Michael Waller
Senior Associate
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- Full Name
- Michael Waller
- Title
- Principal (promoted February 2025; previously Vice President)
- Firm
- Genstar Capital
- Firm Type
- Private equity (middle-market buyout / control investing) — *not an angel/seed investor; the stub data's "Angel Investors / Senior Associate / Seed Round" is inaccurate*
- Investment Stage
- Control buyouts of established middle-market companies (not seed)
- Check Size
- Firm targets companies with enterprise values of roughly $50M–$1B and EBITDA greater than ~$15M (Genstar Capital Partners XI closed in 2023 at $12.6B)
- Target Company Profile
- Middle-market companies headquartered in North America with recurring revenue, high switching costs, and market leadership that can benefit from operational support
- Sector Focus
- Financial services, software, healthcare, and industrials
- Geographic Focus
- North America (global middle market)
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
Background
Michael Waller is a Principal at Genstar Capital, a San Francisco–based private equity firm founded in 1988 that manages approximately $49–51 billion in assets across roughly 40+ investment professionals in a single office. He was promoted to Principal in February 2025 as part of Genstar's annual round of team promotions; prior to that he held the title of Vice President.
Waller has an unusual, two-stint history with the firm. He first joined Genstar in 2017 as an Associate. He then left to serve as Chief of Staff at Enverus, a Genstar portfolio company (an energy-focused data and SaaS business), before re-joining Genstar in 2022 as a Vice President. In his investing role he focuses on identifying, evaluating, and executing acquisition and investment opportunities. Earlier in his career, he began as an investment banking analyst in the Leveraged Finance Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
Waller is a graduate of Columbia University. As a deal professional at a control-oriented PE firm, he sits on the boards of several Genstar portfolio companies, giving him operating exposure alongside investing responsibilities.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests through Genstar Capital, a control-oriented middle-market private equity firm — this is buyout/growth-equity investing, not seed or angel investing.
- Genstar concentrates in four sectors: financial services, software, healthcare, and industrials. ("Sector-driven investing" combining financial and operational expertise.)
- Targets companies with high levels of recurring revenue, high switching costs, and established market leadership that can scale rapidly with Genstar's operating support and advisor network.
- Takes control positions and board seats: "We take control positions in companies that can benefit from our entrepreneurial and highly supportive approach."
- Deal economics: middle-market companies with enterprise values ~$50M–$1B and EBITDA >$15M, funded from Fund XI ($12.6B, closed 2023).
Notable Investments
- AffiniPay — vertical payments/software platform for professional services (legal, accounting); Genstar portfolio company.
- Lightspeed — commerce/point-of-sale software business in the Genstar portfolio.
- Obsidian — Genstar portfolio company; Obsidian was acquired by Protective (an exit noted in Genstar's recent news).
- MASA — Genstar portfolio company on whose board he serves.
- Enverus — earlier in his career he served as Chief of Staff at this Genstar portfolio company (energy SaaS/data) before rejoining the firm.
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