Daniel Johnson
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Hey Daniel — similar PE background, been deep in African industrials & frontier market origination thinking lately. Would be good to connect.
Hey Daniel, see we share a similar PE path, though I was in London doing growth equity not focused on African industrials like Baylis. most funds I talk to have a database — PitchBook or Grata — maybe a CRM, and then the origination setup is mostly Excel and email from there. but proprietary deal flow still feels thin. thesis, network, and intelligence never sync into one system — so origination resets every cycle instead of compounding. do you disagree? — Russ
Hey Daniel, see we share a similar PE path, though I was in London doing growth equity not focused on African industrials like Baylis. most funds I talk to have a database — PitchBook or Grata — maybe a CRM, and then the origination setup is mostly Excel and email from there. but proprietary deal flow still feels thin. thesis, network, and intelligence never sync into one system — so origination resets every cycle instead of compounding. do you disagree? — Russ
hey Daniel — this kept rattling around. when I was doing growth equity we had every subscription going — PitchBook, CRM, enrichment tools, the lot — and I still spent half my time manually pulling origination together across all of it. always wondered if that was just us being disorganised or if it's genuinely universal. did you ever run into that at Baylis, or was it just us? — Russ
hey Daniel — appreciate the connect either way. I'm in and around frontier market origination all day — if you ever want to swap notes on what's working for proprietary pipeline in African industrials, I'm easy to find. — Russ
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Hey Daniel, similar background — though I was doing European growth equity not focused on African industrials like you are at Baylis. the typical origination setup I see is a data subscription, a CRM that's half-populated, and a lot of Excel and Outlook doing the heavy lifting. yet the off-market pipeline stays weirdly thin. the intelligence is all there but it's scattered across tools and inboxes — so nothing compounds into a real origination edge. do you disagree? Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
Hey Daniel, been talking to a few frontier market funds this week and a pattern keeps showing up. most funds I talk to are still 70-80% broker-dependent for deal flow. works fine until two funds get shown the same deal and it becomes a pricing war. the proprietary pipeline is the thing that's supposed to prevent that — but it rarely gets built systematically. curious whether Baylis has cracked that or if it's the same pattern. Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
hey Daniel — one more thought on this. at my old fund we had a solid stack and smart people, and origination still felt like it restarted from scratch every cycle. took me a while to realise it wasn't a people problem — the tools just didn't talk to each other. did you ever run into that at Baylis, or was it just us? Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
hey Daniel — one thing I keep coming back to from my time doing growth equity — the funds with real proprietary pipelines aren't just seeing more deals. they're seeing them earlier. that changes everything downstream — pricing, competition, conviction. curious if you've been thinking about this at Baylis. Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
hey Daniel — appreciate you reading these either way. spend most of my time thinking about origination infrastructure for funds — if that ever becomes a thing worth talking about, I'm around. Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
Prospect Research
## PROSPECT INFORMATION: Name: Daniel Johnson Title: Emerging Markets Specialist Fund: Baylis Emerging Markets Background: Daniel Johnson is an Emerging Markets Specialist based in New York with over 15 years of experience in capital markets, private equity, and economic strategy. He currently holds dual roles at Baylis, serving in Private Equity and Advisory for Baylis Emerging Markets (since 2015) and Telecommunications Consulting for Baylis Digital Africa (since February 2021). Recently, as of May 24, 2024, he joined NOBON to lead business development and financial product initiatives for carbon project development across African markets. His background includes significant tenures at J.P. Morgan in Structured Products Sales, Trading, and Operations (2005–2011), the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in Political Risk and Investment Insurance, and Dry Associates Limited in Nairobi, Kenya, where he served as a Corporate Finance and Economic Strategist. He holds an MBA from Cornell University, an MA in International Relations and Political Economy from NYU, and a BA in Economics from Fordham University. He is a Distinguished Fellow at Cornell’s Emerging Markets Institute and a Venture Fellow with Alumni Ventures. Key Skills: Emerging Markets, Sub-Saharan Africa (East Africa emphasis), Political Risk Analysis, Capital Markets, Structured Products, Corporate Finance, and Carbon Finance. Recent Posts and Activity: June 25, 2024: Celebrated a partnership between Baylis and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), noting that "Under the leadership of British Robinson and Prosper Africa, US-Africa trade relations are taking meaningful strides forward." May 24, 2024: Announced his new role at NOBON, stating he is partnering with Joakim Blom and Michael Akampa to "unlock capital for vital projects across African markets" and is "eager to connect with developers of carbon projects." May 24, 2024: Commented on Kenyan President Ruto’s U.S. state visit, highlighting a shift toward "commercial diplomacy" and praising Ambassador Meg Whitman and Secretary Gina Raimondo as "the technocratic realist leaders that U.S.-Africa relations have needed." February 5, 2024: Honored the late President Hage Geingob of Namibia, praising his "dedication to passing on the torch of leadership" and legacy as a "fierce advocate on the international stage for all African nations." September 28, 2023: Met with a Zambian delegation at UNGA, describing the delegates as "clear-eyed, and focused technocrats" who have Zambia "on the front foot after having negotiated an historic debt restructuring." June 25, 2023: Analyzed the Wagner Group’s impact on Africa, stating he is "keen to follow their analysis going forward as I seek to understand the knock-on-effects of these destabilizing hours... around the assets Wagner controls for profit." May 18, 2023: Advocated for African investment, quoting Angela Miller-May: "Investing in Africa is a perfect fit for an underfunded pension fund seeking yield and returns." May 30, 2022: Recognized as a Distinguished Fellow at Cornell EMI, noting the institute "serves as a focal point for academics... engaged in emerging markets and the global economy." October 4, 2022: Highlighted a piece by Franklin Amoo regarding data centers, noting the opportunity is "buttressed by the demand from the immeasurable cache of local data to be digitized and stored." Fund details: - Description: Baylis has built a best-in-class investment platform with world class compliance, investment diligence and a rigorously analytic approach. Our long-term objective is to enable the efficient financing of Africa's industrialization via the deployment of US capital, in particular, into African markets. A woman and minority owned firm, Baylis’ diverse partner team brings together an extensive experience in frontier markets private equity with unique expertise in African markets, rigorous investment analysis and a strong focus on creating impact through ESG metrics; all reinforced by strong operational skills. The firm’s maiden fund, the African Industrial & Telecommunications Growth Fund ("AITGF"), targets established companies and assets within the manufacturing, light Industrials, telecommunications and digital infrastructure sectors. The fund benefits from a pan-African geographic remit. Baylis currently has offices in New York City and Lagos, Nigeria. - Website: https://www.baylisfunds.com - Location: New York, New York, United States - Lead qualification: Research: - Query: =Baylis Emerging Markets Daniel Johnson recent investments fund thesis - Answer: Baylis Emerging Markets is a private equity firm founded in 2015, focusing on growth equity investments in African markets, particularly in telecommunications, manufacturing, and industrial sectors. Their latest investment was in Legendary Foods in 2022. The firm aims to support industrialization in Africa through US capital.