Podcasts by Private Equity Funcast

10 Lurking Problems for Sellers with Bill Snow from 2023-11-29T15:49

Bill Snow, a noted authority on mergers and acquisitions, is back with the second part of our discussion on his new book, Listen

It's Restructuring Time! from 2023-11-07T14:10

 Devin is joined by Tuck Hardie, a Managing Director in Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Restructuring Group. After operating through the bankruptcy at Marvel as a client of Houlihan, Tuck switched si...

Mergers and Acquisitions with Bill Snow from 2023-09-27T16:04

Bill Snow, a noted authority on mergers and acquisitions has represented buyers and sellers in a multitude of industries. He joins host Jim Milbery to discuss his new book, Listen

It's the 10 Year Anniversary of the PE Funcast from 2023-09-15T13:49

Two Hundred and Seventy Three Episodes and Two Million downloads later, it's the 10th anniversary of the PE Funcast.  Indulge your intrepid co-hosts, Devin and Jim, as we walk down memory lane.

Generative AI: Implications for PE Investors from 2023-08-10T15:25

This week we sat down with Clark O'Niell and Jay Barlett from BCG to discuss their most recent research report on Listen

PE Partner and the CEO from 2023-07-13T20:35

In this episode of the PE Funcast, we take a deep dive into the relationship between the portfolio company CEO and the private equity Partner. What do they talk about when they talk? How does th...

What is the role of an Operating Partner at a private equity fund? from 2023-06-14T20:04

We’ve been hearing more questions and interest in operating partner roles than ever before. In our latest episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Operating Partners Jim and Cici cover some of the...

AlixPartners 8th Annual PE Leadership Survey from 2023-05-19T15:09

Ted Bililies, Managing Director and Head of Global Transformation Leadership Practice at AlixPartners joins Devin again to review the findings of the 8th Annual PE Leadership Survey. Devin and T...

What's a Software Company Worth? from 2023-05-04T14:08

In this episode of the PE Funcast, Devin and our Head of Research, David, discuss our research on software valuations, “What’s a Software Company Worth.” They cover how software valuations have ...

More Working with Private Equity from the Portfolio CXO Perspective from 2023-04-20T14:41

The grand finale of our two-part conversation with Kelley Powell, a long-time ParkerGale collaborator, and ex-portfolio executive.  Kelley talks about the ins and outs of working with PE from th...

Working with Private Equity from the Portfolio CXO Perspective from 2023-04-05T13:35

Part One of a two-part conversation with Kelley Powell, a long-time ParkerGale collaborator and ex-portfolio executive.  K...

Technical Due Diligence with Code&Co from 2023-03-23T12:54

Jim spends an hour talking about technical due diligence with Dan Bender, and Lukas Ingel...

Think Like a CTO with Alan Williamson from 2023-02-24T14:50

Jim talks with an old friend and comrade, Alan Williamson, about his new book - Think Like a CTO.  Al...

M&A Rollups with Matt Lynch from 2023-01-25T15:40

Jim talks Mergers and Acquisitions Roll-up strategies with Matt Lynch, Managing Director at District Capital Partners.  We discuss the various types of add-on ac...

Demystifying Executive Coaching from 2023-01-04T16:27

Jimmy is joined by Katrina Calihan, Executive Coach and Co-Founder of Wind + Sail Leadership Partners, to discuss and demystify executive coaching. Jimmy and Katrina have been working together s...

How PE firms use the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework to drive a high-growth product strategy from 2022-12-20T13:24

In this episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Operating Partner Cici Zheng is joined by Jared Ranere, President and COO of thrv, a firm that delivers services, training and a software platform ...

The Digging In Episode from 2022-11-11T01:15

Jim talks with Paul Stansik about his experiences digging in on the sales and marketing function within our portfolio.

Defining Your Ideal Customer Profile from 2022-09-02T13:36:45

In the latest episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Operating Partners Cici Zheng and Paul Stansik discuss the ICP - Ideal Customer Profile. As investors, we're frequently asking our portfolio ...

Value Creation through Human Capital with David Cohen, Partner at Kelso and Company from 2022-08-17T15:19:48

Jimmy is joined by David Cohen, Human Capital Partner at Kelso and Company. David has been working in the Human Capital / Private Equity space for over a decade and has helped shape the discipli...

What is Human Capital Due Diligence? A lot more than you think. from 2022-07-11T15:00:23

In this episode, Jimmy is joined by Laura Queen, founder, and CEO of 29Bison, a Human Capital Consultancy focused on the PE space. Laura is also the author of the book “People Economics: Definin...

DevOps with Dave Mangot from 2022-06-22T17:13:17

Jim talks all things DevOps with Dave Mangot from Mangoteque.  Dave's philosophy is "Get Good at Delivering Software", and he has helped many well-known companies become "best in class"  We disc...

They Ask, You Answer with Marcus Sheridan from 2022-06-08T16:19:50

No prospect is going to buy enterprise software on impulse.  Prospects don't need advertising, they need help, help understanding that they have a problem, help in understanding their options fo...

Lessons Learned from Integrating Companies - and why you need an Integration Management Office (IMO) from 2022-05-31T17:39:20

Your company acquired another company - congrats! But what happens next? In this episode, Operating Partners Cici and Jimmy break down the Integration Management Office, or IMO. They discuss wha...

The Increasingly Important Role Talent is Playing in Private Equity from 2022-05-04T14:08:59

Jimmy is joined on the show by Ted Bililies, Managing Director at AlixPartners, for what is now becoming a yearly ritual to discuss the results of the 7th Annual PE Leadership Survey. This year,...

Mastering the Basics of B2B Marketing (w/ Special Guest Elias Rubel) from 2022-04-13T14:02:37

On this episode of the Funcast, Operating Partner Paul Stansik is joined by CEO Elias Rubel, whose team at Matter Made works with B2B marketing teams big and small to help accelerate their revenue ...

March Madness 2022 -- Final Four from 2022-04-04T17:53:31

It's the grand finale of our annual March Madness episodes -- the final four.  Cass versus Jimmy and Paul versus Cici for all the proverbial marbles for our favorite podcast!

March Madness 2022 - Sweet Sixteen from 2022-03-28T18:14:14

It's our annual March Madness show.  This year our intrepid Operations Team picks their 16 favorite podcasts.   Have a listen as Cici, Paul, Cass, and Jimmy along with Commissioner for Life -- J...

The Prospecting Debate from 2022-03-24T15:05:47

Sometimes the recipe for a good discussion is to simply pick an important topic, invite two smart people who disagree with each other, and then sit back and listen. Today Paul Stansik, Operating...

Cybersecurity Insurance and Litigation with Peter Halprin from 2022-03-10T15:58:29

Jim and Attorney Peter Halprin from Pasich, LLP discuss the ins and outs of Cybersecurity Insurance and Litigation. We cover a wide range of topics with a focus on what private equity leaders need ...

Nailing Your Product Positioning with April Dunford from 2022-03-03T16:11:03

In this episode, Cici Zheng talks with April Dunford, a positioning consultant, speaker, and author on how she helps growth stage companies with positioning. They discuss the difference between pro...

Everything you wanted to know about data lists -- but were afraid to ask from 2022-02-17T15:07:12

In this week's episode, we are talking with Pam Lang, CEO of Xcelerated Data, a company that focuses on fixing data quality problems leading to better decisions in your marketing organization.  ...

Community Building In Our Portfolio from 2022-01-12T16:57:22

Jim, Cici and Jimmy discuss community building within our portfolio. We cover everything from organizing small teams across our companies to ParkerGale's approach to "summits".

Annual 2022 Predictions Show from 2022-01-05T19:54:38

It's our annual predictions show for 2022 with your original hosts, Devin and Jim. With the glut of other pontificators doing their usual prognostications, we've decided to shake things up a bit...

We're Hiring a Platform Team! from 2021-12-27T18:12:18

Devin walks us through three (yes 3!) new additions to the ParkerGale team. We're calling it the Platform Team and it includes a Head of Community, a Head of Origination, and a Head of Research....

Annual Holiday Episode on the Funcast from 2021-12-24T13:36:31

It's our annual holiday episode, with your original hosts -- Devin and Jim. While the debate over "Die Hard as a Christmas movie" is settled (it is), there are still plenty of things to discuss ...

The Great Resignation with Tim Schumm, CEO of Lucas James Talent Partners from 2021-12-17T15:54:27

Jimmy is joined by Tim Schumm, CEO of Lucas James Talent Partners to discuss The Great Resignation. Just about everyone has been impacted by this personally or professionally in some capacity, b...

We're Hiring! Associate Position Overview from 2021-12-15T14:33:39

We’re hiring! ParkerGale VPs Ben and Nori join Jimmy to discuss the Investment Associate role at ParkerGale. They discuss Associate responsibilities, core values, and what makes the job unique (...

A Transformation Story from 2021-11-19T16:09:11

Jimmy is joined by Eric Green, co-founder of WPD Management, a Chicago-based real-estate and property management company, to discuss the recent transformation that Eric guided WPD Management thr...

Purpose and Culture in a Post-COVID World with Amanda Lannert from 2021-11-03T18:23:30

Jimmy is joined by Amanda Lannert, much lauded CEO of Chicago-based Jellyvision, to discuss how Jellyvision is transforming their culture as we emerge from the grips of the pandemic. They discus...

Building a Better Sales Team from 2021-10-29T16:18:39

ParkerGale Operating Principal Paul Stansik is joined by Zorian Rotenberg, former head of Sales, CRO, and now a PE growth advisor. Zorian and Paul share their approach to diagnosing and addressi...

What We’ve Learned about People Ops and Culture from 2021-10-21T15:09:43

Jimmy Holloran and Paul Stansik share the lessons they’ve learned inside the portfolio from the last 2+ years working on teams, talent, and culture. They cover how to get the most out of your ne...

Canadian entrepreneurship and M&A, a discussion with Pierre Chamberland from 2021-10-14T15:01:17

Ryan Milligan discusses the state of the Canadian M&A market with Pierre Chamberland, founder of NetGovern. Pierre describes his roughly 20-year journey from entrepreneur to selling to private e...

Limited Partner Questions You Must Know from 2021-09-15T17:55:15

Inspired by their friend Dave Kellogg, Devin & Jim discuss the questions Limited Partners (and prospective Limited Partners) ask that you should always know off the top of your head. These are t...

Commercial Diligence with Cici Zheng from 2021-09-08T17:15:08

Devin and Cici sit down to discuss how we do commercial due diligence at ParkerGale. You know, all the market sizing, customer calls, surveys, competitive analysis you do after LOI but before yo...

Dean's Hot Takes from 2021-09-01T18:53:27

ParkerGale's newly promoted Senior Associate Dean Olson sits down with Devin to talk about his path from Indiana University to working in the private equity industry. Like the interviews we've d...

How BluWave Helps PE Shrink the World from 2021-08-18T18:35:01

Devin sits down with BluWave founder Sean Mooney to discuss how his firm helps PE funds run diligence better and post-closing operations faster. BluWave provides services to 500 PE funds and cou...

Software Buyout Lingo Explained from 2021-08-05T18:28:31

Devin is back with Ben Falloon and Cass Ziebel to talk about software buyout lingo. The trio revisits past popular episodes with all new "lingo" updates. Sit back and enjoy, and there just might...

Selling a Portfolio Company from 2021-07-21T16:36:43

Jim and Devin are back together on this latest episode, talking about Exits for portfolio companies.  How do we time our exits? Do we get unsolicited offers or do we take them to market? When do...

What Makes a Good Board Member with Jason Heltzer from 2021-07-15T18:45:28

Another conversation with Jason Heltzer, Managing Partner at Origin Ventures and a Chicago Booth professor in the
second of a three-part series on Board Meetings. In part two we talk about...

Talking Shop with Kelly Cornelis from LaSalle Capital from 2021-07-08T19:22:56

Partner Kristine Heinze talks with Kelly Cornelis, Partner and COO of LaSalle Capital, a long time friend of ParkerGale. Kelly talks about her journey clawing her way into Private Equity, and he...

Software Buyouts in Germany from 2021-06-24T13:59:38

Devin sits down with Christoph Jost and Peter Waleczek, the founders of Berlin-based software buyout fund Flex Capital. Christoph and Peter started as tech entrepreneurs prior to founding Flex a...

Why NPS is one of the most important metrics we track as a PE firm from 2021-06-17T14:24:19

The ultimate question: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being very likely, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

Operating Principal Cici Zheng talks with Jessic...

The Case for 1st Time CEOs from 2021-06-08T14:22:33

Devin sits down with Jordan Brugg, the Head of Private Equity at SpencerStuart to discuss his research on whether repeat or first-time CEOs outperform over the long-term. You might be surprised ...

The Board Perspective of People Operations from 2021-05-26T15:07:18

Jimmy is joined by Dave Kellogg, Board Member of a couple ParkerGale companies and writer of the Kellblog. The two discuss a classic post from Dave's Kellblog - A Missive To Human Resources, whe...

CEO Interview - Todd Dauchy from SMA Technologies from 2021-05-19T15:15:51

Our newest portfolio company CEO, Todd Dauchy, sits down with Principal Kevin Fitzgerald to talk about his
journey from being CTO to the CEO seat.

WomenHack: Helping Diverse People Get Hired in Tech from 2021-05-07T12:41:48

Partner Kristina Heinze talks with Lisa Hudson -- Director of Global Events for WomenHack.  Its mission is to promote gender equality in tech and help people get hired at companies committed to ...

What Makes a Good Board Meeting Deck? from 2021-04-28T15:52:46

Jim spends an hour with Jason Heltzer, Managing Partner at Origin Ventures and a Chicago Booth professor in the
first of a three-part series on Board Meetings. This series germinated from ...

Leadership During Periods of Disruption from 2021-04-20T16:00

Jimmy is joined by Ted Bililies, Managing Partner at AlixPartners, to share the results of the Sixth Annual Private Equity Leadership Survey, which focuses on leading investments during times of...

Training and Enabling Effective Sales Teams with ClozeLoop from 2021-04-14T20:32:20

Operating Principals Cici Zheng and Paul Stansik are joined by the founders of ClozeLoop and authors of some of our favorite books on sales training and management - Cory Bray and Hilmon Sorey. ...

Survey Results for March Madness 2021 Best Business Books Brackets from 2021-04-05T20:04:21

Our listeners have submitted their picks in our March Madness 2021 Best Business Books podcast -- so come have a listen along with the ParkerGale Ops Team!

March Madness 2021 Best Business Books Bracket -- Part I from 2021-04-01T13:49:31

Paul, Cass, Cici and Jimmy square off with their best business books March Madness bracket with your host, Jim, as the Commissioner.   Come have a listen as the operations team dukes it out for ...

How we think about Hiring from 2021-03-18T18:40:15

Principals Jimmy and Paul discuss the ParkerGale approach to hiring, why hiring is essential to get right, not just at the C-suite level, but how we work with our portfolio companies to develop ...

Friends of the Firm Series: Avante Capital with Ivelisse Simon from 2021-03-10T14:12:18

Guest host partner Kristina Heinze talks with Ivelisse Simon, Managing Partner of Avante Capital Partners - a women
and minority-owned private credit and structured equity fund based in Lo...

Career Advice from Chicago Booth Professor Chris McGowan - Part 2 from 2021-02-22T16:48:39

Principals Cass and Kara finish their interview with Professor Chris McGowan, from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. As an investor, advisor and teacher, Chris has been in the pr...

Career Advice from Chicago Booth Professor Chris McGowan - Part 1 from 2021-02-08T14:53:45

Principals Cass and Kara interview Professor Chris McGowan,
from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. As an investor, advisor and teacher, Chris has been in the private equity...

Mostly-Annual Predictions Show for 2021 from 2021-01-04T13:50:22

Can you predict the future by throwing asparagus against the wall?  Have a listen to Devin and Jim on the Funcast's mostly-annual predictions show.

Deal Perspectives: An Associate, a Principal and a Partner Talk Roles and Responsibilities from 2020-12-07T16:44:21

Private equity deal teams need to work together seamlessly to close a buyout successfully. However, each member of the deal team does have different responsibilities and perspectives - all of wh...

CXO seeking PE position: How to stand out in a crowded talent market from 2020-11-20T01:07:23

Private equity firms get tons of inbound emails from executives looking for their next opportunity.  Paul and Jim discuss the best ways to get private equity teams to pay attention to these emai...

Halloween 2020 from 2020-10-30T19:14:02

Devin and Jim reunite for our sometimes annual Halloween episode.  Today's discussion revolves around what is currently scaring us the most in private equity.  

Welcome to ParkerGale Ops, Cass from 2020-10-14T13:52:57

Guest host, Cici, interviews Cass Ziebel on her return to ParkerGale after two years at Chicago Booth. Cass talks about her background prior to working with ParkerGale as an Associate, what she ...

Why aren’t there more women in Private Equity? from 2020-09-23T16:18:02

It’s no secret that there are not very many women in private equity. According to a recent Preqin study, women account for just 19.4% of total private equity employees. In this episode, Cici and...

Leadership, Culture, and Private Equity with AlixPartners from 2020-09-09T19:27:34

Leadership, culture, and their impact on investments are growing trends across the private equity industry. In this episode, Jimmy and Devin are joined by Ted Bililies, Managing Director at Alix...

How We Do Leadership Development from 2020-08-14T14:55:42

Leaders shape culture, and in turn, culture shapes an organization. In this episode, Jimmy and Devin are joined by Katrina Calihan and Amanda Cutright, creators and facilitators of the L6 Progra...

DealCloud at ParkerGale from 2020-08-05T13:53:35

Kevin and Jim spend an hour with Ben Harrison, Co-Founder and President, Financial Services at DealCloud about the DealCloud platform and how we use it at ParkerGale. Our collective paths have c...

The Managerial Scouting Report from 2020-07-20T15:17:33

No serious athlete steps on the field without a scouting report. No serious professional should lead without one either. In this episode of the Funcast's Leadership Series, Paul and Jim discuss ...

Debt for PE Buyouts in Times of Uncertainty from 2020-07-06T16:07:44

Jim talks with Ryan Milligan about the use of debt in private equity deals and the state of the lending market in uncertain economic environments.

The Valley of Anguish from 2020-06-22T21:19:59

Jim talks with Kelley Powell, Alan Williamson and Jim Headley from the MacLaurin Group about tackling large-scale technology projects in a private-equity-backed company.   All four of us worked ...

Management Lessons for PE from The Last Dance from 2020-05-29T13:51:52

Jim, Jimmy and Dr. Steve Julius get together to discuss the denouement of The Last Dance. Dr. J leads the discussion around managing a superstar to become part of a broader system and why so few...

Rebroadcast of "Mind of the CEO" from 2020-05-07T17:18:13

Jim, Jimmy and Dr. J discuss everything from "The Last Dance" and the Warren Commission to John McCain as part of a new intro to a classic episode in which Devin and Kevin Fitzgerald talk with S...

Anatomy of a Security Assessment from 2020-04-29T16:02:27

Jim talks with Paul Petefish from Evolve Security about the ins-and-outs of an actual security assessment -- ours.   We cover everything from penetration testing to phishing attacks.

Part II : How the world of sports thinks about culture from 2020-04-22T14:17:56

The conclusion of our two-part episode (both recorded before the coronavirus pandemic) with ParkerGale advisor and former Chicago Bulls team psychologist Dr. Steve Julius discussing how elite sp...

How the world of sports thinks about culture from 2020-04-15T16:15:01

In episode 1 of a 2-part episode (both recorded before the coronavirus pandemic), Jim, Jimmy, and Paul are joined by ParkerGale advisor and former Chicago Bulls team psychologist Dr. Steve Juliu...

March Madness 2020 – Slightly Delayed from 2020-04-06T12:36:03

Weeks ago, before we were all focused on the coronavirus pandemic, Jim and Jimmy recorded our (mostly) annual March Madness episode. We hit pause on posting this one for a while, but on what wou...

Quick Information Security Suggestions for Remote Work from 2020-03-30T15:01:59

We talk with Paul Petefish, Founder and CEO of Evolve Security about some simple and fast suggestions to make remote working more secure.

[Replay] A Parade of Terribles: Founder Legal Traps to Avoid from 2020-03-17T17:31:02

A fan favorite episode -- The FunCast spends an hour with Kirkland & Ellis partner Ryan Harris (formerly of McDermott Will & Emery LLP) talking about the legal traps founders fall into when sett...

The Second City, “Yes AND,” and Private Equity from 2020-03-10T14:00

Jim and Jimmy are joined by Marla Caceres and Nelson Velazquez, improvisors at Chicago’s famous Second City Theatre. They discuss how ParkerGale has leveraged the Second City Works to provide pr...

What is Customer Success? And why should you care about it? from 2020-03-03T20:25:29

On this episode, Jay Nathan (Founder of Customer Imperative) joins Paul Stansik to share how companies can be more intentional in building intimacy and delivering value to their customers. We ta...

Interview with Dean Brown, CEO of Ipro Tech from 2020-02-24T14:24:30

Jimmy sits down with Dean Brown, CEO of Ipro Tech. Dean discusses his upbringing in a military family, his education in Industrial Psychology, the serendipity of a career, his love of products a...

Why does the PE firm care about your product roadmap? from 2020-02-14T14:59:38

In part 3 of a 3 part series on Product Strategy, Jim and Cici continue the discussion of how product strategy ties into value creation, and how specifically as a PE firm, we monitor our portfol...

How we link Product Strategy to Value Creation from 2020-02-05T14:17:43

In part 2 of a 3 part series on Product Strategy, Jim is joined by Cici to discuss the private equity investor's perspective on how and why products get built. Living in a world of limited resou...

How we think about Value Creation - Risk Mitigation, Cost Reduction and Revenue Growth from 2020-01-27T17:14:29

In part 1 of a 3 part series on Product Strategy, Jim is joined by Cici to discuss the three levers of value creation - risk mitigation, revenue growth, and cost reduction, and how we think abou...

Building Effective Teams and Healthy Organizations from 2020-01-14T19:09:52

On this episode, Keith Hadley from the Table Group joins Paul Stansik to chat about how we build aligned C-suite teams and healthy portfolio companies. We cover what healthy organizations do dif...

2020 Predictions Show from 2020-01-07T20:21:11

Devin and Jim kick off the new year with our annual predictions episode.  Come have a listen as we opine on what 2020 has in store for Private Equity.

Interview with Stacey Kacek, CEO of OnePlus Systems from 2019-12-13T18:23

Jimmy Holloran talks with Stacey Kacek, OnePlus Systems CEO. They discuss her early career as an engineer at Motorola, her transition into leadership, and her perspective on being a CEO. Along t...

When process automation misses the mark from 2019-12-03T20:14:14

Jim recently got massively over-billed by Hertz, prompting a discussion about what happens to customers when process automation goes off the rails. Ryan Milligan jumps in with a Zappos story tha...

How we use talent reviews, the 9box, and succession planning from 2019-11-22T21:46:03

As part of our continuing People Operations series, ParkerGale Principals Jimmy and Paul dive into the 9box, a talent management framework commonly used to assess an organization’s breadth and d...

You Need Win-Loss Analysis with Cici Zheng from 2019-11-15T15:03:20

Devin sits down with Cici to discuss some easy but very important things you should be doing to extract deeper customer and market insight into your software products.

Inside the Deal - Three perspectives on how a deal gets done from 2019-11-06T13:54:16

Partner Ryan Milligan talks with Mike Trasatti, CEO of DealerBuilt and Bill Lamm of Presidio Technology Partners about how a deal really gets done. Covering everything from the banker signing up...

Strategies for Technology Transitions from 2019-10-30T20:49:47

Come have a listen as Stephen Tallamy CTO of EditShare talks about strategies for making technology transitions for complicated software platforms.

Hiring Technical Leaders for Non-Technical People from 2019-10-15T19:19:45

Hiring technical people is hard when you don’t know all the buzzwords and acronyms. Devin and Jim help you with good process and some helpful questions to ask when you are hiring Engineering and...

Tom Obermaier Interview from 2019-09-27T14:50

Continuing our on-going series of interviews with ParkerGale portfolio company CEOs, Jimmy interviews Tom Obermaier, CEO of Rippe and Kingston. We talk baseball, growing up in New York, leadersh...

A Brief History of Software with Tom Shore from 2019-09-20T16:36:57

Jim talks with fellow Babson College Alum, current portfolio company CTO, Tom Shore about application software from the early 80s through today.  We talk Digital Equipment PDP/11s all the way th...

Kara Master Interview from 2019-09-13T15:43:25

We talk to PG Principal Kara Master about her journey from the model UN and a career in journalism to joining the deal team at ParkerGale.

Things to Avoid in Selecting an Executive Job with Dave Kellogg from 2019-08-23T10:00

Buckle your seatbelts for a fast-paced conversation with Dave Kellogg. Dave and I first met back in the early 80s at Ingres, when I was a pre-sales engineer and Dave was a technical support rep....

How We Think about People Ops and Culture from 2019-08-15T16:13:48

In the kickoff to the new People Operations Series, ParkerGale Principals Jimmy and Paul provide an overview of ParkerGale’s People Ops team. Having worked together at Bain, they bring some hist...

The Paul Stansik Interview from 2019-07-30T19:49:41

Jim and Jimmy talk to ParkerGale Operating Principal, Paul Stansik -- DECA medal winner and ex-professional Lacrosse player.

The Case for Outsourced HR from 2019-07-23T19:52:31

Guest hosts Jimmy Holloran and Ryan Milligan invite Andy Hulett onto the funcast to discuss the benefits of outsourced HR for small, growing businesses. Turns out there’s a lot more to it than m...

CEO Interview with Conrad Clemson of EditShare from 2019-07-11T17:13:15

Guest host Jimmy Holloran talks with EditShare CEO Conrad Clemson.   Find out how a physics major from William & Mary ended up working as a private equity CEO.

Do you really need continuous delivery to write production software? from 2019-06-27T19:44:26

More madness with the Mad Scotsman, Alan Williamson and special guest Tom Shore.  We talk about the just how much automation and software tooling do you need to write applications.   The big soc...

Bad Vendor Email Solicitations from 2019-06-17T22:52:26

Guest host Jimmy Holloran talks with Jim about the bevy of useless email solicitations that we get after every deal announcement.  We talk about the PE 2/20 model and how it applies to buying se...

Rick Noble Interview from 2019-06-04T19:45:23

In our latest episode, we talk with Rick Noble, CEO of Aircraft Technical Publishers. He has led several market-leading digital publishing organizations over the course of his career, holding po...

It's the Jimmy Holloran Interview from 2019-05-10T14:51:51

Jim talks with ParkerGale's newest addition to the Operating Team handling talent management -- Jimmy Holloran.  He joins us from the mean streets of St. Louis with stops at Nortel, Teach for Am...

Interview with Greg Besner CEO of CultureIQ from 2019-05-02T13:05:31

Jim sits down with CultureIQ CEO Greg Besner to talk about his experiences working for a Private Equity backed company.  As usual, we take some detours along the way covering everything from his...

Discussing Paul Graham's "Makers versus Managers" from 2019-04-19T12:01:37

Jim and the MacLaurin Group Team -- Alan, "The Mad Scotsman", Jim Headley and Kelley Powell tackle Paul Graham's "Makers versus Managers" essay.   How do you balance the need for managers to "me...

How to Land a CFO Job from 2019-03-26T23:30:34

Devin interviews True Search Partner and CFO-whisperer Matt Goldstein about how to land a CFO job at a PE-backed company. They cover the process from the candidate side and the company side. How...

The Mad Scotsman Embraces Node.JS (and other surprises) from 2019-03-07T15:29:06

We're back with the Mad Scotsman, Alan Williamson and his partner in crime, Jim Headley, of the MacLaurin Group. Alan and Jim give us their thumbs up and thumbs down on various development tools...

Predictions for 2019 from 2019-01-09T19:07:54

Devin and Jim talk about macro and micro events for 2019 including; the global economy, the U.S. economy, politics, the tech market and the implications for private equity in the new year.

The Messy Marketplace Interview from 2018-12-20T00:04:13

A far-reaching conversation with Brent Beshore, CEO of adventur.es, a buyout shop based in Columbia, Missouri.  Brent recently released his book "The Messy Marketplace", the ultimate "how to" bo...

2018 Annual Thanksgiving Show from 2018-11-20T15:46:10

No awkward musical guests or actors passed-their-prime --- just Devin and Jim giving thanks for another year of fun with the podcast.

Systems Pillar Deep Dive - It's all about sales opportunities from 2018-11-13T23:10:20

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 Opportuni...

ParkerGale's Operations Pillars from 2018-09-27T18:04:57

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-...

Interview with Len Finkle, CEO of Profisee from 2018-09-06T17:21:07

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 Career Wayback Machine from 2018-08-28T16:10:18

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 J...

2018 Private Markets Due Diligence Survey from 2018-08-09T19:24:17

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...

Scoping Market Due Diligence with Parthenon/EY - Part II from 2018-07-26T15:31:37

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 co...

Scoping Market Due Diligence with Parthenon/EY from 2018-06-28T19:31:49

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.  

More Stack Overflow with Alan Williamson from 2018-06-06T14:27:22

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...

Stack Overflows 2018 Developer Survey from 2018-05-17T21:44:34

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 s...

The Evolving Role of the Operating Partner with Jay Bartlett from 2018-04-24T21:47:27

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 li...

The Fatal Flaw Episode from 2018-04-11T20:07:32

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!

March Madness 2018 from 2018-03-29T17:15:43

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 t...

A Brief History of Computing from 2018-01-29T16:09:33

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. ...

The Case For 1st Time Funds with PitchBook from 2017-12-20T15:45:42

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 discus...

Macroeconomics and Private Equity from 2017-11-27T20:09:01

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.

Halloween 2017 Special from 2017-10-31T17:58:15

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 ...

Welcome Cici Zheng from 2017-10-25T22:15:23

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 pa...

How To Teach People Stuff from 2017-10-11T15:00:50

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...

Buyouts from the Sellers' Side from 2017-10-02T19:20:04

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 pro...

What the heck is a Digital Strategy? from 2017-09-25T15:39:26

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 -- coveri...

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition from 2017-09-12T19:05:13

Devin and Jim sit down with NextGen Growth Partners founder Brian O'Connor to discuss search funds, pledge funds, traditional funds and all the similarities and differences among them. They go d...

Summer Reading List from 2017-08-30T15:39:31

Devin and Jim take a random walk down their reading list of favorite business and research books.  We mention some old favorites and some hidden gems and talk about ParkerGale's official reading...

Confusing PE Jargon Explained from 2017-08-21T21:42:14

Devin (and Jim from behind the sound board) welcomes back Cass and Ben for a mad-cap review of all the confusing terms and phrases thrown around the typical private equity shop. We give you the ...

What is a Dividend Recap? from 2017-08-10T14:51:33

Devin and Jim break down the what, how, why and when of the often maligned, but rarely explained, process of PE funds taking money out of companies before the exit.  Plus: shout outs to some PE ...

How to develop an Investment Thesis from 2017-07-31T18:54:08

Devin and Jim go deep on their process for developing investment theses. They cover: where to start, tools to hone your thesis, how to fight confirmation bias, when to give up and when to stick ...

Ship of Theseus Episode from 2017-07-18T15:22:08

Devin and Jim were inspired to delve into the "Ship of Theseus" story in the first episode from season two of Gladwell's "Revisionist History".  If we change out every "board" (no pun intended) ...

AE Marketing Group Interview with Kristina Heinze from 2017-07-11T22:02:55

Rebroadcast of Brian Walker from AE Marketing Group interviewing partner Kristina Heinze-- talking about leadership, women in private equity and branding.

Talent Management 201 from 2017-06-09T18:16:22

Devin sits down with Myra D’Souza, ParkerGale’s head of talent management. They cover how to get into private equity from the HR side of the house; what PE firms do about human capita...

Customer Analytics 101 from 2017-06-04T16:01:34

An introduction to customer analytics with Ben Falloon and Jake Petoskey from the ParkerGale team.  The first of several episodes tackling the tricky topic of building ground-up customer analyti...

Makers vs. Menders -- The Corgibytes Interview from 2017-05-19T16:45:57

Jim talks with Andrea Goulet and M. Scott Ford from Corgibytes -- specialists in software remodeling.  This is a continuing conversation on technical debt, the albatross around the neck of many ...

Jake? Jake's my boy! from 2017-05-07T20:51:59

Jim and Devin sit down with ParkerGale Principal Jake Petoskey to discuss his path to private equity thru the operating side of the house. Similar to past episodes with Cass and Kevin we cover a...

Talent Management 101 from 2017-04-28T13:11:15

We spend an hour talking with Anthony Onesto from the Konrad Group.  We've known Anthony as a cutting-edge thinker in the Human Capital Management space for many years.  Today we finally managed...

Book Club : Thinking Fast and Slow from 2017-04-17T15:28:10

Limited Partner, John McCarthy, is back for another book club episode.   This time we talk about Daniel Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow -- and how it applies to private equity.   Try listening...

Annual March Madness Episode 2017 from 2017-04-11T18:09:06

By popular demand ...  it's our annual March Madness Episode from two guys that know nothing about college basketball but love bracketology.  It's the Elite Eight -- Lou Adler vs. Daniel Pink, G...

A Brief Introduction to Information Security from 2017-03-14T14:29

Jim spends an hour talking about Information Security with Evolve Security's CEO -- Paul Petefish.  We keep bumping into Pete and his team at 1871 - and figured it was time to talk a little bit ...

How to Interview Good from 2017-03-06T15:21:27

Jim, Devin and Ryan sit down to discuss why people are so bad at interviewing and what they did to fix their own mistakes. They cover the strategy and tactics for improving your interviewing ski...

Fundraising Part IV -- Interview with an LP from 2017-02-06T21:45:41

Limited Partner Mike McClure sits down for a discussion about the other side of the fundraising table. We cover: the first meeting, following up and what can set you apart from all th...

Updated ParkerGale Technology Stack - Basecamp eats Slack from 2017-01-24T23:22:49

Over the past year we've changed out a number of tools and software that we use to manage the fund.  Come have a listen and find out what things we've moved off of and our new favorites.  Spoile...

We're Hiring! from 2017-01-10T21:03:25

ParkerGale is looking to add three professional to our team -- two Principals focused on Operations and one Associate for the Investment team. Take a listen to find out if you (or someone you kn...

Fundraising Part III from 2016-12-20T04:31:16

The latest episode in our Fundraising series.   We spend an hour talking with John Cosgrove from Beartooth Advisors - the team that worked as our agents on the ParkerGale fund.   Come have liste...

Why Due Diligence Fails from 2016-12-14T19:11:44

Jim and Devin spend an hour talking with Jay Bartlett and Scott Orleck from Parthenon-EY Ernst & Young LLP.  We've worked extensively with Jay and Scott on buy-side due-diligence projects over a...

Fundraising Part II from 2016-12-02T20:03:42

The second episode of our trifecta covering the raising of ParkerGale's first fund.   This episode starts off where we left our intrepid heroes just after their first close in September, 2015.  ...

Book Club: "The Most Important Thing" from 2016-11-30T17:26:25

Devin and ParkerGale Limited Partner John McCarthy continue their book club series with an investing classic, "The Most Important Thing" by Howard Marks, the legendary cofounder and Chairman of ...

Book Club: "Rumsfeld's Rules" from 2016-11-22T02:13:13

Devin and ParkerGale Limited Partner John McCarthy kick off their book club series with an unusual choice, "Rumsfeld's Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life" by Donald R...

Fundraising: Part 1 from 2016-11-07T21:26:43

Devin and Jim spend an hour talking about the strategy and tactics of raising ParkerGale's first fund. This episode covers the pre-launch up to the fund's first close.

DDOS -- An infinite number of kids on an infinite number of school busses from 2016-11-02T13:35:33

Jim and Alan talk about a scary subject on our Halloween episode -- Distributed Denial of Service attacks.  Two weeks ago the internet experienced an unprecedented DDOS attack against a popular ...

Talking Tech with a Coding Bootcamp Graduate from 2016-10-26T12:52:18

We had a great conversation with Kevin Hurley, a recent graduate from Fullstack Academy. Kevin is a high school math teacher who caught the coding bug and decided to switch careers. He's exactly...

Social Media Strategies for Middle Market B2B Companies from 2016-10-19T13:12:55

Jim talks about all things social media with Cappy Popp and John Maver from Thought Labs -- a leading Digital Marketing Strategy company. We've worked with Cappy and John on a number of projects...

Should you consider hiring graduates from a coding bootcamp from 2016-10-11T12:53:10

Alan and Jim spend a fun hour talking with Zeke Nierenberg, Academic Director/Chicago from Fullstack Academy. Fullstack teaches qualified non-programmers to code using an immersive 13-week progr...

Out on the cutting edge with Go! from 2016-10-03T15:00:59

Alan and Jim spend an hour talking with Ben Johnson, author of BoldDB and and freelance Go developer.  The Go language is a relatively new open source programming language (and platform) started...

ParkerGale Visits the "Journeys" Podcast from 2016-09-26T15:24:23

Devin sits down with Jeremie Bacon, CEO and Founder of Synap, to discuss Private Equity, Managing People and Movie Quotes.

Influencer Marketing -- Does it add value for B2B companies? from 2016-09-21T16:27:36

Jim is back talking with Brian Walker, CEO of AE Marketing Group on the topic of Influencer Marketing.  Does it work for B2B companies?  Why or Why Not?   What types of "marketing" projects shou...

If it isn't broken there's no need to upgrade it from 2016-09-15T21:53:54

Alan and Jim spend a fast half hour talking when you should consider upgrading older pieces of custom (homegrown) software. You don't have to upgrade older software just for the sake of upgradin...

A Brief History of Application Programming Interfaces -- and why you need them. from 2016-09-06T22:17:06

Jim and Alan spend an hour arguing about whether you should consider bolting an
application programming interface onto older applications as a path to modernizing them. The conversation me...

A Founder's Guide to Brand Marketing -- It's Not About Advertising from 2016-08-23T20:34:46

The first of many conversations with Brian Walker CEO of AE Marketing Group.   We've found that Marketing is often the third wheel at small companies -- behind product development and sales.   B...

How do PE firms differentiate themselves? from 2016-08-11T18:53:13

We all know there are tons of Private Equity funds. So what are the ways they try to stand out from the crowd? We cover the four biggies: Focus, Size, Sourcing and Team.

Slowing Down Sales ... On Purpose! from 2016-08-05T14:36:49

Alan, Jim and Kristina talk about a rare phenomenon in technology -- slowing down sales -- intentionally!  Faced with the need to undertake some major software refactoring, we chose to ...

Migrating Legacy Applications with Amazon WorkSpaces from 2016-08-01T17:58:41

We recently had to find a home for a legacy client/server accounting application, running in a location that was far, far away.  The software came to us through an acquisition of another company...

Surviving in the Valley of Anguish from 2016-07-26T15:33:19

Jim and Alan talk in detail about the Valley of Anguish and how to survive it.   All large projects (ERP implementations, software re-writes, data center moves) start out with heady expectations...

The Seven Deadly Sins of Private Equity from 2016-07-13T12:43:04

Devin and Jim discuss the seven deadly sins of private equity -- sins that will turn a good deal into a bad deal.

-- Pride: Don't admit what you don't know.
-- Envy: Make a b...

Is Business School Worth It? from 2016-06-24T19:28:10

Devin interviews podcast darling Kevin Fitzgerald on his return to private equity after two years at Harvard Business School. Kevin talks about why he went, what he l...

Don't Make These Mistakes When Implementing NetSuite from 2016-06-16T00:20:35

Jim talks with our old friend and colleague, Dirk Shimpach about the most common mistakes we make when implementing NetSuite.  We've done six implementations across six portfolio companies over ...

DevOps for Founders and CEOs from 2016-06-03T20:59:08

Alan and Jim discuss DevOps -- the intersection of software development and managing the deployment and operations of software.  We provide a simple layman's definition of DevOps and then addres...

Debunking The Failure Mythology from 2016-05-19T19:28:25

Devin and Jim spend some time talking about the "Failure Mythology" -- the idea that you need to fail in a big way on the path to building a great company. (Aka "The Steve Jobs Story")  It's a p...

Radio Killed the Podcast Star from 2016-05-13T18:06:23

Small change of pace. Here's a replay of Kristina's WGN Business Lunch interview talking about private equity, being a mom and other fun stuff.

Bootstrapping&Selling Your Software Company from 2016-05-03T23:40:32

Devin sits down with Dave Will, the founder of Peach New Media, a software company he founded, bootstrapped and recently sold to AccelKKR. Dave gets philosophical about building culture and step...

Can Unicorns Hurt Buyouts? from 2016-04-26T16:12:29

Devin and Jim talk about Unicorns -- not the mythical horse with a horn, but rather
the club of billion-dollar-plus tech companies. How is this market different than the late 90s?
Ho...

Board Meetings -- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from 2016-04-19T17:52:11

Devin and Jim welcome their partner Kristina to her first podcast where they talk about how to run a good board meeting. Who to invite, what to cover, what to avoid and how to manage your PE boa...

It's a LOG way to the top if you want to rock'n'roll from 2016-04-15T01:21:34

Alan and Jim spend some time talking about tracking events and errors in application software logs.   Most  companies are at least monitoring their web logs and database error logs these days --...

March Madness 2016 -- Elite Eight from 2016-04-04T14:41:29

It's our annual March Madness show.  Hosted by two guys that don't know a THING about college basketball -- so our March Madness is all about Private Equity.   This year we are starting with the...

Most Common Technology Challenges that we find when we acquire a founder-owned technology company from 2016-03-24T22:49:37

Jim and Alan spend some quality time talking about the most common technology challenges that we uncover when we acquire a founder owned technology company. This is not a criticism of how these ...

How PE Hires Management Teams from 2016-03-18T15:35:56

Devin sits down with Chris Morgan, the founder of Lantern Partners, an executive search firm focused on hiring C-Suite executives at PE-backed companies. We cover how to get in the candidate flo...

Shiny New Toy Syndrome -- And what the Founder can do about it. from 2016-03-11T17:08:49

Alan and Jim spend some quality time talking about the Shiny New Toy problem (SNTS) in software development.   The tendency for software teams to pin their hopes and dreams on leading edge techn...

Everything a CEO Wants to Know About Technical Debt from 2016-03-04T04:15:45

Jim and Alan spend a fast hour talking about technical debt.   It's everything that a CEO/CFO/COO or Founder needs to know about technical debt -- and how to start paying it down.   What causes ...

Hey, You, Get Onto My Cloud from 2016-02-23T18:13:07

Jim and Alan talk about the Cloud.   Private clouds versus public clouds.  Should you ditch your own server room and move everything to the Cloud?  Start small and build ... or go "all in" on th...

Exchanging Data 101 -- Email, FTP, SFTP, DropBox, Box, S3 and More! from 2016-02-12T18:48:33

Jim and Alan discuss the history and details of exchanging data between companies and applications.  Email might be the easiest and quickest technique, but find out what it's not very secure or ...

The Myth of the Full Stack Developer from 2016-01-29T13:58:21

Jim talks with Alan, Simon and Tiago about the myth of the full stack developer.   Alan plays the role of the database and webservices architect. Simon is the user interface and client-side mave...

Technology Trends for 2016 -- What's Hot and What's Not? from 2016-01-21T00:01:32

Jim and Alan talk about the technology trends for 2016.   What's on the rise?  What technology is falling out of favor?  What will be the most hyped technology in 2016?  Jim asks the questions a...

Native Mobile Applications vs. HTML5 Apps with the Developertown Crew from 2016-01-14T23:00:20

Jim spends a fast hour talking with the Developertown crew about all things mobile.  Should you develop native iOS and Android applications?   Is it better to standardize on responsive HTML5 sol...

The Associate Role in Private Equity from 2016-01-06T16:21:57

Description:  Cass Gunderson recently joined ParkerGale as an Associate so we check in with her about how she landed the job, what she did before she joined us and ta...

Working with Portfolio Companies as an Operating Partner from 2015-12-23T14:55:28

Second part of our two-episode series on the Operating Partner role in private equity.   In this second episode Devin and Jim talk about engaging with the portfolio companies and their managemen...

Working as an Operating Partner in a Private Equity Group from 2015-12-10T02:50:47

First part of a two-part episode focused on the vaunted "Operating Partner" role in private equity.  In the first part, Devin talks to Jim about his experiences as an operating partner within a ...

Top Ten Common Mistakes When Implementing Salesforce.com from 2015-11-30T23:11:06

The last of a four-part series.    Jim talks with Kamela Arya about the most common mistakes that companies make when implementing Salesforce.com.  

Salesforce.com Part III -- The dreaded implementation plan from 2015-11-18T21:35:05

The third segment in our four-part series on Salesforce.com for the middle market.  In this episode Jim and Kamela talk about the implementation process.   Which department should be tackled fir...

Implementing Salesforce.com Part II -- Licensing and Implementation Costs from 2015-11-04T18:17:34

Part two of our implementing Salesforce.com series. This time around we talk with Kamela Arya about which modules to license, how much they cost to license (on an annual basis), and what it cost...

The Ruby on Rails Episode with Developertown from 2015-10-23T13:39:57

Jim spends an hour with Developertown's Michael Kelly and Aaron Lerch talking about Ruby on Rails -- why Jim hates it and why they love it.

All Things Salesforce.com With Kamela Arya from 2015-10-15T20:43:11

Part one of a three-part series on Salesforce.com.   Jim talks with longtime SFDC collaborator and implementer, Kamela Arya about everything you need to know about customer relationship manageme...

The Deal Flow Episode from 2015-10-01T11:50:55

Devin and Jim finally cover the most important thing a PE fund can do -- find deals. They cover how they source deals, the banks and brokers they target. Plus they talk about their lifelong sear...

A founder-level discussion of the perfect technology stack with Alan Williamson from 2015-09-24T15:08:26

A lengthy discussion with Alan Williamson on the "perfect technology stack".   In today's environment do you HAVE to be running on Linux, or is Windows Server just fine for some shops?   C# or J...

Vertical Scaling vs. Horizontal Scaling for the Non-technical listener from 2015-09-11T15:25:44

Alan and Jim talk about the ins and outs of making applications run faster and scale to handle lots of users.  We compare the two choices for scaling applications: Vertical scaling (adding more ...

ParkerGale's Updated Technology Stack from 2015-08-31T17:37:36

Devin and Jim catalog all of the software that the ParkerGale team has been using on a daily basis over the past year.  We discuss the pros and cons of each, and tell you which apps have been mo...

Lessons from Amazon's Culture Clash from 2015-08-21T20:36:26

Devin and Jim discuss the New York Times Amazon article.  Is driving your people into the ground the only way to build successful technology companies?  Is the CEO the last to know when it comes...

After the Letter of Intent: Everything that a Founder Needs to Know from 2015-08-13T21:15:32

Jim talks with Ryan Milligan about all the different steps in closing a deal after the Letter of Intent gets signed.   Everything that a Founder needs to know, but was afraid to ask. Customer ca...

Dominate a Niche or Build a Better Mousetrap from 2015-08-06T12:57:16

Jim and Devin discuss the two types of companies that we see in the middle market.   You can either dominate a niche market (such as software targeted at specific verticals) or you can build a b...

Public Investors vs. Private Investors -- Who is Smarter? from 2015-07-30T17:19:53

Ryan Milligan joins Jim and Devin to talk about Unicorns and argue about whether the public markets are smarter than the private markets.  For the founder with a business between $3 - $5 million...

More Product Management Fun with Grant Hunter from 2015-07-24T13:29:14

Jim talks in detail with Grant Hunter about the Product Manager role in middle market companies.

Introduction to Product Management with Grant Hunter from 2015-07-16T19:47:32

A gentle introduction to product management with Grant Hunter.

Innovator's Dilemma Meets the Blue Ocean from 2015-06-30T18:41:14

Jim and Devin discuss the Innovator's Dilemma and Blue Ocean Strategy as it relates to middle market portfolio companies.

Apple's 2015 WWDC Summary from 2015-06-22T11:40:34

Jim talks with Evan Delaney about his trip to Apple's World Wide Developer Conference in SF.

A Micro Discussion About Microservices from 2015-06-12T17:43:31

Devin and Jim talk about the role of leveraging microservices development in middle market companies, mixing classic development with microservices -- with proper shout outs to Martin Fowler, Co...

What Private Equity Can Learn From Venture Capital (Episode 61) from 2015-06-04T16:39:35

Devin and Jim discuss the corollary to Fred Wilson's "What VC can learn from Private Equity".

The role of the outside board member with Glenn Winokur (Episode 60) from 2015-05-29T14:40:59

Jim talks about the role of the outside board member with Syapse CEO/Co-Founder and Emerson Street Partners founder Glenn Winokur.

Our "Should we be Agile" Manifesto Episode (Episode 59) from 2015-05-15T15:00:47

Jim and Devin talk about Agile, SCRUM and our experiences with various engineering project management schemes.

Finding Value in Tech Buyouts. from 2015-05-07T14:50:53

Devin and Jim talk about applying Howard Marks' principles of value investing in technology buyouts.

It's time for us to talk about the Apple Watch from 2015-04-28T15:58:35

Jim chats with Evan Delaney about the out-of-the-box experience with the Apple Watch as the first batch gets delivered.

The Quinn Mathews Interview Episode from 2015-04-16T13:34:33

Quinn grills Devin and Jim on everything from their backgrounds to which kinds of potatoes that they prefer.

PE FunCast Final Four 2015 from 2015-04-10T13:14:39

Jim, Devin and the Commissioner For Life, Ryan Milligan run down our 2015 Final Four results.

March Madness Private Equity Bracketology 2015 Discussion from 2015-04-02T11:24:36

Jim interviews FunCast Bracketology Commish, Ryan Milligan in preparation for next week's "Final Four".

Are Technical Bootcamps Worth the Money? from 2015-03-27T11:44:04

Jim and Devin discuss the pros and cons of technical bootcamps.

Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose - Part two of our "Drive" discussion from 2015-03-16T18:06:03

Jim and Devin talk in detail about Daniel Pink's autonomy, mastery and purpose with a sidebar into "fairness".

ParkerGale's Tech Stack from 2015-03-05T17:45:05

Jim and Devin discuss the technology stack that we use to run our business.

Everything that you need to know about eLearning with Joe Gorup from 2015-02-27T15:05:07

Jim talks to Joe Gorup about using eLearning in the middle market.

Motivating Management Teams the "Pink" Way from 2015-02-20T14:35:05

Devin and Jim discuss Daniel Pink's "Drive" as it relates to their portfolio companies.

We're Not Fooled By Randomness Anymore from 2015-02-13T16:48:48

Devin and Jim talk about Nassim Nicholas Taleb's gem, "Fooled by Randomness"

Crossing the Chasm and the Middle Market from 2015-02-05T17:30:13

Devin and Jim talk discuss Geoffrey Moore's groundbreaking book "Crossing the Chasm" as it applies to the middle market.

NetSuite Implementation Part Deux -- The CFO Interview from 2015-01-29T14:16:23

Jim talks to portfolio company CFO, Mike Welch about his initial experiences with our ongoing NetSuite implementation.

Our Annual Prediction Show 2015 from 2014-12-31T14:40:18

Devin, Ryan Harris, Ian Larkin and Brad Simmons make their predictions for 2015 ... and BEYOND!

Xmas Eve Spectacular with Chicago Chef John Caputo from 2014-12-24T11:56:16

Jim and Devin talk restaurants and cuisine with Chicago's own Chef John Caputo.

Our NetSuite "Serial" - Part I from 2014-12-19T19:00:54

Jim and Dirk Shimpach talk through a complete NetSuite implementation at one of our portfolio companies, "serial podcast" style.

TechStars Chicago from 2014-12-11T13:57:22

Jim and Devin talk shop with Troy Henikoff from TechStars Chicago.

Thanksgiving 2014 Extravaganza from 2014-11-27T12:09:21

Devin and Jim give thanks for all of our listeners, colleagues and friends.

Exit Events for Private Equity Tech Companies from 2014-11-20T16:59:14

Jim and Devin talk about the various exit strategies for private equity-backed tech companies.

The Founder's role in making an entreprenurial organization from 2014-11-12T15:52:51

Devin and Jim talk with Tim Kelly on his research what makes a company "entreprenurial".

ParkerGale Capital from 2014-10-20T14:05:42

Devin and Jim introduce their new firm, Parker Gale Capital

Founder Transitions. Don't be a Larry! from 2014-10-02T19:54:16

Devin and Jim discuss succcession planning for founders.

It's our one year anniversary -- and you get the gift! from 2014-09-10T17:07:14

Milbery's Mazlow's Hierarchy of Software Needs.  We are officially a year old today and have we got a gift for you.  Jim and Devin spend an hour dissecting Jim's controversial hierarchy of softw...

Getting Sideways with Management from 2014-09-02T11:45:41

What happens when your relationship with management goes south? This episode is by request   How do relationships between the private equity guys and management go bad?  Shocking!  Yes, that hap...

Private Equity Lingo: The Podcast from 2014-08-20T13:25:58

As a follow-up to Devin's (surprisingly) popular PEHUB column from early August, Devin and Jim expound on the lingo inside a PE firm.  This isn't sports talk or girl talk, this is private equity...

Nadella's Public Strategy Letter from 2014-07-23T17:21:55

Devin and Jim talk about Satya Nadella's public strategy letter on the future of Microsoft aka "Bold Ambition & Our Core".    How does this apply to the middle market?  Should middle market comp...

Apple's Swift programming language from 2014-07-09T17:37:03

Jim sits down with Evan Delaney to talk about Apple's new Swift programming language, the pros the cons -- and whether companies should be jumping into the deep end of the pool and going whole-h...

Building your iOS application from 2014-06-30T12:24:12

Jim sits down with Evan Delaney to talk about approaches you can use for building your mobile applications on the Apple platform.  Although we do get a little technical in spots, this episode is...

Roadside MBA : Hiring your team from 2014-06-17T11:02:41

Devin and Jim sit down with Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Professor Michael Mazzeo to discuss his upcoming book: Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Sma...

The Haiku Episode from 2014-06-12T17:28:50

A Series of PE Haikus for the sophisticated listener.  A light-hearted conversation with Matthew Craig-Greene of Pivot Partners Ltd -- our Thursday gift from us, to you!

Roadside MBA : Product Differentiation and Price from 2014-06-10T11:16:41

Devin and Jim sit down with Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Professor Michael Mazzeo to discuss his upcoming book: Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Sma...

Roadside MBA - Introduction from 2014-06-03T11:38:20

Devin and Jim sit down with Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Professor Michael Mazzeo to discuss his upcoming book: Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Sma...

The Mind of the CEO from 2014-05-29T18:35:16

Devin and Uber-Associate Kevin Fitzgerald sit down with Steve Julius, PhD aka "Dr. J" to talk about organizational behavior and team dynamics.   Dr. Julius opines on human behavior, organization...

Life and Times of a Private Equity Associate from 2014-05-10T17:46:59

We sit down with a real life Associate from a real life private equity fund. Removed from his natural habitat and placed in captivity in Chicago, Kevin Fitzgerald shares with us what he did to g...

The Must React System from 2014-05-09T17:30:54

The FunCast spends an hour with "Must React" sales system founder Kraig Kleeman.   Everything that you need to know about persuasion, sales transformation and sales enablement.  Plus, you get to...

The Mid Roll Chat from 2014-05-02T19:48:57

The FunCast spends an hour with Macworld writer and podcast impresario Lex Friedman from The Midroll -- home of 130+ podcasts.   Everything that you need to know about advertising on podcasts in...

The Art (and Science?) of the LOI from 2014-04-24T21:42:40

The FunCast spends another hour with McDermott Will & Emery LLP Partner Ryan Harris breaking down an actual private equity letter of intent.  We go term by term with one of the best transaction ...

Game of Pivots from 2014-04-14T13:49:26

Jim and Devin discuss the vaunted venture "pivot" and its applicability, or lack there-of in the private equity business.

Forty Minutes With The Mad Scotsman from 2014-04-04T16:44:25

Jim trades programming barbs, tips and opinions with the guru of application development, Alan Williamson.

Madness Márta from 2014-03-27T15:58:32

Devin and Jim don't follow college basketball, but they have cooked up their own version of March Madness. 

Parfait Sundae: Lending to Middle Market Companies from 2014-03-17T21:40:03

Bring out your debt!  We've talked a lot about funding options for owners of mid sized companies but we haven't covered debt yet.  Well, here you go.  A detailed conversation with Ian Larkin, fo...

Implementing NetSuite from 2014-03-10T15:52:28

Interview with Dirk Shimpach, President of goVirtualOffice -- a "NetSuite Solution provider and cloud technology advisor that helps companies find the Cloud CRM, Cloud ERP and Cloud Accounting s...

A Parade of Terribles: Founder Legal Traps to Avoid from 2014-03-03T14:04:10

The FunCast spends an hour with McDermott Will & Emery LLP Partner Ryan Harris talking about the legal traps founders fall into when setting up their companies and when they sell them. What's th...

Whaaaaaazup Microsoft from 2014-02-27T16:05:55

Microsoft isn't going away soon as an enterprise server and platform vendor.  So there's little risk in building your server platform on Microsoft in the middle market.   It's important to build...

WSJ's 2014 CIO Conference Review from 2014-02-20T17:36:15

What are the big boys thinking about tech?  What are they worried about?  Should you even care?  We dive into the big ideas coming out of the recent CIO conference sponsored by the Wall Street J...

Private Equity's Got Talent! from 2014-02-10T13:33

Do you want to know how private equity firms evaluate and develop talent in their portfolio companies?  Join the PEFunCast team and Brad Simmons from Applied Executive Insights to find out what ...

Heuristics in Private Equity from 2014-01-27T16:33:40

What are the simple mental traps that PE investors fall into when making decisions about pursuing an investment.  Think Daniel Kahneman meets Private Equity.  Investment Banker David Sinyard rec...

Let's get vertical from 2014-01-20T15:36:59

PEFunCast Guest Ryan Milligan discusses investment returns for middle market technology companies and investing in vertical software.  

A Very Merry PeFunCast Xmas from 2013-12-24T15:34:18

It's our Christmas Spectacular!  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you out there in the podcast ether! 

Curogen's Microsoft Dynamics AX Interview from 2013-12-13T14:13:16

Jim talks with Jesper Kehlet about Microsoft's Dynamics AX ERP software.   We cover the main features and some tips and suggestions for a successful implementation.

It's a Private Equity Thanksgiving Charlie Brown. from 2013-11-27T18:41:57

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our listeners!

We got your due diligence right here! from 2013-11-19T13:48:45

Jim and Devin discuss the due diligence process for private equity acquisitions.

Lessons learned for the Middle Market from the healthcare.gov launch from 2013-10-28T12:34:10

Devin and Jim talk about the problems with the Healthcare.gov launch and the implication for middle market companies.

CTO vs VP of Engineering from 2013-10-10T13:31:58

Jim and Devin discuss the differences between the roles of Chief Technology Officer and Vice-President of Engineering for middle market companies -- with a small detour into Agile development an...

Big in Japan (Data) from 2013-09-27T14:46:54

Jim and Devin discuss the industry's latest buzzword trend "big data", and whether any middle market company really has a big data problem.

Punch it, Chewie from 2013-09-10T17:29:59

The inaugural episode of the Private Equity FunCast.   Devin and Jim talk about our plans for the show, and the three types of IT projects: Costs, Revenue or Risk Management.