I was at that cascadia conference and getting to visit LCM was the most amazing and unexpected treat I could have ever imagined. It was an entire evening of geeked out bliss. I can't thank you enough for making that happen. The talks were all great but this for me was the highlight of the conference.
The last company I worked at went through an acquisition with Thoma Bravo and the very next day after acquisition was confirmed we walked into the office and there were security guards in suits with ear pieces patrolling the office. At 9am they locked half of us in conference rooms and told us that everyone who wasn't in a conference room was getting laid off. We weren't allowed to leave the conference rooms for an hour out of "respect" for everyone gathering their stuff into boxes and they said that the security was there for "our safety". Thoma Bravo is currently bleeding that company dry and running it on a skeleton crew while it slowly circles the drain.
This experience has made me super wary of private equity firms in general but this company in particular.
Wisdom is gained from making bad decisions.