Private Equity Funcast

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 and portfolio companies get wrong about marketing. They explore how to make marketing a measurable, scalable lever for value creation, from diligence to exit. Shiv shares the frameworks he's used across countless engagements to tie marketing strategy, budget, and team structure to real business outcomes. If you're tired of vague brand goals and unaccountable spend—or you're just trying to figure out what “good marketing” looks like in a PE context—this episode gives you the language, metrics, and mindset to make marketing work like a growth function.

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 vehicles, but were afraid to ask (or too dumb to ask?). What is the difference between LP-led and GP-led? How should GPs talk to their LPs about it? What assets are best suited for CVs? How does company management get treated in a CV? Plus so much more you didn't even pay for.

In this episode of the Private Equity Funcast, host Ryan Milligan speaks with OpenBrand CEO Greg Munves and Chief Economist Ralph McLaughlin about their innovative approach to tracking inflation through the OpenBrand Consumer Price Index for Durable and Personal Goods (CPI-DPG). The CPI-DPG is updated weekly, providing a third independent data point for measuring inflation. Its accuracy has been validated with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) as low as 1.6% in specific categories. Additionally, OpenBrand offers scenario-based inflation forecasts, enabling companies and investors to tailor predictions to their expectations and market views. Munves and McLaughlin also outline practical use cases: • Manufacturers and retailers optimizing their pricing and promotional strategies. • Investors seeking early insights on market inflation trends to refine financial models. • Policymakers evaluating the effects of economic policies. Video Version

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 implement generative AI (GenAI) to improve operations and product offerings. Fractional AI focuses on transforming workflows with GenAI through practical, production-ready solutions, especially for companies lacking deep AI expertise.

In this episode of the Private Equity Funcast, Greg Munves (CEO) and Kristopher Kubicki (CTO) join Partner Ryan Milligan to discuss the rapid growth and transformation of Open Brand, a company formed through the combination of four market intelligence companies. They share insights on leveraging AI for real-time data analytics, scaling through strategic acquisitions, and modernizing technology infrastructure. The conversation explores how Open Brand is revolutionizing market intelligence, competitive analysis, and business decision-making across industries.

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 announcement, its implications for the AI industry, private equity, and technology companies.  We discuss the shock and awe response from the VC and tech communities, debating whether it signals a true paradigm shift or an overreaction. The conversation underscores how AI, particularly LLMs, is reshaping software development, cybersecurity, and investment strategies. While DeepSeek has fueled fears and recalibrations in the market, the real challenge is keeping up with the constant AI evolution—where new models and frameworks emerge at a staggering pace. Companies must remain agile, strategic, and realistic in their AI adoption to truly capitalize on this technological shift.

Jim and Paul kick off the 2025 podcast year. We discuss economic uncertainties, private equity challenges, and evolving market strategies. We explore AI's role in portfolio management, cybersecurity concerns, and operational improvements, emphasizing practical efficiency over drastic changes. The conversation also touches on AI adoption within organizations, avoiding vendor lock-in and training teams to leverage new tools. Wrapping up, we invite listener engagement while reaffirming their commitment to authentic, ad-free content.

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 companies managing technical debt, security, and code quality. They highlight the challenges of due diligence in software acquisitions, especially for older companies with legacy systems, and stress the importance of transparency in identifying security and licensing risks. SEMA's AI-driven tools assess code quality and help firms measure the impact of AI-assisted development, making processes like testing more efficient. 

Jim welcomes old friend and colleague, Jeremy Burton, CEO of Observe, to the podcast. They discuss the importance of observability in modern software development, the evolution of observability, the challenges of distributed applications, and how advancements in data technology and AI are shaping modern software development and troubleshooting.  

Jim welcomes Phillip Weinstein, founder of Atropates Capital who discusses his background, entrepreneurial journey, and the concept of starting a search fund. The conversation covers a range of topics, including Phillip's first entrepreneurial venture at Wake Forest University (a laundry service), through founding his search fund.  The discussion explores how search funds differ from other business models, such as private equity and venture capital. Phillip shares his insights about finding and evaluating deals, the challenges of operational leadership, technical debt in software, and integrating AI tools. 

Join Paul from the ParkerGale Ops team as he unpacks the concept of “product-market fit” with special guest, Rob Snyder – multiple-time startup founder and Fellow at Harvard Innovation Labs. Paul and Rob explore the origins of the PMF concept, what it means, and why it's both an essential and confusing concept for PE-backed tech companies. Learn about the importance of building a shareable case study, the pain cave you inevitably enter while trying to connect with your customers, and how to use the concepts of demand versus supply to shorten your search for product-market fit.  

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 where PNC fits in the lending landscape, what a "good fit" deal looks like, what you should expect during due diligence, what covenants you should expect, and where pricing is across different lenders these days. We also cover how lenders think about Gross Retention vs Net Retention, ARR to loan values, and growth vs. profit.

Jim's longtime colleague and friend, Rick Greenwald, joins the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of the famous Magic Quadrant. The episode provides an in-depth look at the complexities of Gartner's evaluation process and offers practical advice for companies aiming to improve their market positioning and strategy.  Plus, we've known each other since at least 1990, so lots of conversational detours.

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 sale process. In this episode, Jon talks about what surprised him most when he moved from an investor role to an operating role, what it means to "shrink the QofE," and advice to other CFOs as they enter a PE-backed business in the first few months and prepare a business for sale.

In this interview, Jim and Yuval Yeret discuss the implementation and challenges of agile methodologies within the private equity space. Yuval has extensive experience in product development, and he emphasizes the importance of principle-driven agility over rigid adherence to frameworks. While agile practices originated in software development, their application is beneficial across various industries and organizational functions. Companies often struggle with "agile theater," where companies follow agile rules without understanding the process. Effective agile adoption requires cross-functional collaboration, adaptability in strategic planning, and the ability to balance customer flexibility with engineering realities. Yuval shares examples from biotech and healthcare, illustrating how agility can extend to broader business operations. He also discusses the role of OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) as strategic guides rather than rigid metrics. Finally, Yuval underscores the unique position of private equity firms and consultants in driving agile transformations through pragmatic, principle-based solutions.

Product positioning expert April Dunford joins Operating Partner Paul Stansik to talk about the curse of product pessimism (and how to fix it), why most software companies struggle to create a winning sales pitch, and how better product positioning fits into an effective growth plan for an emerging tech company.

Ryan Milligan dives deeper into our investment in Big Band Software, joined by Big Band founders Kevin McArdle (CEO), Chris Reedy (Head of Acquisitions), and Jason Heath (COO). Throughout the discussion, the team covers what companies, founders and executives they target, where they think the opportunity lies, and how they aim to scale this consolidation effort.

"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 about their value creation approach? And how does ParkerGale think about its strategy for value creation? Operating Partners Jim and Paul get real about the PG value creation playbook - and have some fun along the way - in the latest episode of the Funcast. 

We welcome back our friends Christoph and Peter from FLEX Capital in Berlin, Germany. Our conversation covers everything you would expect . . . how is the tech market holding up in Europe, how is deal flow, are deals getting done, are founders selling or holding on, where are valuations today compared to a few years ago, how is the fundraising market, what does competition for deals look like? We also cover the basics, such as what Christoph and Peter look for in a deal, what they will and won't do, and how that has changed over time. Here are their emails if you'd like to connect . . . pw@flex.capital and cj@flex.capital

Jim welcomes the CEO of Master Storytelling and former host of Planet Money, the always-entertaining Adam Davidson. We explore the importance of crafting a compelling and memorable narrative for companies to effectively communicate with various stakeholders, including investors, management teams, and customers. We take a detour to delve into the challenges of generic messaging, the significance of being distinct and memorable, and the role of storytelling in aligning and coordinating actions within a company. 

Jim talks Low-Code/No-Code with Jon Kragh, founder of Proactive Logic Consulting.  Jon and his team provide fractional CTO, cloud architecture, tech modernization, and process automation services.  Jon has a wealth of experience with low-code solutions and he can quote both Kierkegaard and Ray Dalio, so come have a listen.

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 of the most significant applications in the world.  Peg has 20+ years working in the IBM I world, and we talk about everything from common misconceptions to leveraging the latest and greatest open-source solutions on the IBM Power Systems platform.

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 and the New York offices managing AI activation projects for private equity clients. He has worked with top-20 private equity funds and many middle and small-size PEs to use AI technology for automating their fund processes and to use AI for their portfolio companies.

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 for Dummies.  He joins host Jim Milbery to discuss the most common problems that sellers encounter in the deal process.

 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 sides and joined the HL team over 20 years ago. Tuck introduces the restructuring business, how it has changed during the past two decades, lessons from the GCF (and how we are still feeling the effects), and what's happening in today's "higher for longer" environment. He provides helpful tips for investors and companies trying to avoid needing his services.

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, Mergers and Acquisitions for Dummies.   In this episode, we focus the conversation on the most common pitfalls that can derail a deal.

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.

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 for PE investors and their portfolio companies.  GenAI is already becoming a game changer, with use cases emerging across all industries; Use cases range from efficiency improvements to long-term advantages (i.e., transformative use cases). And we promise you that Skynet is not listening in.

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 their connection evolve from the interview, to building the team, to planning for an exit? What does the first year of a PE-backed CEO gig feel like? Devin and our newest portfolio CEO, Dave Lucey, cover it all here in a frank and wide-ranging conversation about Dave's first year at the helm of Biscom. We plan to do follow-ups in the years ahead as Dave and Devin take Biscom from new platform company to eventual exit.

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 most frequently asked questions we frequently hear about the role of Operating Partners. We cover things like why an operating team is needed, the history and evolution of Operating Partners at PE firms, and different Operating Partner models. We also discuss the relationship between Operating Partners and deal teams, how operating teams are structured within a PE firm, and some common paths to becoming an Operating Partner.   This episode is also available in video format on YouTube.

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 Ted discuss where PE and Portfolio Executives agree and differ on what's most important in today's turbulent times. They talk about sprinters vs. marathoners, growers vs. grinders, and peace-time vs. war-time leaders. They also cover how technology adds to the challenges of scaling companies and the crisis of middle management and how to address it.

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 trended over the past 20 years, the challenges that private and public investors will face over the coming year, and inject some of “what we're seeing” inside our portfolio and the markets we play in.

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 the portfolio company perspective.  She's a wealth of knowledge about working with PE AND helping founders prepare for a PE process.

Part One of a 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 the portfolio company perspective.  She's a wealth of knowledge about working with PE AND helping founders prepare for a PE process.

Jim spends an hour talking about technical due diligence with Dan Bender, and Lukas Ingelheim from Code & Co.  Dan and Lukas have over 250 engagements under their collective belts and have literally "seen it all."  We cover a wide range of topics, including Technical Debt versus Architectural Debt, code "smells," and the top ten things a company should have in place ahead of technical due diligence.

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 the fast-paced role of Chief Technology Officer. We discuss the ins and outs of establishing successful technology platforms and teams, leveraging practical software selection and implementation frameworks, conducting bias-free interviews and performance reviews, and earning your place with other senior leaders. 

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 acquisitions and answer the key questions.  What is an M&A roll-up strategy, and why does it matter? How does it work?  How do you get started?

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 since 2019 when they launched L6, the leadership development program that has now become a staple inside ParkerGale and our portfolio businesses. On today's show, they discuss the landscape of executive coaching and why the impact of an executive coach can be so profound by “bringing you into the room” to a coaching engagement. They also give tips for finding the right coach if you are currently on the market. Katrina even gets Jimmy to talk a little about his own experience with his coach.  This episode is especially for the skeptics. For you all, executive coaching may very well be one of the biggest investments in yourself or in the leaders around you that you aren't making. Listen to find out why. 

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 using the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework to identify and serve customers' unmet needs. We cover what the framework is and how it's used at PE backed portfolio companies, both during due diligence and post-close, how the JTBD framework potentially expands the total addressable market (TAM) of an industry we're looking at, and how the framework translates into product strategy and go-to-market execution. 

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

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 companies - who is your ICP? Which ones are your best-fit customers, the ones that your product is truly the best fit for to solve their pain points? How do we avoid trying to be the dreaded "swiss-army knife" and being everything to everybody? In this episode we discuss why defining an ICP is important to us and our 3 step process for building out an ICP. 

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 discipline across the PE industry. They break down the various ways that human capital can impact a portfolio business, including alignment to strategy, leadership effectiveness, talent acquisition, and org design. If there's a word that defines today's episode, it's alignment. It is at the center of how both Kelso and ParkerGale think about the human capital practice. To be successful, leadership need to get dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people organized around a common purpose and strategy. If you can't do that, not much else matters.

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: Defining and Measuring the True Value of Human Capital” and is a genius at understanding how strategic human capital management contributes to the value creation process. They break down Human Capital Due Diligence – what it is, how it's done, and why it's the fastest-growing of all the diligence workstreams.

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 discuss the four keys that define a company's competence in software delivery; deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, and time to recovery.  There's also a heated discussion about whether "the cloud" is cheaper than running your own data center.

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 for solving that problem, and help in working their way through an evaluation and choosing a solution.  Paul Stansik talks with Marcus Sheridan, author of "They Ask, You Answer" about these topics and more.

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 what it is and how they deploy it inside the portfolio to integrate recently acquired businesses into their acquiring entity. They discuss how they stand up the process, the key processes that need to be in place to make sure everything gets done, and how to make sure you don't forget about the humans involved in the process. 

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, the theme is all about the COVID-driven acceleration of trends that is propelling human capital to the forefront of the value creation agenda. They discuss the great resignation, how CEOs are now more fearful for their jobs than ever, and the rising important of talent recruiting, engagement, development, and retention. They close with tips to help leaders and investors better manage in a world that is only become more and more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. 

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 growth. If you've ever wondered how to organize a marketing team, the right way to interview a marketing leader, the foundation you need in place to launch an effective demand generation campaign, or what leaders of companies like Loom, G2, Dropbox, and other unicorns are doing to tune their inbound lead machines, this one is for you. 

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!

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 -- Jim work their way down to a final four.  And play along at home with our survey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FMP6J8V   The final four battle it out for supremacy on next Monday's episode.

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 Partner at ParkerGale, is joined by Cory Bray (MD at ClozeLoop) and Nelson Gilliat (Author of Death of the SDR: And the Birth of Buyer Centric Revenue) to talk about how to get prospecting and growth right. In the course of a rousing hourlong debate, Paul, Cory, and Nelson cover the spectrum of opinions on “how to prospect well”, the evolving role of the BDR/SDR, and where sales and marketing teams should focus to maximize their chances for success.