BeHeard Labs: AI-Native Market & Customer Research

Featured in this guide:

The spreadsheet trap1
When systems don't talk2
The two-week reporting tax3
Research overview4

Nearly three-quarters of private capital firms still run 21-60% of operations on manual processes and spreadsheets, while two-thirds spend their reporting cycles on data consolidation instead of analysis. That patchwork approach slows decision-making, obscures portfolio insights, and leaves firms exposed when scale demands more.

In an industry where timing and accuracy mean the difference between capturing alpha and missing opportunities, relying on manual workflows isn't just inefficient—it's a competitive liability.

The spreadsheet trap

Our comprehensive survey of 29 private capital operations professionals reveals critical inefficiencies in how firms manage billions in assets.

Manual Dependency Crisis:

72%

Of firms report 21-60% of operations still run on spreadsheets and manual processes

Integration Gap:

62%

Cite multiple data sources and manual data entry as primary challenges

Reporting Time Drain:

66%

Require 1-2 weeks for monthly/quarterly reporting cycles

Automation Opportunity:

65%

Of reporting time spent on data consolidation and validation—both highly automatable

Manual process dependency

Only 10% of firms have achieved sub-20% manual operations

When systems don't talk

Multiple disconnected systems force operations teams to become human integration layers—manually exporting, transforming, and importing data between platforms that should communicate automatically.

Primary data challenges reported by operations professionals

"We have great systems—they just don't work together. So we've become really good at exporting to Excel and copying data between platforms."

— Data Analyst, Venture Capital firm

69%

Confident in data accuracy

Despite all the integration challenges, most teams express confidence in their data

∞

At what cost?

That confidence is earned through hundreds of hours of manual validation every reporting cycle

The hidden reality: Firms maintain accuracy through extensive manual validation, multiple quality checks, and layers of human verification. The data is accurate, but the cost is enormous—and it doesn't scale.

The two-week reporting tax

Operations teams are in near-constant reporting mode. Finish one cycle, catch your breath, and the next quarterly report is already overdue.

Typical Reporting Cycle Duration

1-2 weeks

66% of firms require this much time for monthly or quarterly reporting. Only 17% have compressed cycles below one week.

Where reporting time actually gets spent

Data validation 34%

34%

Data consolidation 31%

31%

Drafting reports 14%

14%

Stakeholder review 14%

14%

Other 7%

65%

Data consolidation + validation

Two-thirds of every reporting cycle spent on highly automatable tasks

"By the time the quarterly report is ready, we're already two weeks into the next quarter. The insights are backward-looking by definition."

— VP Operations, Private Equity firm

Operations Paralysis

Featured in this guide:

The spreadsheet trap

When systems don't talk

The two-week reporting tax

Where reporting time actually gets spent

Automated operations aren't optional anymore

Consolidate data infrastructure

Automate workflows

Integrate systems

Learn how Dynamo can help

Research overview