Carta for Private Equity
In late 2023, I took on a new challenge leading design for Carta's Private Equity segment. PE firms represented a massive growth opportunity, but our cap table-focused platform wasn't meeting their complex needs. Through extensive research and hands-on design work, I helped transform Carta from a cap table company into a comprehensive financial ERP for private equity and influenced the design system to adopt several patterns that build trust and transparency.
Valuation dashboard for PE firms users
PE firms need to track portfolio company valuations for quarterly reporting, but Carta's cap table platform lacked dedicated valuation workflows and a centralized dashboard, forcing teams to use fragmented processes and external tools.
I designed and shipped Carta's first PE-specific valuation workflow and dashboard to streamline quarterly reporting and establish our presence in the institutional PE market.
PE user research & vision
To understand which parts of our vision resonated with PE firms, we talked to users on different teams at 15 firms. Through journey mapping, sacrificial concept testing, and product gap analysis, I identified design opportunities and facilitated GTM motions that result in millions of dollars in new deals.
Waterfall auditability: building trust through transparency
Private equity firms buy waterfall software to eliminate manual Excel maintenance, yet they kept going back to spreadsheets. I transformed Carta's waterfall tool from a "black box" experience into a transparent, auditable platform that users could trust over Excel. Within one quarter of launch, the new design drove 40% adoption growth while establishing traceback design patterns across Carta's platform.
Indirect ownership: visualizing complexity
PE firms structure their investments through complex multi-entity hierarchies (holding companies, tax blockers, employee equity entities) to achieve tax, legal, and regulatory benefits. However, when executives need to answer basic questions like "Which funds are exposed to this operating company?", teams spend hours manually tracing ownership paths through multiple entities to calculate look-through ownership percentages.
I designed visual solutions to help PE firms navigate complex multi-entity portfolio structures. This entity map component became a core design pattern for representing PE complexity across Carta's platform, enabling users to understand complex ownership structure at a glance.
Explorative designs for multi-entity waterfall using the same interaction pattern