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Private Equity FunCast

ParkerGale Capital

Your favorite GP's favorite podcast. Occasionally insightful, always entertaining. Deep dives into how private equity works, what happens after the deal closes, how money gets raised, and how companies get bought and sold. And everything in between with healthy doses of pop culture and humor. Straight from the team at ParkerGale Capital.

For educational and entertainment purposes only. Not investment advice. Additional disclosures at www.parkergale.com.

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39 episodes
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English

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Monday · 39 min
Parker Gals | Trust Over Transactions: The Heart of Private Equity (w/ Nori Welles-Gertz, ParkerGale)
What does it really take to build trust in private equity over a five-to-seven-year hold? Cass sits down with her colleague Nori Welles-Gertz, a principal at Parker Gale, to find out. They talk about why PE is more about relationships and reputation than transactions, and how she moved from consulting into operationally focused lower middle market investing. They also discuss how her college crew experience prepared her for a fast-paced career, what she's learning from AI experimentation and a few personal favorites: "Arrested Development," gluten-free pancakes, and perfect weekends built around lots of outdoor activities.
October 14 · 38 min
The Deal Closed. Now What?
Investment diligence is all about answering two questions: Do we want to own this business? And what would we do with it if we did? But then the deal closes, and all those problems you identified and opportunities you imagined during diligence become yours to tackle. So where do you even start? In this episode, Ryan and Paul compare notes on what actually happens in the first year of owning a business: how they get the ball rolling on value creation, which early initiatives tend to make the biggest difference, and how they team up with their portfolio companies to tackle the inevitable year 1 curve balls. This episode is sponsored by NetSuite Next. Try it free at netsuite.ai/funcast.
October 12 · 41 min
Parker Gals | Building a Med Spa Roll-Up from Scratch (w/ Amanda Blank, Founders Beauty Group)
First, she sketched a med spa roll-up on maternity leave. Then, several law firms said it couldn't be done. Now? She owns five practices. Cass sits down with her old pal from grad school, Amanda Blank, to discuss her path from finance to building Founders Beauty Group, a med spa roll-up where she leads both investing and operations. Amanda explains the MSO structure that makes owning medical practices possible, how she secret-shopped her targets, and why med spas are healthcare, not consumer (as her legal bills prove). Plus, Kodiak pancakes, a mentor with 20 identical business suits, and a karaoke dare.
October 7 · 1 hr
11 Years as a PE-Backed CFO: What Sponsors Actually Want (w/ Jon Apter, Accordion)
He left private equity, took a 75% pay cut, and joined a 12-person startup that was still finding its footing. Now, Jon Apter helps oversee 1,600 employees as CFO of Accordion – a seat he's held for the last 11 years. Jon sits down with Devin to explain what really keeps a CFO in the room with sponsors and boards. Drawing on two PE deals and 12 acquisitions, he shares what it takes to get a company exit-ready from day one, why the CFO's real job is equity value (not the budget), and why AI spend is about to show up in your QoE. Whether you work directly with CFOs, sit on the sponsor side, or are in banking or PE wondering about a move into the CFO seat – this episode will change how you think about the role. For more about Accordion visit accordion.com.
October 6 · 40 min
Parker Gals | From Advising to Investing: Building a Career in PE (w/ Katie Yuan, Hg Capital)
What does it take to move from banking to the buyside, and what do you have to figure out once you're there? Liz sits down with Katie Yuan, a private equity associate at Hg in London. They met in 2022 in JPMorgan's investment banking training in New York. Since then, both have made the move from IB to PE. Katie traces her path from studying economics at Cambridge, to two years in JPMorgan's industrials group, to investing in B2B software at one of Europe's largest tech investors. If you're a student or junior thinking about your next move, Katie shares: How she explored PE while still in banking, and why talking to people made the difference How she moved from industrials to tech without a tech background The best career advice she's received: you're in control of your career, so act like it What to do if you don't know what your goals are yet How she's building confidence in her own judgment, and why having an opinion is part of the job What it's like to sit in on board-level AI strategy conversations as an associate Plus: K-drama recs, a gochujang sausage pasta recipe, Swiftie credentials, and what 10-year-old Katie wanted to be.
September 29 · 1 hr 11 min
Relationships are the Atomic Unit of Deal Flow (w/ Ken Fine, CEO of Affinity)
We built our sourcing model around one goal: know every owner of every software company long before they decide to sell. Ken Fine, Affinity's CEO, joins us to explain why relationships and not process are the keys to deal flow, and how AI can make that scalable (and even more human). We talk about the old way and new of sourcing, how AI turns messy inboxes into usable intelligence, and why the real alpha in private equity is more about who you know than what you know. Ken spent his earlier career building and scaling venture-backed software companies before taking the helm at Affinity, the relationship intelligence platform used by over 3,000 venture and private equity firms, including ParkerGale. You can learn more about Affinity here.
September 28 · 49 min
Parker Gals | How a College Point Guard Built a PE Career (w/ Brogan Magnarelli, Riverspan Partners)
Cass sits down with Brogan Magnarelli, Principal at Riverspan, to talk about her untraditional path into private equity — from point guard at Harvard to account manager at Boingo Wireless, to GE Healthcare sales leadership and finally PE business development. Brogan shares why gathering skills at every step matters more than following a linear path, how her basketball mindset shaped her career, and why she tells anyone who'll listen: if you're the smartest person in the room, find another room. They also get into the "silver tsunami" of aging founder-owned businesses, what it's really like being a working mother in private equity, and why Brogan's 10-year-old self wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.
September 23 · 1 hr 9 min
Diminishing Returns to Scale in Private Equity (w/ Andrew Akers, PitchBook)
Devin's mom's only instruction to her financial advisor was "the number should never go down." Downside protection is often the most attractive part of investing in a mega buyout fund, but the latest data from PitchBook calls that into question. PitchBook's Andrew Akers goes deep on why bigger private equity funds don't always outperform smaller ones, why "manager selection skill" might be a myth, and why the biggest funds pay more, lever up more, and don't consistently improve the companies they own. Andrew is Associate Director of Quantitative Research at PitchBook, where he recently built a model that predicts which companies private equity takes private next. Before that he was an allocator to private equity so he brings a unique perspective to the conversation. "Diminishing Returns to Scale" report: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q3-2026-diminishing-returns-to-scale Check out all of PitchBook's research at pitchbook.com.
September 20 · 48 min
Parker Gals | Why Private Equity is for Everyone (w/ Jessica Patton, 5th Century Partners)
What does it look like to "plant seeds" so aggressively that serendipity starts looking like a strategy? This week on Parker Gals, Cass sits down with Jessica Patton to trace her path from Detroit to Howard University to landing a rare straight-out-of-college private equity role in New York. Jessica shares how she eventually landed in an impact-oriented role at Andreessen Horowitz, and what it took to jump off the deep end and start 5th Century Partners — Gmail, an anchor investor, and a one-way ticket to Chicago. Now 15 people strong, 5th Century is a lower middle market PE firm investing in healthcare and business services. Plus: "Sex and the City" as the ultimate palate cleanser, making spaghetti and meatballs from scratch, and a trio of book recommendations that speak to being a woman in private equity.
September 16 · 57 min
Building Your 2027 AI Budget (w/ Justin D'Onofrio, Accordion)
Corporate AI spend in 2026 looked like a teenager loose at the mall with their parents' credit card. No policy, no budget, no discipline about what was purchased and why. That will change in the 2027 budget season, just kicking off. Devin goes deep with Accordion's Justin D'Onofrio using an 8-step framework to get it right. They cover why 91% of PE-backed CFOs can't size their AI spend, and why 83% of portfolio companies have AI pilots running with almost none tied to measurable value. That won't fly anymore. Justin is a Managing Director on Accordion's Performance Management team and spends his days at the intersection of finance, technology, and FP&A. He's deep in conversation with PE-backed CFOs every day about this big cost looming over 2027 budgets so he's the perfect guest to help you out. https://www.accordion.com/how-to-build-ai-budget-2027/
September 14 · 49 min
Parker Gals | Everything's 'Figure-Out-Able': Going All In (w/ Hannah Song, Promus Equity Partners)
What does it look like to go "all in" at every stage of your career, even when you're not on the traditional track? This week on Parker Gals, Liz and Cass sit down with Hannah Song, a former senior associate at Promus Equity Partners who's heading to UChicago Booth this fall. Hannah shares her non-traditional journey from KPMG audit to investment banking at Mesirow to private equity — and opens up about the difficult decision of choosing between a surprise promotion and business school. Plus, why Hannah chose culture over prestige when picking firms, her obsession with Ratatouille (the movie AND the dish), and why she believes that everything's "figure-out-able."
September 9 · 44 min
Understanding Management Equity: What PE CEOs Should Know
Paul and Ryan break down what PE-backed executives should know about their management equity: how the economics work, what's worth negotiating, and how you can use it to start things off the right way with your PE sponsor. This episode is sponsored by NetSuite Next. Try it free at netsuite.ai/funcast.
September 2 · 1 hr 7 min
What's Wrong in Private Equity (w/ Lee McCabe)
What if the future of private equity looks exactly like its past? The days of cheap debt and multiple expansion are over, so the only way to win going forward is to operate your way out. Buy well, execute, and exit well. In this episode, Devin and Paul sit down with Lee McCabe — recovering operating partner, Facebook and Alibaba alum, and Founder of Claymore Partners — to unpack what the new playbook for PE actually looks like. Paul and Lee share stories about Operating Partner roles inside private equity funds, how to bond with management teams so you can get stuff done, and how to share bad news with the deal team when they don't want to hear it. We detail the operating plays that continue to work post-close and why, in the end, there are no shortcuts, only execution. Lee calls it common sense. You can connect with Lee at https://www.claymorepartners.com/ and follow his prolific LinkedIn account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leemccabe/ This episode is sponsored by NetSuite Next. Try it free at netsuite.ai/funcast.
August 31 · 47 min
Parker Gals | The PE Career Path Nobody Plans For (w/ Angela McCoy, May River)
Cass sits down with Angela McCoy, Managing Director at May River, a private equity firm investing in lower middle market industrial businesses. Angela shares her journey from leveraged finance at Bank of America through the 2008 financial crisis, to a family office, and ultimately to May River, where she started remotely during the pandemic while pregnant. They dig into why Angela believes sector-focused strategies are winning in today's PE landscape, how May River approaches portfolio management, and why the "private equity = cost cutters" stereotype couldn't be further from her reality. She also opens up about the power of peer networks, building a "personal board of advisors," and why 10-year-old Angela wanted to be a marine biologist.
August 26 · 1 hr 15 min
Can You Still Trust Tech Due Diligence? (w/ Jason Gill & Kirby Montgomery, Code & Co.)
What if the thing founders are proudest of in diligence — "AI wrote most of our code" — is actually the reason investors should worry? Jim sits down with Jason Gill and Kirby Montgomery of Code & Co. to talk about what happens when vibe coding meets private equity due diligence, why every diligence summary suddenly looks identical, and why the old scars (custom integrations, undocumented paths, the stuff nobody wanted to deal with) just became the most valuable thing a company owns. We break down the one question that separates real engineering from AI smoke and mirrors and lay out their approach to Quality of AI (QoAI). To learn more about Code & Co., check out their website (https://www.codeandco.com/) or visit them on LinkedIn (codeandcogroup.
August 24 · 40 min
Parker Gals | Private Equity Isn't Just for "PE Guys" (w/Caroline Carman, Rallyday Partners)
In this episode of Parker Gals, Liz Xu sits down with her former JPMorgan colleague and friend Caroline Carman, Senior Associate at Rallyday Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado. Caroline shares her journey from leveraged finance analyst to becoming Rallyday's first associate, building the firm's junior team from the ground up. We dive into what drew her to private equity, the transition from heads-down number crunching to providing strategic thought partnership to portco management teams, and the mentor who shaped her career along the way. Plus, why the "PE guy" stereotype isn't accurate, why she will always identify with Monica on "Friends," and the lesson Caroline wishes she'd learned earlier.
August 19 · 57 min
How PE Firms Are Actually Using AI Right Now (w/ Kate Hopkins, OneGuide)
Devin and Cass sit down with Kate Hopkins, founder of OneGuide, to break down the 36 AI value creation plays private equity firms and portfolio companies are running right now. From TAM mapping and list building with AI to revenue leakage detection, workflow automation, and agent ecosystem strategy — this episode covers what's actually working, what's not, and what's coming next. OneGuide's "Top 36 AI Value Creation Plays" report: https://connect.askoneguide.com/hubfs/OneGuide%20-%20AI%20Value%20Creation%20Plays%20-%202026.pdf This episode is sponsored by NetSuite Next. Try it free at netsuite.ai/funcast.
August 17 · 34 min
Parker Gals |The Career Switcher's Guide to Private Equity (w/ Maggie Pugel, Frontenac)
In this episode, host Cass Ziebel sits down with Frontenac VP Maggie Pugel for a candid conversation about breaking into private equity the non-traditional way. Maggie shares how she went from buy-side equity research at Ariel Investments to private equity at Frontenac — without the classic investment banking pedigree — and why she's glad she took the "career switcher" route. They dig into what makes PE uniquely demanding and rewarding, how AI is changing the deal process, the value of great mentorship, and the mindset shift that comes with learning to let go of what you can't control. Plus: favorite books, cheesy eggs, karaoke songs, and how hearing a professional opera singer changes your toddler's perception of your own voice.
August 12 · 1 hr 9 min
Another False Start: PitchBook's H1 2026 Private Equity Data (w/ Steven Buibish)
The private equity market in 2026 was supposed to rip. So why has it fallen flat? Devin sits down with Steven Buibish, CFA, Director of US Private Equity Research at PitchBook, to break down the first half 2026 data. Deal value in Q2 dropped 38% from Q1. Software dealmaking froze. Mega deals are doing all the heavy lifting, distorting every headline number, and yet prices haven't budged. We're sitting at 2021 valuation peaks while volume collapses and leverage dries up. They dig into what's actually happening beneath the surface: the HALO rotation into hard assets and data centers, the add-on economy holding up the middle market, why 60% of software deals in market aren't closing, the zombie fund overhang, DPI falling off a cliff post-2018, and why first-time fund counts have cratered. Plus: why 2026 could still be a great vintage if you're doing the right kind of deals — and Stephen's prediction on where the next wave of growth in PE is coming from. "Another False Start" report: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2026-us-pe-breakdown Check out all of PitchBook's research at pitchbook.com.
August 10 · 48 min
Introducing "Parker Gals": Meet Cass & Liz
Welcome to Parker Gals — the podcast by and for women in private equity. Hosts Cass Ziebel and Liz Xu kick off the very first episode from ParkerGale HQ in Chicago, introducing themselves and the show. In this debut episode, you'll hear how Cass stumbled into PE after a 2.5 hour "networking lunch" that turned into an accidental interview, and how Liz almost talked herself out of the job before Cass convinced her she was more than ready. Other agenda items include butter-to-egg ratios, Gilmore Girls VHS tapes, a pair of auction-won sunglasses, and two very different answers to "what would you do if not private equity?" Plus, a peek at the show's recurring segments: Indication of Interests (rapid-fire personal questions), Shop Talk (career stories), and Closing Call (fun finishers). If you know a woman in PE who should be on the show, reach out. We're just getting started. Theme music by Jon O'Hara.

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