Thoma Bravo

On the season finale of our Behind the Deal podcast, Co-Founders Orlando Bravo and Carl Thoma discuss the origin of Thoma Bravo and why betting on each other was the best deal they've ever made. Tune in for Orlando and Carl's full conversation on Thoma Bravo's Behind the Deal, airing Thursday, April 11 and available wherever you listen to podcasts. 🎙️ Download: https://bit.ly/3VXxrH5 ➡ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3sfItef #behindthedealpodcast #thomabravo #privatequity

Hear our Partner Oliver Thym share a perspective on the potential opportunities for #AI as a driver of efficiency and profitability within our portfolio of enterprise software companies during a conversation at this year's SuperReturn International in Berlin. ➡ Watch the full interview: https://lnkd.in/eZ364cS5 #SuperReturn

We’re thrilled to share that our Senior Vice President David Tse is named to Private Equity News' list of Rising Stars of Private Equity! David joined Thoma Bravo in 2017 and is one of the founding members of our London-based team after moving from San Francisco to help grow the firm’s presence across Europe in 2022. In addition to his role on our investment team, David supports our portfolio companies Hypergene and LOGEX as a member of their boards. Congratulations David! 🎉

Raptor Acquires PayK12 ! "Raptor is excited to welcome PayK12 to our growing portfolio of advanced school safety products," said Gray Hall, CEO of Raptor Technologies. "Combining PayK12's robust ticketing and payment platform with Raptor's market-leading visitor safety software supports the needs of our customers who are seeking to expand their campus safety perimeters to include school events of all sizes." Read how PayK12's expertise in digital event management and secure online payment processing complements Raptor's comprehensive suite of products in our #PressRelease. 👉 https://bit.ly/3W6poHC #PayK12 #RaptorTechnologies #EventManagement #VisitorManagement #K12 #SchoolSafety

We're excited to announce the completion of our acquisition of Everbridge, a global leader in critical event management and national public warning solutions, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion. “We are looking forward to working with David Wagner and his team on their value-creating growth plans,” said Thoma Bravo Partner Hudson Smith. “Everbridge has an incredibly strong foundation, with an expansive and innovative product portfolio that plays a critical role in the day-to-day operations of thousands of the world’s most well-respected organizations. We are confident that they can successfully build on that foundation and see tremendous growth potential ahead for the Company.” Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/ew9_tAHP

This chart about the costs of training AI large language models (LLMs) caught my attention. Economic theory—particularly in the technology industry—has long suggested that supply-side innovation can cause prices to fall rapidly for critical infrastructure, even with increasing demand. Think of computer hardware and semiconductor chips as prime examples. Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel, saw that theory in action. Moore observed that as the number of transistors on a computer chip doubled over a period of about 18 months, the price of the chip over the same period fell by about half. That was way back in 1965—and the so-called “Moore’s law” for chip progress and pricing has continued to hold roughly true for the nearly six decades since (a veritable eon in the tech world). But fast forward to 2024, and generative AI seems to be turning Moore’s law on its head: costs of training the next generation of LLMs aren’t halving; instead, prices have roughly doubled every nine months. So what explains this reversal? It’s all about how LLMs scale. To date, many of the AI race’s main drivers have seemed to be hyper-fixated on scaling up the existing architecture. Many LLM champions believe that to get to where AI wants to go, “scale is all you need”. Just make the transformer models bigger and more powerful, their thinking goes, and LLMs will revolutionize the economy and—for some—lead to artificial generalized intelligence. That view is why frontier model company CEOs talk about numbers like $10-billion training costs for a model and a $100-billion supercomputer.   But today, I’m hearing more and more about scaling down. In stark contrast to LLMs, the small language model (SLM) “theory” is that smaller models, more tightly engineered for narrower applications and domains, will increasingly supplant LLMs. The same way that fine-tuned four-cylinder engines in a modern BMW 4 series outperform (more horsepower with better gas efficiency) the V8 450-cubic-inch engines that used to power Corvettes. SLMs are also typically trained on finely curated high-quality data sets—analogous to the high-octane gas that the four-cylinder engine needs to use. As such, the costs of SLMs may map more closely to Moore’s law than their large-language counterparts. For the moment, developers and investors are essentially betting on both of these theories—LLMs and SLMs—simultaneously. However, that probably won’t continue forever in the same fashion. “Scale-is-all-you-need” LLMs will have to demonstrate extraordinary ROI to justify their $100-billion price tags, while SLMs will have to prove that they are flexible enough to fit multiple use cases and continue to improve their efficiency at domain-specific tasks. Companies adopting AI will also need to decide when they need a fine-tuned BMW and when they need a powerhouse Corvette. I believe this is one of the most fascinating and consequential races in the AI world right now…and one to watch closely.

We recently welcomed our talented summer intern class of 2024 to Thoma Bravo! We’re thrilled to host six interns across our offices this summer with one of our interns joining us from SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity), an organization we have partnered with for four years now.   A warm welcome to all of our interns and we look forward to providing them with hands-on experience and the opportunity to learn directly from our teams.

June continues to be an incredible month for @Qlik! 🌟 I am thrilled to announce that Qlik has been named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Analytics and Business Intelligence for the 14th time. This recognition is a testament to the outstanding work and innovation of our entire team, as well as the unwavering support of our customers and ecosystem. This news, combined with the fantastic response to our recent #AI product innovations and partnership announcements at #QlikConnect, makes me even more confident that we are the right partner to help our customers capture the opportunities that AI presents and transform data into a competitive advantage. https://bit.ly/4cbhwdq #QlikConnect #GartnerMQ #DataAnalytics #BI #AI

At this year's Dechert LLP Private Credit Summit in New York, our Partner Oliver Thym joined industry leaders on a panel to address the rapidly evolving #privatecredit landscape. Oliver shared insights on the enterprise software sector and how Thoma Bravo's industry expertise helps create a differentiated direct lending strategy within our credit platform.

Join us for an inspiring evening as we celebrate the incredible achievements of SEO Scholars San Francisco and honor two distinguished leaders and major supporters of SEO Scholars San Francisco: Carl Thoma, Founder and Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo, and Boston Properties (BXP) Save the Date: Thursday, November 7, 2024 With SEO Scholars' unique 8-year program, Your support helps us provide year-round academic classes, mentorship, experiential learning, and career exposure, ensuring Scholars not only earn admission to, but also graduate from top colleges nationwide. Don't miss this unique opportunity to network with fellow philanthropists, corporate leaders, and community supporters while making a tangible impact on the lives of underserved students in the Bay Area. By becoming a sponsor or attending our event, you can help bridge the academic opportunity gap and pave the way for future leaders. Visit the Achievement Benefit website to secure your spot today: bit.ly/Achievement24 #SFScholars #EducationEquity #Philanthropy #CollegeAccess