Private Equity Funcast

Jim talks with ParkerGale Operating Principal, Jake Petoskey, about optimizing back office systems at portfolio companies.   In this episode we focus the discussion on organizing Sales Opportunities as the tip of the spear using Insight Squared with Salesforce.com

The first episode in a five-episode arc discussing ParkerGale's four operating pillars: Systems, Talent, Growth and Product.   In part one, Devin and Jim introduce the four pillars.  The follow-on episodes will feature deep-dive interviews with ParkerGale's OPs team.

The first in a series of interviews with the CEOs of ParkerGale's portfolio companies.  In this week's episode, we talk with Len Finkle, CEO of Profisee.  Have a listen and find out how he made the journey from intrepid salesperson to private equity CEO.

This week's topic comes from our listeners and it's one of our favorite subjects -- us!   It's the "how did we get into private equity" episode.  So hop into the wayback machine with Devin and Jim and find out how we got from Albany, New York and Brockton, Massachusetts all the way to private equity in Chicago.

Talking with Drake Paulson and Graeme Faulds from eVestment, a Nasdaq company, about the results of their 2018 Private Markets Due Diligence Survey. Find out how Limited Partners feel about fees, the use of credit facilities to close deals and due diligence.

The second part of our scoping conversation with Jay Bartlett and Joe Repp from EY-Parthenon.   This time we flip the conversation and talk about undertaking a market study prior to SELLING a company.

We're back with Jay Bartlett from EY-Parthenon talking about scoping due diligence processes for private equity deals with special guest, Joe Repp.   This is part one of a two-part episode.  

A follow-up conversation with the Mad Scotsman, Alan Williamson.  This time we're talking about the technology section of the 2018 Stack Overflow developer survey.   It's Java vs. C#, MariaDB vs. Oracle, AWS vs. Azure and much, much more.   

The Mad Scotsman, Alan Williamson, returns to the funcast for a lively discussion of Stack Overflow's 2018 Developer survey.  We talk about all things development, backend vs frontend vs. full stack -- and the myth of the high school dropout programming genius.

Jay Bartlett from Parthenon is back on the funcast to talk about the evolving role of the operating partner in private equity.   The EY-Parthenon team has been delving deep on this topic with limited partners and portfolio company executives.    Come have a listen to the latest insights.

Jim and Devin talk about the one or two characteristics that can blow an otherwise terrific executive out of the water.  It's Bill Simmons' 90/10 rule -- only better!

Our day jobs have been getting in the way of our podcasting ... but the long wait is over, we are back in the saddle with our annual March Madness Episode.  This year we cover the technologies that are having the biggest impact on our portfolio - it's Amazon vs. Google, Netsuite vs. Salesforce.com, C# vs Python, PostgreSQL vs. MySQL ... and more!

Jim and Devin walk through the list of technology companies where Jim has worked over the years. We talk about the lessons learned as they apply to PE-owned tech companies in the middle market. We cover decades of computing from Digital Equipment Corporation to Oracle and beyond. Bonus content includes a Rupert Pupkin shoutout and a Regis Philbin impression.

Devin and Jim kick-off their collaboration with PitchBook, the leading private equity and private company database now owned by Morningstar. Nizar and Dylan from PitchBook's research team discuss their recent report on first-time private equity funds -- the fundraising stats, the increasing demand and the unique challenges new funds face.

Devin and Jim talk about the major macroeconomic factors that affect Private Equity.     Here's a hint -- it's mostly a robust economy and lower interest rates.

Devin and Jim talk about the four basic Halloween villains -- Vampires, Frankenstein, Werewolves and Mummies -- and how PE deals often end up as one of these monsters. Plus, we do a fast review of the BEST Halloween candies and our most popular costumes when we were kids.

Devin & Jim welcome ParkerGale’s newest teammate to the FunCast. Cici joined us from Bain & Co to manage our go-to-market activities across the portfolio. Cici talks about her not-so-straight path to private equity, what her day to day job is like and modestly chalking up her career success to luck.

Devin and his daughter Quinn spend an hour with high school English teacher Nathaniel Small on exploring the challenges of teaching people. We talk about why it is so hard for an expert to teach a novice. How teaching in an academic setting can help you improve your teaching in a business setting? And why, in the end, it all comes back to Empathy, Storytelling, and Autobiography.

Listener Request! Devin & Jim take a look at private equity deals from the sellers' side of the table and cover questions such as: How do you select a PE buyer? What questions should you ask prospective buyers? What's negotiable and what's not? And all kinds of useful tips and tricks.

Talking with Anthony Onesto of the Konrad Group about "Digital Strategy". It means different things to different people and we make an attempt to define the basics. This is a big topic -- covering everything from websites, email, SEO/SCM to Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. This is part one of several episodes that we will dedicate to this broad-ranging topic -- comparing digital strategy to an orchestra. Plus the usual side trips into pop culture including the Michael Fassbender's Steve Jobs movie and Benjamin and Rosamund Zander's "The Art of Possibility".