The Private Equity Podcast, by Raw Selection The lessons from Formula 1 to 22 acquisitions by a Private Equity-backed CTO
Mar 10, 2026
Peter Rossi, a CTO with 25+ years in tech who ran trackside IT at McLaren and led 22 PE-backed acquisitions, shares high-pressure lessons. He discusses how F1 taught rapid problem solving and lateral thinking. He warns against rigid M&A planning and replacing founder-doers with perfection-focused leaders. He stresses simplifying product sets, protecting speed, and making integration about people.
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From McLaren Trackside IT To Leading 22 Acquisitions
- Peter Rossi spent 25 years in tech, starting at McLaren running trackside IT and later building and selling a SaaS ISO 27001 business to a PE-backed group in 2021.
- He then joined the buyer, helped package his company through exit, and led integrations across 22 acquisitions spanning four continents over the last four years.
Plan For Ambiguity Not Perfect-Fit Acquisitions
- Do plan for ambiguity in early PE cycles and avoid overly rigid M&A playbooks that assume perfect-fit targets exist in the market.
- Accept you'll often find targets that are 60–80% aligned and must decide whether to keep or carve out the 10–30% 'non-core' anchors that sustain revenue.
High Performance Teaches Lateral Problem Solving
- High-performance environments like McLaren taught Peter to operate fast under pressure and solve problems that have no off-the-shelf solutions.
- That experience trained him to think laterally and build bespoke solutions tolerating extreme conditions and ambiguity.