Private Equity FunCast

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.

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 to know about these issues, including: why private equity leaders should treat attacks as inevitabilities, how cyber insurance can provide breach response support and financial protection against cyber risks, and how companies may be able to find coverage under other policies for cyberattacks, including crime, kidnap and ransom, property, and technology errors and omissions.

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 product messaging and product positioning, how to "fix" positioning problems, and why founders, PE firms, and portfolio companies should even care about positioning in the first place.

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. Pam explains compiled lists, hotlists, the differences between consumer lists and business lists, and SIC codes versus NAICS codes.

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".

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 and focus on resolutions, or rather our anti-resolutions.

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. Listen to hear a brief description of each role and if you are interested (or know someone who is) email your resume to devin [at] parkergale [dot] com and ryan [at] parkergale [com] with "Community" "Origination" or "Research" in the email title. We will send you a detailed job description so you can learn more.

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 this holiday season, so come have a listen.

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, but mid market businesses can feel this even more acutely. They discuss the macro trends that are driving this phenomenon and then share what the most create mid-market companies are doing to win the war for talent.

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 (including, but not limited to, great office snacks). Please share with interested friends or colleagues.

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 through. They discuss Eric's founder's story and how he built the business, the realization that he needed to extract himself from the day-to-day operations, and how over a 18-month period, he deployed the ParkerGale People Ops playbook, empowered his team, and transformed his business. Jim joins in on the fun to frame the dialogue with Jimmy.

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 discuss how COVID impacted Jellyvision's business, how she has embraced the mantra "purpose, and not presence," how they are re-thinking company communication, and what her team is now doing to invest in meaningful relationships.

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 addressing typical growth problems, how sales teams can use simple math to set better pipeline targets, and what sets great CROs apart.

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 next team offsite, what great management training has in common, how to make hiring and performance management more human, and how ParkerGale thinks about fostering cultures that last.

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 equity, followed by a discussion on the state of investing and M&A in Canada and differences with the US market.

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 the questions that responding with "let me get back to you on that" will make you look bad, unprepared, or just plain out of touch.

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 you close the deal. We have two eras here at PG -- the way we did commercial diligence before Cici joined us and the way we do it now. Lots of good stuff to learn before you dive into your next transaction. Learn from the best and take notes. We promise it's going to help.

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 done in the past with other PG-ers, you'll learn about the career choices made early in your 20s and how Dean thought about his different choices in consulting at Bain & Company to his work at ParkerGale. He reflects on what he's learning and where he's headed next. If you are early in your career or know someone looking to get into PE after college, Dean has a lot of great advice.

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 countless service providers so you can find the right resource at the right time with the right skills for the job at hand -- commercial diligence, sales effectiveness, interim executives, and plenty more. Sean has a unique perspective on PE having worked in the industry prior to founding BluWave in 2016.

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 even be a lesson or two to learn in between all the laughing (or is that crying?).

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 does management get involved? These are just a few of the questions that we answer on this latest episode.

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 ideal board members -- and the not-so-ideal board members.

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 her experiences as a founding member of Chicago Women in Private Equity.

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 and they discuss their process of raising their first fund, what they look for in a deal, how they source companies, and what they do with them after the acquisition. They also talk about the similarities and differences between the US and German tech buyout market.

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 Jessica Pfeifer, General Manager and Co-Founder of Wootric, an InMoment Company about Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and why it's the ultimate question to help measure customer loyalty. In this episode, we cover what NPS is, the benchmarks for a good NPS score, and most importantly, why we think it's important from both the portfolio company and private equity firm perspective. We discuss how ParkerGale uses NPS throughout the lifecycle of an investment, from due diligence, during our hold period, and prior to the sale of a company. We also share some of the key takeaways that our portfolio companies have learned when it comes to implementing a program, whether it's learning how to close the loop on the customer feedback or how it can help prioritize decision making across all functional areas.

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 with the findings. Devin and Jordan dive deep into the study, talk about CEO assessment, and offer some tips for people looking for their first CEO job running a PE-backed company.

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, where Dave argues that HR exists to "Help Managers Manage." The two dissect the pithy purpose, discuss common pitfalls People Ops leaders fall into, and share examples when People Ops leaders really shine.

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.

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 diversity in the workplace across 125+ cities around the world. Kristina and Lisa talk about WomenHack's approach and Lisa's wide range of experience working all over the world. So come have a listen and use the promo code "PARKERGALE" to get a 15% discount on upcoming WomenHack Events.

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 Jason's tweetstorm on the elements of a healthy board. In part one, we talk about the board deck itself, in parts two and three we'll discuss board members and the actual board meeting.

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 disruption. They discuss the top priorities for generating value, the increased focus on human capital due diligence, and the evolving role of leadership when managing through disruption.

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. Hilmon and Cory share their views on where most sales training falls short, the importance of uncovering customer pain, and how we work together to assess, train, and enable our portfolio company sales teams.