Emerging markets investing in the consumer & retail sector

In this episode, Giovanni Zangani joins Alex Rawlings to share insights from operating in Vietnam’s emerging private equity landscape. As Managing Partner at Maestro Equity Partners, Giovanni discusses the firm’s hands-on approach to investing in consumer and F&B businesses, the challenges of deal execution in emerging markets, and why local understanding is critical to success.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro to Giovanni & Maestro Equity
Vietnam-focused, growth equity firm backing brick-and-mortar and F&B businesses with tickets of $5–20M.

01:25 – Key Mistakes in Emerging Markets
Investors often misjudge deals by relying on personal experiences or Western legal frameworks without cultural alignment.

03:16 – Who Makes These Errors?
Regional and international funds rushing due diligence or avoiding deeper market engagement.

04:41 – Why Vietnam?
Giovanni's move from the US to Vietnam, spotting talent gaps, and seizing untapped opportunities.

07:30 – Mature vs. Emerging Market Investing
Faster growth, lower costs, and higher returns—but requires entrepreneurial execution.

09:23 – PE in Vietnam is a Different Game
You must own every part of the process—legal, operational, strategic—and be hands-on daily.

11:17 – Due Diligence = Partnership Building
Guide founders through compliance and process; the relationship starts before the investment closes.

14:40 – Post-Investment Involvement
Maintaining founder focus and execution requires credibility, patience, and close collaboration.

16:35 – Lean but Deep Team
A 10-person team making fewer, more impactful investments with long-term vision.

17:59 – Vietnam’s Outlook
More consolidation, founder maturity, and market sophistication ahead—making it ripe for growth and future competition.

20:19 – Giovanni’s Recommendations
🎧 All-In Podcast
📘 The Game – Alex Hormozi
📘 The 5 Types of Wealth

21:40 – Connect with Giovanni
📧 giovanni@maestroequity.com

🔗 Giovanni Zangani on LinkedIn

Raw Selection partners with Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies to secure exceptional executive talent. We focus on de-risking executive recruitment through meticulous search and selection processes, ensuring top-tier performance and long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Alex Rawlings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrawlings/

🌐 Visit Raw Selection: www.raw-selection.com

Looking to grow your team? Check out our Hiring Guides

for proven strategies, templates, and best practices to make smarter hires. 

Transcript

00:00
Welcome back to the Royal Selection Private Equity Podcast. Joining us today is Giovanni  Zangani, Managing Partner of Maestro Equity, a private equity firm in Vietnam  focused on investing in the retail and consumer sector.  Giovanni, share with us a brief insight into you, Yeah.  Hello, Alex.  I am the Founder Managing Partner of Maestro Equity Partners.

00:29
a grow equity firm that is focused  in Vietnam brick and mortar and F &B businesses. And  comparing to funds, we have a little bit different approach. We work with a few long-term family offices that gave us, let's say the flexibility, but the discipline to operate in this market, which is exciting, but you know, reserve some kind of peculiarity that need to be addressed.

00:55
and investment size for each investment between five and 20 million dollars and with the significant either control position, which for this market, is a merchant market is quite the give you a chance to really encourage quite a few markets either that niche. So that's about it. Perfect. So what's one mistake that you see private equity firms or portfolio companies making and what would you suggest to correct them?

01:25
I think there are a couple of mistakes. I'm referring to Vietnam and probably this could be relevant for emerging market. uh One is in term of  deal selection. Usually investor, they  are a bit biased comparing to what is made with that. So I can see typically they come here and they go to this one, is the oh city center of Bochumin city, which is the wealthiest area of the Kielanap. uh

01:52
visit the business, let's say a restaurant, a coffee shop, and they like it, and they think that because they had a good experience, this could be potentially a good investment. And it is a huge mistake because Vietnam GDP is still below $4,000 per year. And if we like something and resonate with us, most of the time it's something that is not very scalable and is not a good investment. So this is one, and I think it seems very...

02:22
a simple  consideration,  I saw so many investors making this mistake.  The second aspect is more about after the investment. They might come from a Western perspective or more structured market where legal terms are  very understood firstly and respected. Here, they definitely are respected, but often not understood. So it's not enough.

02:48
to have some terms on your shoulder agreement about reporting, meetings, KPIs, is not enough because they don't understand. So there is a lot of time on board in the company, ensure that there is alignment. And so just having legal term, even it seems a win, it's just the beginning of what is building a partnership with the local company here. There's been an education role as well as a investor role as well. It's just a bit more hands on.

03:16
The reference you made with regards to investing in things where people have had positive experiences, that typically seen from  a Kinett Worth investor, angel investor or private equity firms in Vietnam making those mistakes as well? I'm surprised to hear that if it is private equity firms too. I'm talking probably more with regional funds. Let's say Singapore funds, Blomkamp funds, they come in, they got a mandate from a bank.

03:44
And then they want to just have a quick due diligence. So they go to visit a couple of locations. They don't want to have like two hour drive in the middle of some kind of provinces, remote provinces. So they just go in some location in uh the city center where they probably stay. And so that's where most of the mistakes are made. I would say more regional investors. If you are based there, unless you really don't pay much attention, uh at some time actually even local investors, they might make mistakes just because they're

04:14
pressure to deploy and they kind of close their eyes and just go with it. But they do know that there was a risk involved.  but you know, regional investors that come  here or international investors come here, they got their mandate from back and then they just have a little, you know, due diligence very quickly. And that's definitely, I mean, I saw some cases that, you know, there were even frauds that they were not detected because of, you know, it is a very light.

04:41
quick touch base and due diligence. What was it that took you to? Because you're in the US prior, what was it that took you to Vietnam and attracted you to set up your own firm in Vietnam? I won, and Asia was growing already. We are talking about 12 years ago. I did my study in the A in Ocom. And then I definitely wanted to remain in Asia and enter private equity. At that time,

05:09
China was already Chinese firm for Chinese money, so not much opportunity. And in Vietnam, instead, was a gap of talent. So even though I'm a foreigner, I don't speak the language, I didn't have an experience here. The fund, they recruited me basically because they were valuing more the consulting experience than before. And also I was willing to accept the market where, again, not post-...

05:39
Post-MBA kind of salary expectation. So really to invest again in yourself and join this market. After coming here,  I really had a good impression.  paper,  the papers, in economics paper, you see the macro fundamentals of this country, which are great. Everyone knows, The middle class growing, 100 million population, higher education, entrepreneurial  population.

06:05
But what you don't see, and I think you can see only if you come here and after spending time with the local companies,  that especially in the South, because of the  past with oh the American, the French, they do  understand the Western culture and they are going to do business in the way we would do business. And this is critical because, macro, you raise money, but then at the end of the day, many find failure because  micro is where you make or lose money.

06:32
And that's where it comes in, once it's of the culture, the people, the businesses, and that is not enough. You don't understand from, know, macro papers or stuff like that. So that's just the starting point. Then you have to come here, understand the culture, and then you will see the challenges, but also I think the opportunities. And that's where, know, why I decided to stay here because things were growing, but as a foreigner, I see I could make an impact and I could be part of it.

07:00
Whereas when I was in Shanghai, for example, didn't have this, things were growing, but  I didn't feel I can be part of it. And it was not just a language matter. think it was not. Like there were bit more closure in terms of receiving money and know, picking up on it with foreigners. So this is definitely a plus for this country. Okay. So you're investing in consumer retail type brands, obviously in emerging market like Vietnam. How does this differ from investing in traditional and more mature markets?

07:30
uh First of all, the economics and the scale of growth. So for example, if I will look at Europe, where I come from,  F &B is... There are some investors that look at F &B, but it's very tough. Margin are very tight, cost of labor is very high. uh So it's very difficult to really grow significantly uh a brand. Here, the labor cost is still very reasonable.

07:57
Cost of ingredients, if it's locally served, it's quite still manageable. And then because this huge population, young population, the average age of Yanami is 30 years old. And people also as the habits, they're just eating out. So for me, it's normal to consider a business plan of 50 % grow year over year. Because again, there is room, the restaurants are full.

08:24
And the economics at each restaurant are very attractive. So this is not quite significant. Again, it's a speed of growth. And when I invest in a business, at least I expect in my business plan in five years by five times, which if we will consider Europe, will be very, very aggressive. And secondly, the economics  of each store and the companies itself is very attractive, which means I don't need to deploy a lot of capital to be able to, you know, to

08:54
to have a significant  upside. So that's, think what makes it very attractive. And so what are the lessons that you had to learn from that transition from  what I call traditional mature private equity into the emerging market process?  I think at the first of all, if I see my peers in London or in Milan, I see that it looks almost a different job.

09:23
They used to have, let's say, the banker that bring the deal, the lawyers, everything is kind of outsourced. You coordinate, but  most of the time you are at your desk. Here is you need to be an entrepreneur. And  of course, I work with lawyers.  I worked some time with banks, especially when you start the business. I worked with a professional, but you need to  own every single part of the process because again, there are many nuances. And if you don't fully understand,

09:52
then the founder that is your partner  don't understand. So it's critical that if you want to have some safety, you want to manage risk, you need to be on top of all of this. And in the meantime, also help the founder to kind of catch up and do a little bit of education. So that's, think,  I can have a conversation about legal terms, about operations in a way that probably people from the developed market.

10:19
private equity, they will not have because they need to rely on kind of consultant and third party. Here is uh you need to be on top of it and  to be able to really deliver those results. Otherwise, it's very difficult to manage risk. Sounds like it's got a bit of a different due diligence phase as well then, because you're dealing with, let's just say,  a simple perspective, an unsophisticated owner, founder, operator.

10:47
Sorry to interrupt, just a quick mention of our longstanding partnership with Grata. As you all probably know, the private equity scene is constantly evolving and deal flow is moving now to proprietary and data-driven processes. Grata provides you with the data and information of over 7 million private companies. So if you're looking to improve your proprietary deal flow and improve the data access, then reach out to Grata today. Now back to the podcast.

11:17
There's always an education piece, but then equally there's going to be a, I've been doing this for ages. You get that in Europe and in America. Everybody thinks their business is worth a lot more than it is.  But then when you try and dig into it and you're seeing things like key man risks and they may not even consider it,  all the basics you would kind of  hope that somebody was educated in the non-emergency markets. What are you having to do differently from a due diligence perspective?

11:46
in order to get these deals over the line? In terms of due diligence,  think probably the due diligence is probably similar. It's not that different.  The only thing that you unless you want, if  a company already arrived with a nice clean peace stack, unless it's a huge company, and again, most of those are already listed, but for private companies, we are talking about mediums for companies, those, the good company

12:16
Probably they don't have yet prepared a pitch book because they are not really looking for money necessarily.  so what you need to do is  the process is the same, but just you need to help them to go through the process. I'll you an example. oh Often here, are  some kind of social security uh requirement for employees, sub-tax issues, and most of the family business,  are very...

12:44
they are not fully compliant and  they are aware.  But just the practice. First of all, as  someone that invests from,  you come from the value market, you have to understand that this is actually in some segment, all of the companies operating this way. And you need to feel comfortable about this step.  Because again,  this example, right, if there were some tax, not full compliant tax situation in  Europe, you would probably just decline the deal.

13:12
So here is all the company when they are family business, they are not 100 % compliant. So you have to be aware of that, accept that, but then you have to guide them how you can become compliant because they're aware the moment you have a foreign investor and  the game is not anymore to have a lifestyle business that generate just some profit here over here, but it's to create a value in the ass in the company that they are building. They are aware that  they have to be 100 % compliance, but they don't know how. So you need to...

13:42
due diligence, but at same time, you have to kind of help them to go through in  a way that due diligence is also a, is where the partnerships start. It's not after you close the deal, after you deploy capital. It's already the due diligence phase because again, you have to feel comfortable with this kind of process of this local market and you need to start building the relationship and show them that you know what you're doing because that's how you realize this skill and that's where also I have a chance for me to build the

14:11
trust in the team and step-by-step feel more comfortable before deploying capital. That's, would say, a little bit conflict of interest because you are deploying and you're also doing your diligence, but you have to navigate this area, every area, and this is the starting of the partnership, right? You have to make them compliant and then understanding all the documentation, the way we work, and then you can focus 100 % on the post-investment phase.

14:40
Sounds a lot like potentially the lower middle market in the US as well, to be fair. There's a lot of education needed with the first time privately backed  transactions.  So then post the investment, is it particularly hands on then? Is there a lot of change with regards to people?  Is that a risk element? don't know what talent,  know, credibility is like from a Vietnamese perspective  or just in Vietnam. What  happens and how hands on are you having to be post acquisition?

15:10
I would say a lot. mean, depends which sector. uh In traditional businesses,  think that the one  people here are very entrepreneurial. So that's the good side. On the other hand, they kind of live really day by day. And so if you have a five-year plan, a three-year plan, it's not enough to kind of sign on a shareholder agreement again. You go back to Milestone.

15:36
You really need to stay close to ensure that they stay focused because if you just think that you join a board, then you bring here some very fancy strategies light and you help to shape the future of the company is not going to happen. That's why you need first credibility. So if you know the sector really investing, they respect you more, the founder. And secondly, you need to have, know, patient to kind of really step by step, add them and spend time with them in a way that, you know, they kind of stay focused.

16:06
Because again, the entrepreneurial aspects, sometimes it drives them to kind of just derail and go in, know, side businesses that are irrelevant. So I think you really need  to be in zone for credibility  and then to be able to understand how to keep them focused on the 5-year plan, which you agree on paper, but that doesn't mean that then they would  necessarily respect that.  it's quite more probably than other markets.

16:35
Yeah, sounds like a lot of... And have you built the team internally or is this kind of lean machine private equity that you're kind of handling everything at this point? We are  10 people  and we are quite involved in the businesses.  Basically, the main difference, I think, compared to a traditional fund, we have the luxury of time. So we deploy just when we are excited about something, is that every week we are on  a company, on something, some project. So that's very heavy.

17:04
At the same time, I still believe this is the model because if I look at the return, I look at the performance of the investor in this market the last 10 years, I see that the most successful investors were not the traditional structure fund, but they were more kind of conglomerate, holding company that had few assets, but they were in vertical, they do understand, and they just kept focusing on those.

17:30
and they were able to generate the return of funds that they may be investing in multiples in many more years, many more companies. And that's where I decided to switch on more fewer investment, but much more involvement in term of share, like we are taking much more stake in the company, influence, capital, patience. it's a lot of work, but if you do well, it's not strange to have a company that they do 10 times, 20 times.

17:59
And again, but you need to put a lot of effort and that's why I think a concentrated portfolio is delivering the best at the moment. Okay, perfect. And what's your perspective on the future of  Vietnam and how you  perceive that things will play out  moving forward? Okay.  One consideration is that  comparing to other Asian markets, Vietnam has the good

18:26
thing that is still very fragmented in terms of the economy landscape. So a lot of small video companies which help people like me to be relevant, even with not huge investment tickets. At the same time is what makes the market complicated and for some investors, it's too small. So the first thing that I probably can expect is that this market is, because it's  growing, growing fast, is going to develop in a way that you will have probably larger

18:55
companies and there is definitely some consolidation and that means that,  you know, probably can become closer to more mature  markets in terms of also investment. So what I mentioned about funds in the past, it doesn't mean that in the future it might not be the right market to have a more traditional approach as long as you have enough, you know, target company to deploy as a kind of the pace you need to do in a traditional fund.

19:24
So yeah, I would expect growing more consolidation. And in terms of the founder,  from my meetings, I  start to have more and more sophisticated conversation with them. So I do have hope also that the relationship with the investor and uh founders gets better and better, more understanding because I get the more  track record, the investor be here, the founder see other company that got invested, they reached certain milestone. So the whole ecosystem, it kind of...

19:54
get educated and make our job  easier. At the same time, of course, it's more competitive.  And now I think that  what I'm doing is something that not many fans will be willing to do. Maybe in future, it be more competitive also for myself, let's say. Perfect. And what do you read, watch, listen to that you recommend that others check out, Giovanni? I think...

20:19
I mean, in terms of investor, I love All In Podcast, which is give you a little bit of perspective in a very light, also funny way of US investor perspective, know, BC founders and so on, and a little bit of geopolitics. A little bit more technical, more on the operating side building, I would say the game by Ormosy Alex, I think is great.

20:46
And for people like me that are trying really to  operate in those businesses, support their role, think is great. So I think those two, I think I would recommend to check out. And in terms of besides money investment, I think  the five type of wealth, just to give a little bit of perspective, great book, just to show you that  financial wealth is just one of the other.

21:14
well that we should consider and sometimes I forget. So that's been a book read recently really, really lot. I think, I'm a big Alex Somersi fanboy and consume all of his stuff and been out to his offices as well in Las Vegas. How does anybody reach out to you if they wish to do so, Giovanni? My personal email, giovanni at maestroequity.com.

21:40
or LinkedIn, Giovanni Zangani. My name is, quite active there as well. So both of the channels work perfectly fine. Well, thank you very much for coming onto the Private XE podcast. Giovanni. Thanks for having me.  Have a great day. And thank you everybody for tuning in. Till the next time, keep smashing it.