key search fund investors and we knew from the jump he was going to do something special. We were fortunate to build a partnership with David very early in his journey, and have sought opportunities to deepen that relationship overtime. In 2020, after proving his thesis and reaching key milestones, David sought a partner to help fund the next chapter of Banyan's growth. Pacific Lake's Long-Term Hold strategy led the transaction and continued to lean in to supporting the business.
