Private Equity Fast Pitch – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Throughout 2025, I sat down with CEOs, founders, investors, and leaders across the private equity ecosystem. In every conversation, I asked a question that I have asked since the very first episode of Private Equity Fast Pitch:

 

What's the quote, motto, or what drives you?

 

The answers were telling as there were no slogans or catchy buzzwords.

 

What stood out was a shared seriousness about how success is built over time. Intention. Discipline. Mentorship. Compassion. Consistency. A deep respect for people and for the responsibility that comes with leadership.

 

These are not quotes for social media.

They are reference points for leadership.

 

I'm incredibly grateful for these guests time and our impactful conversations. And grateful to be able to bring these voices to the private equity community.

 

The Ninth Annual Quotes and Mottos montage features perspectives from our 2025 guests:

 

Erik Brooks – Founder & Managing Partner, Ethos Capital
Action over analysis. Grit, discipline, and winning the next 30 minutes.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000684256262

 

Jeff Aiello – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Agellus Capital
Execution over perfection. Momentum guided by principles.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000687186161

 

Russ Roenick – Founder & Managing Partner, Transom Capital Group
Decisiveness and self-awareness. Knowing your limits and acting accordingly.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000731004463 

 

Michelle Noon – Founder & Managing Partner, Clearhaven Partners
Growth through discomfort. Progress comes from moving through challenge.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000733152917

 

Andrew Weinberg – Founder, CEO & Co-Chair, Brightstar Capital Partners
Carpe Diem. Presence, gratitude, and intention, rooted in family.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000696604131

 

Paul Raphael – Founder & Partner, Aurea
Quality and mentorship. Trusting people to figure it out.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000717775898

 

Parker Weil – Global Co-Head of Investment Banking, TD Securities
Long-term thinking. Reputation, relationships, and consistency.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000737590933 

 

Lucy Heintz – Partner, Actis
Empathy and perspective. Understanding how others see the world.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000701104377

 

Chris Rozzell – Managing Partner, Cresta Fund Management
Clarity over comfort. Discipline over drama. Truth over ego.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000721947245

 

Tim Meyer – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Angeles Equity Partners
Focus and simplification. Eliminate noise to intensify impact.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000735555551 

 

Neda Vakilian – Partner, Actis
Sharp thinking and grounded execution. Trust and responsibility as leadership.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000713638680

 

Robert Brown – CEO, Lincoln International
Hustle and presence. Showing up and doing the blocking and tackling.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000711726279

 

Kristin Johnson – Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners
Service and humility. Leading by asking, "What can I do to help?"

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000726285319 

 

Sean MacIver – Managing Director, KeyBanc Capital Markets
Adaptability. Knowing when the familiar tool no longer fits.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000728454456 

 

John Diggins – Partner, Platinum Equity
Risk and growth. Understanding that not taking risk can be the biggest risk.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000706853889

 

Matthew Sparks – Managing Director, Northleaf Capital
Proactivity. Skating to where the puck is going, not where it's been.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000723925489

 

Eliot Kerlin – Partner & Managing Partner, Broadwing Capital
Presence and forward thinking. Focused on what comes next.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000741835818 

 

Scott Sperling – Co-CEO, THL
The ripple effect. Small actions compounding into meaningful impact.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000720142324

 

Michael Psaros – Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner, KPS Capital Partners
Time, gratitude, and legacy. Using success in service of something larger.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000739675082 

 

Eliot serves as Managing Partner of Broadwing Capital, which he co-founded after 20 years of operational private equity experience. He is responsible for overall direction of the firm and ensuring Broadwing achieves its investment objectives in a manner consistent with the firm's mission and core values. He originates and leads investment opportunities, partners with management post-acquisition to achieve transformative results, and serves as primary contact at the firm for investors. Eliot has been a private equity investor since 2000, and has significant expertise in mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, performance improvement, and realizations through sales, public offerings and dividend recapitalizations.

Prior to founding Broadwing in 2022, Eliot was a Managing Partner of Insight Equity, a private equity firm with $1.4 billion under management. During his 17 years at Insight, Eliot led numerous investments and exits, working with management teams to create significant value across pre-fund investments, three equity funds and one mezzanine vehicle. He was responsible for all stages of the investment process, collaborating closely with management to identify and implement strategic and tactical improvement opportunities. Eliot served as Director and Chairman of multiple portfolio company boards, acted as Chief Restructuring Officer at a portfolio company during the great recession, and led acquisitions and greenfield expansion efforts throughout the United States and in seven countries.

Before joining Insight, Eliot acted as turnaround manager for Bay State Paper Company. Earlier in his career, Eliot worked for three years at Jupiter Partners, a New York-based private equity fund focused on domestic manufacturing, distribution and services companies. Previously, Eliot worked as an investment banker in Merrill Lynch's Global Communications Group advising public and private companies on corporate mergers, public offerings and bond offerings.

Eliot enjoys investing in the lives of his three sons and daughter and his local community. He co-founded and serves as Chairman of Casa Del Lago, an outreach to the Bachman Lake community in Dallas. In addition, Eliot previously served as a long-time board member of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program and other non-profit boards, Director and Chairman of a school board, English as a Second Language teacher, Assistant Scoutmaster, and coach of multiple soccer teams. Eliot co-founded a national impact angel network that invests in young companies and provides advice to their founders. Active in professional circles as well, Eliot was the Chairman of the DFW Private Equity Forum and Director – Private Equity with the DFW Association for Corporate Growth. Originally from Ft. Worth, Eliot roots for the Aggies, enjoys the outdoors, took up tennis to protect his knees from soccer injuries, and can play tunes on several stringed instruments. He lives in Dallas with his wife and their four children.

Eliot holds an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School, and a B.B.A. in Finance with honors from Texas A&M University.

Disclaimer: The discussion in this podcast is for informational purposes and should not be relied on as investment advice or an offer to sell or a solicitation for an offer to buy any securities. Any opinions expressed are those of the speaker and are subject to change. Any discussion of past performance is provided for informational purposes only, is not track record information and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance. Any information regarding the performance of prior companies was discussed in order to illustrate the experience of the partners of the firm and does not reflect the private equity fund management experience of the partners. It should not be assumed that investments made by Cresta will be comparable in quality or performance to the prior companies.

 

About Chris Rozzell: Chris Rozzell brings 23 years of investing and operating experience across the infrastructure sector. He co-founded Cresta in 2016 and leads the firm's transaction sourcing, execution, portfolio management, and overall operations.

Mr. Rozzell currently serves on the boards of LF Bioenergy, Lapis Carbon Solutions, and Braya Renewable Fuels. Before Cresta, he was Chief Executive Officer of Wildcat Midstream Holdings, a middle market energy midstream investment platform. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Regency Energy Partners, where he directed commercial project development, acquisitions, gas supply, marketing, scheduling, and gas control.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Rozzell held leadership roles in strategic planning, development, and enterprise risk at TXU Corp., and began his career in the Investment Banking Division of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

We are excited to present a montage of quotes and mottos from prior guests that have inspired them throughout the years in both their careers and personal lives. 

As we begin a new year, we hope this special episode sets the stage and provides you with a new mind set for conquering the challenges & opportunities that lie ahead.

Steve is a Founding Partner and the Managing Partner of BVP. Steve combines financial expertise with a disruptive approach to value-add strategies in private equity. Previously, Steve was a Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of a lower-middle market private equity fund focused on the consumer sectors.

Steve was previously a corporate lawyer at Kirkland and Ellis, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Steve received his BA in East Asian Studies with honors from Harvard College in 1992 and his JD from Harvard Law School in 1995. He was the New York State High School Chess Champion in 1988.

Steve is married to his wife, Gretchen, and has three boys, Andrew, Joshua and Matthew.  In addition to spending time with his family, Steve is passionate about traveling, classic rock music, Disney and the Buffalo Bills.

Meahgan is well known in the Middle Market M&A community for her knowledge of and views on investing trends, creative and effective deal sourcing techniques, macro-market perspectives and best-practices in which private equity firms can bridge the gap between "Main St. and Wall St."

Meahgan is the Chairwoman of the Association of Corporate Growth's "Women of Leadership" committee, was named one of McGuire Woods' "Women to Know in Private Equity" and has been a featured speaker at multiple professional association conferences as well as "Women in Business" focused events.

Meahgan is a Director of Business Development for Palladium Equity Partners where her primary focus is on new investment generation and intermediary, founder, executive and corporate relationship management across North America and Europe. Furthermore, Meahgan assists portfolio companies with add-on acquisition strategy development and the sourcing of tuck-in opportunities.

She received her Master's in Business Administration from Duke, The Fuqua School of Business and her B.B.A. from William and Mary's Mason School of Business.

Mr. Parisi helps family and independent businesses sell or recapitalize their companies' capital structure, realize a liquidity event, transfer ownership to next generation, or combine with a larger partner to accelerate growth.

Prior to joining Carl Marks Advisors, Mr. Parisi was a Managing Partner of FPG Advisory where he focused on all aspects of sourcing and executing deals, including structuring, due diligence, financing, and post-transaction integration throughout North America and internationally.

Previously, he was a senior investment banker at Jefferies & Company where he was instrumental in building the General Industries Group into one of the firm's largest and most profitable units. He maintained a broad industry specialization, working closely with companies in the basic materials, chemicals and capital goods sectors.

Earlier, Mr. Parisi was a Vice President with KeyBanc Capital Markets, focusing on middle-market consumer companies, including Food & Beverage and Retail. Before his investment banking career, Mr. Parisi worked in the private equity division of The Blackstone Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms. He began his career with Ernst & Young.

Mr. Parisi earned a BS in Accounting from the University of Scranton and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a FINRA Registered Representative and a Certified Public Accountant.

Our host Jeff Henningsen, president of Lockton companies in Houston and the Podfather of private equity, is speaking on the female committee panel for Wave (Women's Association of Venture & Equity   Wave allows the panelists to discuss three main topics: One - how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has changed in corporate America and what the future looks like for female executives, Two - advice on beginning your career: including what can be done to revamp your application in the job market and the underlying difference between female and male job applicants, and Three - feeling the fear, but doing it anyway.   We hope you enjoy this extraordinary episode.

Dominique Mielle is a Wall Street veteran with a comprehensive knowledge of corporate finance, capital markets, and the bankruptcy process.  She was a partner and senior portfolio manager at Canyon Capital, a $25 billion hedge fund, where she worked from 1998 to 2018. In 2017, she was named one of the "50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds" by the Hedge Fund Journal and E&Y. After retiring in 2018 she started writing. Her book, Damsel in Distressed: My life in the golden age of hedge funds, was released on September 7, 2021. She is a Forbes contributor on hedge funds, distressed investing and women in finance.

One of the only senior women in the hedge fund business, she played key roles in complicated bankruptcies, serving as a leading creditors' committee member for Puerto Rico, and as a restructuring committee member for U.S. airlines in the wake of the September 11 attacks. She was a director of the board and the audit committee chair for PG&E during its fifteen-month bankruptcy process and emergence, and now serves on several corporate boards: Digicel Group, ReadyCap, Tiptree, Osiris Acquisition and Studio City. 

Kevin McAllister has extensive private equity experience, including opportunity origination, execution, negotiation, and portfolio company support. Prior to founding Access in 2013, Kevin was at Sterling Partners where he was a member of its investment committee and led the Business Services practice (~$2 billion of AUM).    While at Sterling Partners, Kevin led the sourcing, underwriting, and management of Livingston International, FPG and MOSAID Technologies.     Prior to joining Sterling in 2008, Kevin was in the Buyout Group at American Capital. Kevin has also held roles in strategic consulting at Accenture and A.T. Kearney and in business development at a NYSE-listed acquisitive holding company.     Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business (Dean's List) and a BA in Economics from Dickinson College.