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Lock 8 Partners Interview Questions
These are real technical questions asked in recent Lock 8 Partners interviews, sourced directly from candidates who went through the process — not a generic guide. Below: what to expect, worked answers to the most representative questions, and common mistakes that trip candidates up.
What Lock 8 Partners' interview process actually looks like
Lock 8, a private equity firm, focuses heavily on LBO fundamentals and software-specific metrics across multiple rounds — expect questions on what makes a good LBO candidate, how to increase IRR, and SaaS-specific metrics like NDR and GDR, building up to a mini paper LBO in later rounds.
Real questions asked in recent Lock 8 Partners interviews
Question: What are 3-5 things that make a good LBO candidate?
How to answer it: Stable and predictable cash flows (the business needs to reliably service debt payments), low ongoing capex requirements (frees up cash for debt paydown rather than reinvestment), a strong existing management team (sponsors are rarely bringing in an entirely new team day one), a clear opportunity for operational improvement or growth (something for the sponsor to actually do to create value beyond financial engineering), and a fragmented or non-cyclical end market (reduces the risk that a downturn breaks the debt service coverage during the hold period).
Common mistake: Only naming stable cash flow and stopping there — interviewers generally want 3+ distinct characteristics
Question: What's the difference between NDR and GDR? If you could only use one, which would you pick?
How to answer it: Net Dollar Retention (NDR) measures revenue retained from an existing customer cohort over a period, including the effects of expansion (upsells, seat growth), contraction (downgrades), and churn (full cancellations) — it can exceed 100% if expansion outweighs churn and contraction. Gross Dollar Retention (GDR) measures retained revenue counting only contraction and churn, excluding any benefit from expansion — it's capped at 100% by definition. NDR tells you the net growth story from the existing base; GDR tells you the underlying churn/contraction problem in isolation, without letting strong upsells mask it. If you could only pick one, NDR is usually more useful for understanding overall business health and growth trajectory, but GDR is the better tool specifically for spotting a retention problem that NDR might be hiding.
Common mistake: Saying GDR can exceed 100% — it's capped at 100% by definition since it excludes expansion
Also reported from recent interviews at this firm:
- What are 3-5 things a sponsor can do to increase IRR in an LBO?
- Would you rather buy a great company in a mediocre market, or a mediocre company in a great market?
Full explanations and common mistakes for these — plus the rest of our Firm Specific bank — are in the app.
How to prepare specifically for Lock 8 Partners
Generic IB prep guides cover the fundamentals every bank tests, but firm-specific patterns like the ones above only show up when you're practicing against real, recently-reported questions rather than a static 400-question PDF everyone else is also using. ApexIB's Firm Specific question bank is built directly from questions candidates report after their actual interviews — including Lock 8 Partners — with AI grading and full explanations, not just a list.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lock 8 Partners ask a paper LBO?
Later rounds have included a mini paper LBO along with questions built around a P&L and software-specific metrics.
What SaaS metrics does Lock 8 ask about?
Net Dollar Retention (NDR) and Gross Dollar Retention (GDR) have both come up, including the difference between them and which one candidates would prioritize.
Where do these questions come from?
Directly from candidates who interviewed at Lock 8 Partners and reported their questions afterward, not from a generic template applied to every firm.
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