Field notes

Writing from inside the work.

Agent engineering, PE portfolio operations, what does and doesn't move EBITDA. Notes from building Drake and scoping agents into portcos.

·7 min read

How Drake sources deals for search funds and lower-middle-market PE

Drake is a search fund principal, built by a search fund principal. He owns the thesis, works the broker graph, reads every CIM against the buybox, and drafts the first-pass IOI. The playbook, and how it replaces the mechanical half of a principal's job.

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·8 min read

You're not buying software. You're hiring an employee.

The scoping mistake that kills most portco AI projects. AI can do many things, and that is the trap. You are hiring a role, not buying a tool, and the offer letter has to exist before the build.

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