Rob Parker
speaker
1,301 appearances
75 recordings
5 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard 29 Aug
Rob Parker’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 74 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 42.
Appearances
And it's sometimes hard to define other than just you kind of know it when you see it. I think there's a big part of that still in our business today.
but no two weeks look the same. I mean, they're all different. And I mean, and we are, as one of the things I think has been an advantage for us is that there are two of us. We're two senior people in our organization and we're both all in on the deals we work on together. And that makes a big difference. No two weeks are the same. That last month is intense.
You're juggling multiple groups through due diligence. You're juggling multiple groups in a purchase agreement legal negotiation, multiple groups in an economic price negotiation, and you've got to manage it all in a way that makes... each one feel like there's competition. They could win, but they could lose too. So they got to feel like, okay, I've got a chance. I feel good.
They're treating me fairly. I think they're giving me good information, but they're not letting me think it's mine. I still have to go compete and win. And at the end of the day, I think in that final month,
When Eric and I can say it was a successful outcome is when our client's happy and we got them the best price that was available in the market with the partner they wanted to be with and everyone in the process, all the buyers, the one that won and all the ones that didn't win,
felt like they were treated fairly and that we were honest with them and we were fair with them, that's when he and I have done our job. And that second part is, it's as important as the first part.
Our business is very much a reputation business and treating people the right way and being fair with people and giving people a fair chance and being honest with them, it's an important part of the process. And I think it's an important part of why people will stay in processes that he and I are leading.
Yeah, Tommy, there's so much money in the world that wants to invest in the middle market. Private companies in the middle market in the United States have been such a great place to invest and will continue to be. There's a lot of money that wants to do deals here. And Yeah, 2023 was lighter in terms of volume. You know, 21 and 22 were very hot years. Interest rates had cycled up so much.
We were probably due for a little bit of a breather. 2024 is ramping back up. I think that there's going to be a need to begin returning some capital to all these institutions that invested in these private equity funds. So they can go raise the next fund and keep investing in this space. So it's the long-term dynamics in our sector are so good.
And there may be a year or two or a quarter or two here and there that are a little bit lighter, but there's always activity. There's always money for a good deal. And so what Eric and I focus our time on is finding good deals because there's always a market for those.
Yeah, I mean, there is no hard and fast rule. I mean, we like to work with great companies and work with great people. And there isn't a hard and fast, a sort of a bright line where we won't go below or go above it. For us, it's about finding winners in their space and being their advisor. And if we do our job right, we can be their advisor multiple times over and over.
We'll sell it the first time. Then we'll sell it the second time and maybe take them public the third time. So we don't really draw hard and fast rules on size. We want to meet winning companies. And if someone wants to reach out to you? rob.perker at psc.com. Okay, perfect.
Yeah, that's a good question. I'm an avid reader. There's a lot of great books out there. When I went to business school, I was inspired to go and then pursue a Wall Street career because of a book I'd read called Barbarians at the Gate. A little dated now, it's the story of the very famous story of the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, which took place in the late 80s.
They actually made a movie about it, too, with the same name, Barbarians at the Gate. That book, it's interesting. It's a page-turner, very well written, and it really talks about Wall Street and that process. Now, it's in the 80s, which in some ways was the heyday of Wall Street. But so much of what happened there still applies today.
Strategic, tactical, thinking through holding firm on a price because you have conviction that that's the right price. Or other people trying to find creative tax structures to pay a little bit more. All these kinds of things still happen today. I thought that book inspired me to go to Wall Street. It inspired me to have the career I've had today. So I would recommend that one.
The other book I would say... Probably the best business biography I've read is Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. I thought it was a really good book, a really good story. His memory of the details of building it from way back in the late 60s and 70s and his business lessons that are sprinkled throughout that book, I thought were outstanding. I'd recommend that one as well.
Yeah, I guess I would just say, if there's a final message, well, first I want to say thank you again for letting us be here. What an honor to be here with you. So thank you. I think just the final message I would say is the private equity industry, it's still misunderstood.
Even going back to when Mitt Romney ran for president and how he was portrayed and vilified a little bit, the sector is still not very well understood by people. And I guess the message I would leave with you and your listeners is that isn't true. I mean, it's a group of very smart people. talented.
And Eric and I were just with a former client of ours and he said, you know, one thing about your industry, people work really hard. He said, I really haven't. They're basically good people too. These are genuinely good people who want to build businesses, make companies better. And I think that's true. No industry is without its jerks.
There are a few, but there are most people want to create value in these companies and doing it by investing in people, investing in technology and making the business more valuable. And it can be a very fun journey and it can be a very lucrative journey. And I would, any of your listeners that are thinking about it, I would encourage them not to discount it.
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