Orbit - An Hg software leadership podcast

Trackunit is quietly revolutionising and illuminating the construction industry. By bringing data and analysis to a world where high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability lead to low margins, operators can finally see where their inefficiencies lie and even increase safety levels. In this episode, Soeren Brogaard, CEO, talks to Hg’s Florian Wolff about the internet of things, sudden internati...

Having founded Benelux-based web services group, team.blue (then Combell), at the age of 16, Jonas Dhaenens has stayed with his business through growth, outside investment, international expansion and industry consolidation. In this episode, Jonas talks to Hg’s Joris Van Gool about the development of his initial ideas, how local knowledge is key to international success and his model of bringing t...

Part 2 of our miniseries: 'The Future of SaaS' The benefits of the SaaS model is increasingly well recognised and is well placed to be the next move for the majority of B2B software. In this episode, Øystein Moan, Executive Chairman of Visma and an Industry Advisor to Hg, discusses the trend of the immediate future: automation. With over 80% of software inputs already coming from APIs, the subject...

Part 1 of our miniseries: 'The Future of SaaS' The benefits of the SaaS model is increasingly well recognised, but the pain and challenges to successfully achieve a SaaS transition is now being felt by the millions of businesses who are still in the early stages of this journey. In this episode, Øystein Moan, Executive Chairman of Visma and an Industry Advisor to Hg, reflects on Visma’s multi-year...

The COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly disruptive for people all across the world, but has really thrown the spotlight on pharma companies. We’ve seen drugs designed and developed in record times. We’ve seen more collaboration between scientists, pharma companies and regulators than ever before – collaboration that has seen sharing of science, approaches and data. This has accelerated an ongoin...

As a fast-growing business, with many business units newly added through M&A, Citation had huge cross-selling opportunities. But taking cross-selling from opportunistic to strategic took a whole host of measures to set up their teams for success. In this episode, Hg’s Chris Kindt speaks to Peter Sherlock, Group Commercial Director of The Citation Group, discussing their journey to creating a winni...

As software companies come together, often across geographical lines where different rules may apply, the spectre of cybersecurity issues often raises its head. Even if your own house is in order, how can defend yourself against problems that may be lying dormant in your new partner? With the possibility of undisclosed attacks in the past, data breach fines in the future and a potential present wh...

With the workplace currently containing at least five different generations of employees, each with their own priorities and expectations, how can businesses attract and hold on to the leaders of the future? Everyone has heard about The Great Resignation and how Gen Z is re-evaluating their life in light of the pandemic, the gig economy and increasing demands for authenticity, inclusivity and entr...

As the lines between our professional and personal lives increasingly blur, the desire to connect with something bigger than ourselves through our work is rising. Purpose needs to become part of the fabric of your company to attract and retain both employees and customers. In this episode, Bryan de Lottinville, Founder & Executive Chairperson, Benevity discusses with Hg’s Nic Humphries, the role o...

Now an Enterprise Strategist at AWS, Phil Le-Brun's previous role saw him tackle transforming the technology landscape at the global fast food behemoth, McDonald's. Phil took some time to speak to Hg’s Head of Portfolio Technology, Jason Richards, and reveals that the experience of deploying 20,000 e-commerce restaurants in one year is as much about people as it is about the tech.

The convergence of technology and data with traditional insurance activity, and the appetite from institutional investors in the non-correlated returns on offer from insurance, has created a range of innovative ‘risk-transfer’ products in recent years. Hg’s Andrew Land is joined by Charlie Langdale, Head of Financial Lines for Howden Group Holdings and a leading innovator in the insurance sector,...

To be ‘born in the cloud’ is a status to be envied in the software sector. But what real advantages does it have, and are there any downsides? How difficult is it to create a competitive and disruptive business in the cloud today? Joris van der Gucht & Tim Vandecasteele are true software entrepreneurs, having co-founded Silverfin, a leading cloud platform for accountants. Joris and Tim speak to Jo...

The last year in the United States has been a year unlike any other. As software businesses dealt with a changing landscape, the importance of purpose was brought sharply into focus by the pandemic and social justice movements. Andy Hovancik has navigated this period of change as President and CEO of leading US-based tax software company, Sovos. In this episode of Orbit, Andy speaks to Dawn Marrio...

The last century has seen Scandinavia switch from a fishing and oil economy to become a major centre of innovation in tech and software. Is there something in the water? Merete Hverven is the CEO of Visma, one of Europe's foremost software companies and one of Hg's longest and most successful investments. She speaks to Nic Humphries, Senior Partner at Hg, on what's behind this success, reflecting...