In some business circles it’s called “The Earthquake Strategy,” and it takes its name from a remarkable game of golf.
The year was 1932. The place was Mexico City. The golfer’s name has been lost to history, but his story remains.
On a fine June morning, our intrepid hero teed up his shot and struck the ball cleanly down the fairway.
To his delight, it bounced onto the green and rolled to a stop at the edge of the cup.
Moments later, as he prepared to sink his “gimme” shot, something made him pause.
A low rumble followed by a violent tremor rippled beneath his feet.
A massive earthquake—its epicenter nearly 500 miles away in Manzanillo, Mexico—sent shockwaves across the course.
The ball shuddered, teetered, and then dropped into the cup, earning its owner a miraculous hole in one.
A fantastic story? Absolutely—unless it’s the strategy a mid-market company relies on for success.
Too many executives unintentionally employ “The Earthquake Strategy” in business.
They formulate a plan, take a long shot, and hope the ball somehow finds its way to the goal.
They rely on a miracle rather than measurement.
When they miss, they repeat the process.
Private equity, on the other hand,
doesn’t have the luxury of leaving outcomes to chance.
PE partners increasingly rely on
data intelligence
to turn growth strategies into predictable results.
The Data-Is-Money Philosophy: Data as a Managed Strategic Asset
Steven Schwarzman, CEO and cofounder of
The Blackstone Group,
one of the world’s largest private equity firms, understands this well.
His influence across business and government over the past four decades is hard to overstate—and so is his view on data.
“Information is the most important asset in business,” Schwarzman says.
“The more you know, the more perspectives you have, and the more likely you are to spot patterns and anomalies before your competition.”
In Schwarzman’s shadow, it’s no surprise that implementing
data intelligence
through dashboards has become a top priority for PE firms immediately following acquisition.
Dun & Bradstreet’s emphasis on “enhancing technology and data” post-acquisition is just one example.
-
Ford leveraged insights from a global study of 25 experiments to identify new growth opportunities,
prompting expansion into higher-margin mobility markets. -
When Kinzie Capital Partners acquired Colony Display,
previously ignored demographic data revealed cultural friction limiting growth.
Addressing it doubled EBITDA within twelve months. - NASA employs dedicated data professionals to “unleash the power of data to reach new heights and reveal the unknown.”
-
After Jeff Bezos acquired The Washington Post,
data-driven changes tripled digital traffic and profitability in just two years.
And the list goes on.
In today’s competitive marketplace, data equates to money—and more.
Private equity firms that recognize this understand that optimizing existing data is one of the fastest paths
to both short-term performance and long-term value creation.
Translating a portfolio company’s raw data into accessible, decision-ready tools is foundational to that effort.
Josh Sullivan and Angela Zutavern of Booz Allen Hamilton explain it this way:
“The power of data preparation and analysis becomes fully realized only when paired with visualization.
Dashboards—using line charts, heat maps, geocharts, and other visual tools—allow leaders to spot trends,
signal alerts, explore scenarios, and understand customer behavior.
The image on the screen triggers insight.”
Private equity sits at the forefront of value-creation strategy.
Any mid-market company—sponsored or not—would benefit from adopting the same philosophy:
treat data as a strategic pillar and a catalyst for growth.
Rationalizing Private Equity Through Data
With more than 3,000
private equity firms
in the U.S. alone, competition is fierce.
Leading firms increasingly turn to data to outperform the market.
Our
PE reporting solutions
are tailored to your value-creation model,
making it easier to monitor portfolio performance, benchmarks, covenants,
and firm-level operations in real time.
If you’d like to explore how to turn your data into a managed asset that operationalizes growth strategy,
we’d welcome the conversation.
To see fund-level analytics in action,
explore our
Private Equity HQ dashboards
.
