Life Under Quarantine: Jordan Katz of Angeles Equity Partners

The locked-down life, with all its frustrations and anxieties, can also lead to the discovery of beneficial new behaviors that could last beyond the downturn when business returns to normal.

Take Jordan Katz, co-founder and managing partner of Angeles Equity Partners, who relocated temporarily with his family from the Los Angeles area to Oregon.

The Los Angeles-based firm, formed in 2014, facilitates a call among its portfolio company executives, including CEOs, CFOs and supply chain leaders. The call is a chance for the executives to share war stories and best practices for how to deal with the unprecedented pandemic downturn.

Companies are facing the shock of revenues completely evaporating with employees and consumers locked down. Businesses are trying to figure out how to stay afloat until the coronavirus lockdown slows.

“We’ve heard from the executive management teams this is something they enjoy,” Katz told Buyouts in a recent interview.

Before the outbreak of covid-19, Angeles had planned to establish a call of this sort among portfolio company executives, Katz said. The downturn motivated the firm to make it happen.

Angeles also does a weekly happy hour with employees to let loose, which Katz said is especially helpful for those who are isolated for much of the work week. The call “often results in people showing off their new facial hair, guest-starring appearances by children and new puppies,” Katz said.

“We have a strong culture at our firm, there’s a lot of camaraderie, teamwork. We spent a lot of time pre-covid prioritizing those activities and it’s important to continue that, arguably more so in this environment when people are so removed,” Katz said.

“We have associates in our firm living alone, new to LA; it’s important we are seeing each other talking about non-work things and continuing to build that bond.”

Katz, whose three children are doing online education, works from the master bedroom from a chair with an ottoman, “computer generally on lap, with blue tooth ear piece in, phone always being charged,” he said.

Staying focused in lockdown has not generally been a challenge, Katz said. However, he has started to schedule video calls in multi-hour blocks, after which he takes a break.

“Whether lunch with the family or taking the dogs for a walk, that clearing of the head, I find that to be valuable,” Katz said.