Private Equity FunCast
Episodes
10 Lessons From 10 Years Running Our Own Private Equity Firm
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Do operating teams matter? Why is sourcing broken? Are add-ons a strategy or a crutch? What firms have actually "stayed small?" In this episode, Devin...
The Private Equity Glossary - 50(ish) Terms You Should Know
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
LPs. GPs. Carry. Waterfalls. Pari passu. The unlock. Quantum. De-Risk. Niko originally thought one of these was a French dish. Liz wants to ban anothe...
The Ghost of Software Future
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In February of this year, an obscure research report triggered a $1 trillion wipeout in software stocks in seven days. In this episode we decipher wha...
When And How To Sell Your Company
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Selling a company isn't just about price - it's about timing, preparation and process. In this episode, Devin sits down with Ryan Milligan to break do...
What Happens AFTER You Buy A Company?
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone loves the chase but what happens when the ink dries on the deal and you actually own a company? In this episode, Jim sits down with Paul Stan...
How Private Equity ACTUALLY Buys Companies
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It all starts with an acquisition, but most people don't understand how private equity firms actually find and buy companies. Devin sits down with Rya...
How to Survive Raising Your First Private Equity Fund
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Raising your first private equity fund is humbling. Like Lloyd Dobler holding a boombox outside an LP's window, you need to be committed and creative....
How do you start a private equity firm from scratch?
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Devin and Jim rewind to 2014 — and a $12 bottle of Cabernet at the Macaroni Grill — where they hatched the plan to leave their fi...
Private Equity Predictions 2026
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's our annual Predictions episode (and by annual, we mean just the years we remember to record one). Devin and Jim offer their hot takes on fundrais...
Software Holdcos in Australia
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Devin sits down with Funcast listener and Terem Capital CEO Scott Middleton. Terem is a software holdco in Australia, and Scott shares his strategy, i...
AI-First (Whatever That Means): Hiring Product & Engineering Leaders with Sean Lucq from SPMB
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jim sits down with Sean Luke (Partner at SPMB Executive Search) to talk about the art of hiring senior engineering and product leaders—especially no...
Modernizing Legacy Systems: The CNX Journey from Green Screens to Great Screens
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Private Equity Funcast, Jim Milbery sits down with Jennifer Nelson (CEO of Izzy Software), Richard Malone, Rob Swanson (co-foun...
Marionettes, Metrics, and Medieval French Lit: A Conversation on UX and Life with Leah Reich
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Leah dive headfirst into a whirlwind chat that covers everything from the fine distinctions between puppets and marionettes to the equally del...
Exit-Ready Marketing: Shiv Narayanan on Making Marketing Measurable in PE-Backed Companies
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Stansik sits down with Shiv Narayanan—founder of How to SaaS and author of Exit-Ready Marketing—to break down what most private equity firms ...
Continuation Vehicles 101 with Houlihan Lokey
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Devin sits down with Sameer Shamsi, Co-Head of Houlihan Lokey's GP Led Secondaries group. We cover everything you want to know about continuation vehi...
Real-Time Inflation Tracking and Forecasting: A Deep Dive into Open Brand's Proprietary Consumer Price Index
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Private Equity Funcast, host Ryan Milligan speaks with OpenBrand CEO Greg Munves and Chief Economist Ralph McLaughlin about the...
From Hype to Impact: Deploying GenAI in Real Businesses with Chris Taylor of Fractional AI
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Chris Taylor, CEO and Co-Founder of Fractional AI, joins the show to discuss how his company helps traditional businesses adopt and i...
Open Brand's AI-Powered Market Intelligence Revolution
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Greg Munves (CEO) and Kristopher Kubicki (CTO) join Partner Ryan Milligan to discuss the rapid growth a...
Shock and Nawww : DeepSeek and the Future of LLMs
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join host Jim Milbery along with guests Alan Williamson (CTO of HiBid) and Kristopher Kubicki (CTO of OpenBrand) as we react to the recent DeepSeek AI...
Predictions and Strategies for 2025
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Paul kick off the 2025 podcast year. We discuss economic uncertainties, private equity challenges, and evolving market strategies. We explore ...
Enhancing Technical Due Diligence with SEMA Software
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Van Itallie from SEMA Software joins Jim to discuss the value of SEMA's code analysis tools for private equity backed companies, particularly for...
AI-Powered observability with Jeremy Burton
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim welcomes old friend and colleague, Jeremy Burton, CEO of Observe, to the podcast. They discuss the importance of observability in modern software ...
From Startup to Search Fund: Navigating Entrepreneurship with Phillip Weinstein
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim welcomes Phillip Weinstein, founder of Atropates Capital who discusses his background, entrepreneurial journey, and the concept of starting a sear...
Product-Market Fit with Rob Snyder
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join Paul from the ParkerGale Ops team as he unpacks the concept of "product-market fit" with special guest, Rob Snyder – multiple-time startup foun...
ARR Lending with PNC
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Devin spends an hour with Ankur Gupta, PNC's Global Head of Technology Finance, to discuss the current state of software company lending. We cover whe...
Exit Readiness as a PE-Backed CFO
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
ParkerGale Principal Cass Ziebel sits down with CFO Jon Danielson to discuss the priorities of a PE-backed CFO and what he's learned from a recent sal...
Understanding the Agile/Agility Ecosystem
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview, Jim and Yuval Yeret discuss the implementation and challenges of agile methodologies within the private equity space. Yuval has ext...
How to Avoid Product Pessimism + Build a Better Sales Pitch (With Special Guest April Dunford)
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Product positioning expert April Dunford joins Operating Partner Paul Stansik to talk about the curse of product pessimism (and how to fix it), why mo...
Big Band Software
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Milligan dives deeper into our investment in Big Band Software, joined by Big Band founders Kevin McArdle (CEO), Chris Reedy (Head of Acquisition...
Getting Real About Value Creation in PE
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Value Creation" - It's one of the most over-used terms in private equity today. What does value creation mean? What's wrong with how investors talk a...
The View From Europe with Flex Capital
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome back our friends Christoph and Peter from FLEX Capital in Berlin, Germany. Our conversation covers everything you would expect . . . how is...
Mastering Business Storytelling: Strategies for Effective Communication in Private Equity
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim welcomes the CEO of Master Storytelling and former host of Planet Money, the always-entertaining Adam Davidson. We explore the importance of craft...
Revolutionizing Investment Strategies: Harnessing Low-Code/No-Code with Jon Kragh
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks Low-Code/No-Code with Jon Kragh, founder of Proactive Logic Consulting. Jon and his team provide fractional CTO, cloud architecture, tech ...
The Incredible i Episode
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with IBM Champion and the Incredible i Show host, Peg Tuttle. IBM's Power Systems platform running the IBM i operating system powers some...
AI for Investment: A Platform Disruption
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Stanford's Dr. Mohammad Rasouli about AI's pending disruption in Private Equity. He is an ex-McKinsey consultant from the Bay Area an...
10 Lurking Problems for Sellers with Bill Snow
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Snow, a noted authority on mergers and acquisitions, is back with the second part of our discussion on his new book, Mergers and Acquisitions fo...
It's Restructuring Time!
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Devin is joined by Tuck Hardie, a Managing Director in Houlihan Lokey's Financial Restructuring Group. After operating through the bankruptcy at Mar...
Mergers and Acquisitions with Bill Snow
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
It's the 10 Year Anniversary of the PE Funcast
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
Generative AI: Implications for PE Investors
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week we sat down with Clark O'Niell and Jay Barlett from BCG to discuss their most recent research report on Generative AI and its implications f...
PE Partner and the CEO
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
What is the role of an Operating Partner at a private equity fund?
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We've been hearing more questions and interest in operating partner roles than ever before. In our latest episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Opera...
AlixPartners 8th Annual PE Leadership Survey
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ted Bililies, Managing Director and Head of Global Transformation Leadership Practice at AlixPartners joins Devin again to review the findings of the ...
What's a Software Company Worth?
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Wort...
More Working with Private Equity from the Portfolio CXO Perspective
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The grand finale of our two-part conversation with Kelley Powell, a long-time ParkerGale collaborator, and ex-portfolio executive. Kelley talks abou...
Working with Private Equity from the Portfolio CXO Perspective
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Part One of a two-part conversation with Kelley Powell, a long-time ParkerGale collaborator and ex-portfolio executive. Kelley talks about the ins a...
Technical Due Diligence with Code & Co
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim spends an hour talking about technical due diligence with Dan Bender, and Lukas Ingelheim from Code & Co. Dan and Lukas have over 250 engagement...
Think Like a CTO with Alan Williamson
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with an old friend and comrade, Alan Williamson, about his new book - Think Like a CTO. Alan shares hard-won lessons on how to thrive in t...
M&A Rollups with Matt Lynch
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks Mergers and Acquisitions Roll-up strategies with Matt Lynch, Managing Director at District Capital Partners. We discuss the various types...
Demystifying Executive Coaching
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy is joined by Katrina Calihan, Executive Coach and Co-Founder of Wind + Sail Leadership Partners, to discuss and demystify executive coaching. Ji...
How PE firms use the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework to drive a high-growth product strategy
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Digging In Episode
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Paul Stansik about his experiences digging in on the sales and marketing function within our portfolio.
Defining Your Ideal Customer Profile
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Operating Partners Cici Zheng and Paul Stansik discuss the ICP - Ideal Customer Profile. As inves...
Value Creation through Human Capital with David Cohen, Partner at Kelso and Company
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ove...
What is Human Capital Due Diligence? A lot more than you think.
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
DevOps with Dave Mangot
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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-kn...
They Ask, You Answer with Marcus Sheridan
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
No prospect is going to buy enterprise software on impulse. Prospects don't need advertising, they need help, help understanding that they have a pr...
Lessons Learned from Integrating Companies - and why you need an Integration Management Office (IMO)
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your company acquired another company - congrats! But what happens next? In this episode, Operating Partners Cici and Jimmy break down the Integration...
The Increasingly Important Role Talent is Playing in Private Equity
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Mastering the Basics of B2B Marketing (w/ Special Guest Elias Rubel)
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
March Madness 2022 -- Final Four
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
March Madness 2022 - Sweet Sixteen
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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, a...
The Prospecting Debate
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ba...
Cybersecurity Insurance and Litigation with Peter Halprin
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 wi...
Nailing Your Product Positioning with April Dunford
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Cici Zheng talks with April Dunford, a positioning consultant, speaker, and author on how she helps growth stage companies with posit...
Everything you wanted to know about data lists -- but were afraid to ask
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 bette...
Community Building In Our Portfolio
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim, Cici and Jimmy discuss community building within our portfolio. We cover everything from organizing small teams across our companies to ParkerGal...
Annual 2022 Predictions Show
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's our annual predictions show for 2022 with your original hosts, Devin and Jim. With the glut of other pontificators doing their usual prognostica...
We're Hiring a Platform Team!
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Annual Holiday Episode on the Funcast
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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), ...
The Great Resignation with Tim Schumm, CEO of Lucas James Talent Partners
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 pers...
We're Hiring! Associate Position Overview
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're hiring! ParkerGale VPs Ben and Nori join Jimmy to discuss the Investment Associate role at ParkerGale. They discuss Associate responsibilities, ...
A Transformation Story
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy is joined by Eric Green, co-founder of WPD Management, a Chicago-based real-estate and property management company, to discuss the recent transf...
Purpose and Culture in a Post-COVID World with Amanda Lannert
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy is joined by Amanda Lannert, much lauded CEO of Chicago-based Jellyvision, to discuss how Jellyvision is transforming their culture as we emerge...
Building a Better Sales Team
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
ParkerGale Operating Principal Paul Stansik is joined by Zorian Rotenberg, former head of Sales, CRO, and now a PE growth advisor. Zorian and Paul sha...
What We've Learned about People Ops and Culture
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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. T...
Canadian entrepreneurship and M&A, a discussion with Pierre Chamberland
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Milligan discusses the state of the Canadian M&A market with Pierre Chamberland, founder of NetGovern. Pierre describes his roughly 20-year journ...
Limited Partner Questions You Must Know
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Inspired by their friend Dave Kellogg, Devin & Jim discuss the questions Limited Partners (and prospective Limited Partners) ask that you should alway...
Commercial Diligence with Cici Zheng
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Devin and Cici sit down to discuss how we do commercial due diligence at ParkerGale. You know, all the market sizing, customer calls, surveys, competi...
Dean's Hot Takes
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
How BluWave Helps PE Shrink the World
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Devin sits down with BluWave founder Sean Mooney to discuss how his firm helps PE funds run diligence better and post-closing operations faster. BluWa...
Software Buyout Lingo Explained
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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" updat...
Selling a Portfolio Company
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
What Makes a Good Board Member with Jason Heltzer
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Another conversation with Jason Heltzer, Managing Partner at Origin Ventures and a Chicago Booth professor in the second of a three-part series on Boa...
Talking Shop with Kelly Cornelis from LaSalle Capital
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Partner Kristine Heinze talks with Kelly Cornelis, Partner and COO of LaSalle Capital, a long time friend of ParkerGale. Kelly talks about her journe...
Software Buyouts in Germany
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Devin sits down with Christoph Jost and Peter Waleczek, the founders of Berlin-based software buyout fund Flex Capital. Christoph and Peter started as...
Why NPS is one of the most important metrics we track as a PE firm
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 Princi...
The Case for 1st Time CEOs
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Board Perspective of People Operations
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
CEO Interview - Todd Dauchy from SMA Technologies
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Partner Kristina Heinze talks with Lisa Hudson -- Director of Global Events for WomenHack. Its mission is to promote gender equality in tech and hel...
What Makes a Good Board Meeting Deck?
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Leadership During Periods of Disruption
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy is joined by Ted Bililies, Managing Partner at AlixPartners, to share the results of the Sixth Annual Private Equity Leadership Survey, which fo...
Training and Enabling Effective Sales Teams with ClozeLoop
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
Survey Results for March Madness 2021 Best Business Books Brackets
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
March Madness 2021 Best Business Books Bracket -- Part I
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 li...
How we think about Hiring
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
Friends of the Firm Series: Avante Capital with Ivelisse Simon
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Guest host partner Kristina Heinze talks with Ivelisse Simon, Managing Partner of Avante Capital Partners - a women and minority-owned private credit ...
Career Advice from Chicago Booth Professor Chris McGowan - Part 2
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Principals Cass and Kara finish their interview with Professor Chris McGowan, from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. As an investor, ...
Career Advice from Chicago Booth Professor Chris McGowan - Part 1
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Principals Cass and Kara interview Professor Chris McGowan, from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. As an investor, advisor and teacher...