Adobe: Can AI-First ARR Replace a Once-in-a-Generation CEO?
Adobe: Can AI-First ARR Replace a Once-in-a-Generation CEO?
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
Mark Pacitti
Inspire Brands: Can a Six-Brand Portfolio Command a Premium Multiple?
Catalyst research post on Roark Capital's potential ~$2B IPO of Inspire Brands (Dunkin', Arby's, Jimmy John's, Sonic, Buffalo Wild Wings, Baskin-Robbins)
Mark Pacitti
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12 min read
Campbell's Snacks Decline: Weather Event or a Crumbling Foundation?
We are launching primary research to determine whether Campbell's deteriorating snacks business reflects a transient consumer pullback or a structural loss of shelf space and brand relevance that the current management team cannot reverse.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
Mercado Libre: Can Latin America's E-Commerce Champion Grow Its Way Through a Margin War?
JPMorgan downgraded Mercado Libre to Neutral even as the company posted 45% Q4 revenue growth and record buyer engagement across Latin America. The debate is whether deliberate margin compression is an investment cycle or a permanent reset.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
The 2–3 Week Diligence Sprint: How to Structure Primary Research When Time Is Short
A practical playbook for PE deal teams and consultants running primary research under compressed timelines — what to prioritize, how to parallelize workstreams, and where outsourcing creates leverage.
Mark Pacitti
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8 min read
Dollar General: Turnaround Validated or Growth Ceiling Reached?
We are launching primary research to determine whether Dollar General's operational turnaround can sustain momentum through an oil-driven cost shock that threatens to squeeze the very low-income consumer the company depends on most.
Mark Pacitti
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12 min read
UiPath: Is the Market Pricing a Platform Transition or a Growth Ceiling?
UiPath beat on every metric, posted its first full year of GAAP profitability, and still fell 8%. The question is whether the market is right to doubt the forward narrative.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
Amazon's AI Coding Crisis: Productivity Engine or Reliability Liability?
We are launching primary research to determine whether Amazon's aggressive deployment of AI coding tools across AWS and its retail platform is undermining the infrastructure reliability that underpins its most profitable business.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
Expert Network Comparison 2026: GLG vs AlphaSights vs Third Bridge vs Guidepoint vs Done-For-You Research
An unbiased, buyer-side comparison of the four largest expert networks — GLG, AlphaSights, Third Bridge, and Guidepoint — plus when done-for-you primary research is the better fit for your deal or investment thesis.
Mark Pacitti
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13 min read
Oracle's $553 Billion Backlog: Best Quarter in 15 Years, or the Most Expensive Bet in Cloud History?
We are launching primary research to determine whether Oracle's unprecedented cloud infrastructure backlog will convert into sustained high-margin revenue, or whether customer concentration, debt load, and execution risk make this the most precarious capital cycle in enterprise technology.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
The Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Can Strategic Reserves Replace Twenty Percent of the World's Oil?
We are launching primary research to determine whether the IEA's proposed record reserve release can offset a physical supply disruption of historic scale, or whether the Strait of Hormuz closure has created a structural deficit that strategic stockpiles cannot bridge.
Mark Pacitti
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12 min read
US Airlines: Can Delta, United, and American Pass Through the Oil Shock Before It Breaks Them?
We are launching primary research to determine whether US carriers can pass through a wartime fuel spike to consumers without destroying the demand recovery that underpins every 2026 earnings forecast in the sector.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
Hims & Hers: Does Novo Nordisk's Blessing Come at the Cost of the Business Model?
Hims & Hers / Novo Nordisk catalyst research post on the GLP-1 deal that resets the HIMS investment debate.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
How to Use Expert Networks for Emerging Market Due Diligence: A Practical Playbook for Deal Teams
A practical guide for PE deal teams and corporate M&A professionals running primary research in emerging markets — how to source experts, design discussion guides, triangulate findings, and build conviction when data infrastructure is poor.
Mark Pacitti
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13 min read
Running Channel Checks on Semiconductors, AI Infrastructure, and Data Center Companies: A Primary Research Playbook for Investment Teams
A practical guide for PE deal teams and hedge fund analysts on how to structure and execute channel checks across the semiconductor, AI infrastructure, and data center value chain — covering industry dynamics, key players, unit economics, and the expert sources that matter most.
Mark Pacitti
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17 min read
How to Run 20 Expert Interviews in a Week Without Burning Out Your Deal Team
Running 20 expert interviews in a week means 100+ hours of work. This guide breaks down the real bottlenecks, shows how to parallelise workstreams, and explains when to hand the programme to a done-for-you provider.
Mark Pacitti
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8 min read
The True Cost of DIY Expert Calls: A Time and Quality Audit for Deal Teams
Expert calls look cheap on a per-unit basis. But when you audit the real time, quality, and opportunity costs of managing them in-house, the economics tell a very different story.
Mark Pacitti
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9 min read
CrowdStrike: Best Quarter Ever, So Why Is Nobody Celebrating?
We are launching primary research to determine whether enterprise CISOs and CTOs view CrowdStrike's platform consolidation story as structurally intact or whether AI-native security tools and hyperscaler competition are beginning to erode spending commitments at the account level.
Mark Pacitti
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10 min read
Novo Nordisk: CagriSema, Price Cuts, and the End of Pipeline Superiority?
We are launching primary research to determine whether Novo Nordisk's competitive moat in obesity is narrowing permanently or whether the Wegovy pill, Medicare expansion, and pricing aggression can sustain franchise value through semaglutide's patent cliff.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd: Windfall or Trap?
We are launching primary research to determine whether the Strait of Hormuz closure delivers a sustainable freight rate tailwind for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, or whether rising costs, stranded assets, and demand destruction offset the headline rate surge.
Mark Pacitti
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11 min read
MongoDB: Investing from Strength or Bracing for Deceleration?
We are launching primary research to determine whether Atlas consumption growth at mid-market SaaS companies reflects durable workload expansion or a one-time migration cycle nearing completion.
Mark Pacitti
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8 min read
How to Run an Expert Call Program for Commercial Due Diligence — The Client-Side Playbook
A practical, step-by-step guide to scoping, running, and synthesizing an expert call program for commercial due diligence — from someone who's done hundreds of them.
Mark Pacitti
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13 min read
Expert Network Pricing Explained: What Investment Professionals Actually Pay for Primary Research
A buyer-side breakdown of expert network pricing — from headline rates and hidden credit multipliers to the true all-in cost per useful call — plus a framework for evaluating whether you're getting genuine ROI from your primary research spend.
Mark Pacitti
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10 min read
BCG Overtakes McKinsey as Most Desired Consulting Employer for the First Time, as New Survey Reveals 57% of Finance Graduates Fear AI Will Slash Entry-Level Roles
Woozle Research’s Future Finance Talent Report 2026 finds the McKinsey layoffs have reshuffled employer brand power, while Blackstone leads all firms in recognition, LinkedIn and TikTok have replaced universities for career discovery, and 43% of graduates name 70-hour weeks a dealbreaker
Mark Pacitti
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5 min read