I'm not saying PE is bad, I'm saying we can do better. When a private equity (PE) firm acquires a beloved, privately held company, the early press releases are always filled with optimistic buzzwords: synergy, scaling, market acceleration, and next-chapter growth. From the outside, everything looks seamless. Revenue holds steady. Operations run smoothly. The new leadership team says all the right things. But over time, a subtle shift occurs. Customers begin to notice it first