Good Morning! Gen Z is piling into stocks as homeownership slips further out of reach. Ferrari is going electric, tapping legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to shape its first EV. And hotel chains like Hyatt and Holiday Inn are quietly cutting free breakfast as middle-class travelers pull back.

Chinese automakers are eyeing a faster-than-expected push into the U.S. Dollar Tree is moving into wealthier neighborhoods to fuel growth. And Los Angeles County is suing a private equity firm over a firetruck roll-up strategy.

Plus: Oregon and Washington pensions trim private equity exposure, Ken Griffin’s Citadel holds pay steady as returns cool, and what really happens when you stop taking Ozempic.

Building (and defending) your analysis just got easier. Try F2’s Audit Mode today.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

🍋 SaaS Bravo

While parts of Wall Street are calling it a “SaaSpocalypse,” Thoma Bravo sees a buying opportunity.

Public markets have been dumping software-as-a-service names amid fears that AI will render traditional SaaS redundant. The selloff intensified as new AI tools from firms like Anthropic showcased how quickly automation is advancing. Multiples compressed sharply, with investors rotating out of the sector.

But Thoma Bravo managing partner Holden Spaht argues markets are “missing the mark.” 

“AI is software, software is AI if you do it right,” he said on Bloomberg Deals. Drawing a hard line between legacy SaaS and new AI applications, in his view, is flawed. The firm’s portfolio companies are embedding and selling AI, not competing against it.

Founded in 2008, Thoma Bravo has built one of private equity’s most concentrated software franchises, backing Anaplan, Darktrace and SailPoint, and recently closing its $12.3 billion acquisition of Dayforce.

Its underwriting remains consistent: high-quality revenue, strong renewal rates and deep domain expertise in mission-critical systems like payroll and supply chain. According to Spaht, companies built on durable, recurring revenue “tend to index very well” in an AI-driven environment.

The opportunity is in valuation dispersion. While most software companies are private, public selloffs typically pressure private marks with a lag. As some investors go risk-off and diversify away from software exposure, Thoma Bravo is actively scanning both public and private markets for deals, signaling that sector dislocation is a deployment window, not a retreat signal.

Takeaway: Markets are pricing software as if AI is extinction. Thoma Bravo is underwriting it as evolution. If the firm is right, today’s multiple compression becomes tomorrow’s alpha. If not, one of private equity’s most concentrated sector bets faces a real stress test.

PRESENTED BY F2

The New Verb on the Street

“I F2’d it.”

Historically, F2 - the key - has been the shortcut to reveal the formula behind a number. That key shows you exactly what’s driving the output.

Now, F2 - the company - embodies that same ideology in the tools it builds. With its new Audit Mode, every number within a report is not only cited, but fully traceable in real time. AI-generated analysis is written into a live, Excel-native Databook complete with real formulas, linked sources, and full traceability.

Trace any value to the exact file, sheet, and cell. Inspect precedents and dependents. Update assumptions with citations preserved in context. From any report or chat output, click into a number and see precisely how it was produced.

F2 merges speed with defensibility, delivering analysis you can confidently take into IC.

When your boss asks, “Where did you get these numbers?”, the answer is simple:

“I F2’d it.”

Book a demo to see Audit Mode in action.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Gen Z turns to stock market as homeownership slips away (WSJ)

• Ferrari enlists famed iPhone designer for its first EV (FC)

• From Hyatt to Holiday Inn, America’s free hotel breakfast is facing a K-shaped economic threat (CNBC)

• Chinese automakers want to come to US. They could be here fairly soon (CNN)

• Dollar Tree targets affluent areas in bid to boost sales (BB)

• Los Angeles county is suing a private equity firm over a firetruck rollup (WSJ)

• Oregon and Washington State’s pension funds trimming private equity exposure (BB)

• American firms are switching up their CEOs at a record clip (WSJ)

• Citadel employee pay held fast last year despite $5.3B in gains (BB)

• Uber eyes $1B in deliveries from 7 new European markets (FT)

• Navarro says Trump administration may force data center builders like Meta to ‘internalize’ costs (CNBC)

• Prices rise as companies feel squeeze from tariffs, payrolls (WSJ)

• In bitcoin price plummet, ETF flows are down but aren’t signaling ‘crypto winter’ investor panic (CNBC)

• High-conviction bets turn toxic in week of Wall Street reversals (BB)

• Consumer staples are rallying in 2026 (CNBC)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Markets were closed in observance of Presidents’ Day.

Prediction Markets

• A Winter Olympics Special: Who will win the most total medals?

• Trade on real-world events with Kalshi. Use code OWS to get a $10 bonus when you trade $10.

Private Dealmaking

• SynthBee, a compute intelligence company, raised $100 million

• QuantX, an immunology biotech, raised $85 million

• Tem, an electricity marketplace, raised $75 million

• Aikido Security, a cybersecurity company focused on application and code security, raised $60 million

• Exciva, a biotech developing therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, raised $59 million

• Biorce, an AI platform for clinical trials, raised $53 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

BOOK OF THE DAY

The Hidden Habits of Genius

Description: A fascinating exploration of what really makes brilliant thinkers and creators stand out. Drawing on more than two decades teaching the popular “Genius Course” at Yale, Wright analyzes the lives of transformative figures from Darwin and Beethoven to Picasso and Elon Musk to identify the everyday behaviors, mindsets, and patterns that drive exceptional achievement. The book shows that genius is not a mystical birthright but a set of habits that can be learned, cultivated, and applied to creative work and problem solving.

Book Length: 336 pages
Release Date: October 6, 2020

Ideal For: Creators, leaders, thinkers, innovators, and anyone curious about how extraordinary minds really operate and how ordinary people can adopt their habits.

“Genius is less about raw talent and more about the habits that shape thought, drive, and discovery.”

DAILY VISUAL

US Public Equities 40% More Expensive than Non-US Equities

PRESENTED BY COVERD

Ex-Wall Street Traders Gamify the Credit Experience

The weekend spending cycle can be vicious. Carbone to the Spaniard to the halal truck outside your building leads to a hole you can’t feed… until now. Just play a game of “Flappy Bird” between turning comments to get that kabob covered.

Former Wall Street traders, Albert Wang and Eric Xu, give spenders the technology to win their credit card purchases back with their app, Coverd. In addition to gamifying your spending, Coverd provides spend tracking, subscription monitoring, and even peer net worth insights.

This spring, Coverd is launching the first credit card to offer up to 100% cash back on your purchases. Last weekend, Coverd covered a $16,000 trip for two to the Super Bowl, and all you had to do was get the high score on Flappy Bird and Blackjack.

Download Coverd, and get smarter on your spending.

DAILY ACUMEN

Learning in Public

When you learn something new, your instinct is to study privately until you're an expert. Then share. But this is backwards.

Learning in public means sharing what you learn as you learn it. Write about concepts you just discovered. Teach skills you just acquired. Document your confusion and breakthroughs.

This does three things: it solidifies your learning through teaching, it attracts people on similar journeys, and it creates a public record of your growth. Your "beginner" content helps other beginners more than expert content does.

The same principle applies to building a business.

Building in public means showing what you are working on while you are working on it. The ideas, the experiments, the early wins, the setbacks. This transparency builds trust faster than polished marketing ever could.

People who follow along become future clients because they already understand your thinking. Investors get context before you ever pitch. Potential employees see how you operate, what you value, and whether they want to be part of the journey.

You do not need to be finished to be worth following. Progress is enough.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to stop overexplaining

• A 3-step strategy for overcoming procrastination

• Why some people are paying for sleep coaches

• The role of the body in public speaking 

• What happens when you stop taking Ozempic?

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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