Vetting a host before you sign: the PE smell test

Vetting a host before you sign: the PE smell test
Word is half the 'independent' managed brands you're quoting are already inside a private-equity roll-up. Before you commit a portfolio, run the ownership trace:
— Check the parent entity on the host's own terms-of-service and privacy pages.
— Cross-reference the support email domain; consolidated brands share infrastructure.
— Search for the founders — gone usually means earn-out's over.
— Look at the changelog cadence; roll-ups freeze product roadmaps.
— Ask the sales rep who owns the company. Hesitation is the answer.
A source tells us the brands fighting hardest to look independent are the ones that aren't.
Watch this: a sudden new 'enterprise' tier is often the PE upsell ladder arriving.