John Conklin

Johnny Conklin is the founder and managing partner of 16 South Capital Partners, a Charlotte-based private investment firm focused on founder-led lower-middle-market service businesses. 16 South says he and Michael Gillen founded the firm in May 2024 after years of working together on two private-equity exits in which Gillen was CEO of a service-based business and Conklin served as M&A advisor.

At 16 South, Conklin leads sourcing and investment activity and works with partners and management teams on growth strategy and exit planning. The firm describes his experience as spanning the full investment lifecycle, from origination to exit, with emphasis on disciplined underwriting, profitable growth, operational scalability, and alignment with founders, operators, and management teams.

Before founding 16 South, Conklin was a Partner at Atlantic Street Capital from April 2021 through January 2024, where he focused on sourcing, underwriting, and executing control investments in founder-owned and lower-middle-market service businesses. Atlantic Street’s 2021 announcement said he was responsible for its deal-sourcing team and business-development strategy for new platforms and add-on acquisitions.

Earlier, Conklin spent about a decade at BlackArch Partners, where he was a Managing Director and member of the Executive Leadership Committee and built the firm’s Services practice. His prior experience also includes Trinity Capital Partners, Columbus Nova, Edgeview Partners, and Raymond James’ Healthcare practice. He holds an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and a B.S. in Management from Georgia Tech with concentrations in Accounting, Economics, and Finance.

• 16 South’s stated focus: “founder-led, field service businesses” where the firm can bring operational expertise, patient capital, and partnership to help owners grow.
• Prefers businesses with durable service demand, distributed technician workforces, recurring or repeat customer needs, and clear operational improvement levers.
• Looks for companies where growth can come from better workflows, lead generation, call centers, dispatch, recruiting/training, technology enablement, pricing, and add-on M&A.
• Targets founder- or operator-owned businesses with $1M-$20M revenue, $1M-$3M stabilized EBITDA, and majority or full buyout / recapitalization structures.
• Uses a lower-leverage, operator-heavy model; 16 South says it uses leverage conservatively so companies have room to invest in growth.
• Values founder alignment and legacy. The firm says it starts by understanding what success means to the founder, then aligns incentives around that objective.