At this year’s annual investor conference, we had the pleasure of welcoming Jordan Bettman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Radian Capital, for a conversation on growth equity investing and what the rise of AI really means for software businesses.
Jordan has a refreshingly clear way of defining what Radian does: embrace the optimism of venture capital and the discipline of private equity, and put them together. In practice, that means finding bootstrapped or lightly capitalized software companies outside of Silicon Valley — often in places like Springfield, Missouri or Phoenix, Arizona — coming in as the first institutional capital, and building businesses that can deliver returns in any market environment.
On the so-called SaaS apocalypse, Jordan offered one of the more nuanced takes of the day. The valuation reset in software is real and largely appropriate. But the narrative that all software is headed to zero misses something important: smart management teams are not sitting still. The companies that will thrive are the ones proving they can grow faster and more efficiently by embracing AI, not the ones waiting to see how it plays out.
To help frame which companies belong in that category, Jordan shared a practical three-part framework. First, the stability of the end market matters enormously. Second, product characteristics like being a system of record, carrying regulatory requirements, or operating as a multiplayer platform all add durability. Third, and perhaps most importantly: is the company already proving it has a right to exist in the new world?
On that last point, Jordan noted that in a recent review of companies pitching Radian, nearly half had self-designated as AI-native businesses, and more than 60% of those had been founded over five years ago. The label, he said plainly, has lost its meaning. What matters is whether the company is actually built for what comes next.