Cresting Wave

At S&P Interact 2024, Bill Murphy, Managing Partner at Cresting Wave, shared valuable insights during a panel discussion on AI for Private Markets: 1) The industry remains largely in "experiment mode," grappling with foundational challenges caused by historical underinvestment in data and technology. The lack of robust data infrastructure makes it difficult to fully leverage large language models (LLMs) and advanced AI capabilities. 2) A key issue at play is the limited willingness to allocate management fees toward costly portfolio operations capabilities, such as building an in-house AI team. As a result, firms are focusing on incremental applications of AI aimed at reducing back-office and operational costs. 3) The firms that will truly lead in this space are those that invest in a proprietary data lake and a robust foundation of AI capabilities. This approach could provide them with an information advantage, but it requires committing to these tech and data investments well before any obvious payback—an inherent cultural challenge for many firms. The message was clear: while AI's potential in private markets is significant, realizing its full value will favor those willing to take risks and invest early in the right infrastructure. At Cresting Wave, we empower technology leaders to anticipate these industry shifts and adopt transformative solutions that position their organizations for long-term success. #Interact2024 #AI #privatemarkets #technology #innovation #techleadership

A Healthy Technology Strategy Requires the Right Habits — insights from?Bill Murphy, Managing Partner at Cresting Wave & Former CTO of Blackstone. Featuring Justin Peterson, CTO of Tradeweb, we're grateful for your partnership.

Scaling "Founder Mode" for Corporate Technology Leaders (or really all technology leaders...) — insights from Bill Murphy, Managing Partner at Cresting Wave & Former CTO of Blackstone

Cresting Wave: A Journey of Evolution & Adaptation -- thoughts from Founder Steve Shuhet "People often ask about the origin story of Cresting Wave. It started 22?years ago with my first client. I realized early on that offering multiple solutions to technology executives was far more valuable than always trying to steer the conversation toward the single solution I was selling. For about 18?years, I did this by walking around Manhattan, bringing technology?leaders?new solutions?I?had found to help them. During this time,?innovation surged from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv,?fueled by a huge increase in venture capital funding. ?As?the market evolved, there were more single-point solutions that became harder and harder to differentiate, much less sell.? My "aha" moment came when I realized buyers couldn’t?keep up with?this?constant innovation – their time remained fixed?while their roles transformed from hands-on builders to managers of a growing portfolio of resources, tools, processes, and vendors. To help technology leaders like Bill Murphy at Blackstone, we needed a solution to find viable?options for their specific situation. In 2020, when COVID-19 hit, we rebooted the business. Bill partnered?with me to take Cresting Wave to the masses, bringing his expertise?from Blackstone and Capital IQ. We felt the entire enterprise sales formula was being upended, requiring sales teams to adapt and focus on delivering value in every interaction.? The way I sold 25 years ago –?bringing all the solutions I saw to my network of relationships – worked then, but doesn’t?work now.?Attention spans have shortened, pressure is?high, every inbox is overflowing, and time is more limited than ever. We must evolve as a sales industry to combat this challenge. ? The key to success today is coming prepared, and that’s?what the Cresting Wave model is all about. We take the time to deeply understand our buyers’ environments?and needs and?match them with a range of innovative solutions that we’ve?vetted on their behalf. We identify?use cases and equip sales leaders with?context on every buyer?to ensure each meeting is streamlined. I've?learned that it’s?not just about the best technology; it’s?about the right innovation for the specific buyer. It’s?about looking beyond technology – evaluating the people, investors, strategy, and vision behind companies. It’s?about adapting as a sales force to align our incentives with our buyers’?needs?and making?good use?of every minute they can give us. At Cresting Wave, we’re?committed to leading the transformation of the?go-to-market profession to?continue to?drive?innovation forward?despite?modern complexities." Every tech leader can benefit from our briefings – please reach out to Rachel Persky to engage with us further or introduce us to the tech leaders in your organization.?If you're a young company looking to get to market, we would be happy to evaluate your solution to see if it can add value to our community.

Cresting Wave is Growing: A Quick Update on Our Progress from Bill Murphy, former CTO at Blackstone & Founding CTO at Capital IQ. "Since joining Steve Shuhet and committing to growing Cresting Wave more than three years ago, we've seen tremendous progress. We've grown the number of firms we help bring innovations to by 300%+, expanded our team to 14 members, and developed deep strategic partnerships with the investment community. All this progress comes from the fact that the problem we are solving is as pervasive as ever. Technology leaders are not adopting new solutions fast enough because there is no way for them to know what solutions are credible and most importantly, what is right for them. They are overwhelmed by marketing emails, sales cold calls, and conferences that don't deliver the knowledge helpful to them in crafting a technology strategy. The way we work is different: customized and risk-free. At no cost to technology leaders, we itemize the basics of an organization's technology environment and strategy. Then, using that knowledge and drawing on my experience and our collective wisdom, we find new solutions that will be helpful. We inform technology leaders and their teams of their specifically matched technologies through customized, recurring briefings. Every meeting is tailored to that organization, ensuring it's relevant and efficient. And everyone comes in armed with background knowledge to streamline the process. This method not only simplifies learning for leaders but also reduces the ineffective 'spray and pray' tactics typical of traditional sales and marketing.?This allows everyone involved to concentrate on what matters most: delivering real value to the end users of these solutions. The days of the watered-down group webinars catering to the lowest common denominator are over. The future is customized and curated to your needs. As we look to the future, our mission is to amplify our impact, creating real value for innovations and enterprise technology leaders in their shared pursuit of personal and organizational success. Every technology leader can benefit from our briefings – please reach out to Rachel Persky ([email protected]) to engage with us further or introduce us to the technology leaders in your organization."