[MichaelZuo]

Why can't a PE firm hire an actual super-genius, who can understand things with a fraction of the usual effort?

Sizable firms can easily afford a seven or eight figure compensation package for someone really really competent.

[iainctduncan]

Some do, that is becoming more common. There is, understandably, a huge variety of approaches from funds. Some are very hands on and have on staff technical folks who were previously CTOs or VP Eng, others are hands off and just take care of finance.