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.

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. 

Jeff Hooke is a senior finance lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business.  Earlier, he was a managing director at Focus, LLC, an investment bank serving middle market companies.  He served as Vice President of Research at the Committee on Economic Development. Previously, Hooke operated his own consulting firm, was a director of Emerging Markets Partnership (a $5 billion private equity fund), a principal investment officer of the World Bank Group, and an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and Schroder Wertheim, respectively, two prominent securities firms based in New York.   

In addition to " The Myth of Private Equity," Hooke is the author of four other books:  Security Analysis on Wall Street (1998, 2nd edition 2013), M&A:  A Practical Guide to Doing the Deal (1996, 2nd edition 2015), The Dinosaur Among Us: The World Bank and Its Path to Extinction, and The Emerging Markets (2001). He has co-authored several peer-reviewed academic papers in finance and has written many position papers for non-profit think tanks. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a BS from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Besides Hopkins, Mr. Hooke has taught at several universities and the New York Institute of Finance. He lectures on finance topics at industry forums around the world, including the CFA societies of New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Munich, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Beijing, and Bangkok.

Jeff Henningsen, recently nicknamed the podfather of private equity podcasts will be speaking with Scott Kolbrenner, a managing director at Houlihan Lokey. Scott co-heads Houlihans Industrial Services practice with a focus on engineering services.

He was recognized by Investment Dealers' Digest as a recipient of its "Forty Under Forty" award and in 2020, as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune became the highest paid male contender in the history of the show. Scott generously donated the entirety of his $145,000 prize money to Uplift Family Services and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Today they'll be discussing Scott's 20 years of experience in Investment Banking, the current trends in infrastructure, and his insights on powerful and impactful leadership.

Christopher W. Kersey serves as the Founding Managing Partner of Havencrest Capital Management, and prior to founding Havencrest, Dr. Kersey served as a Managing Member and Partner of Camden Partners Holdings, LLC.

From 2011 to 2017, Dr. Kersey served as the Chairman of the Board of Johns Hopkins Medicine International. During that time, Dr. Kersey helped spearhead John Hopkins Medicine International's growth from an emerging pioneer to the established leader in global collaborative health care partnerships by engineering innovative private sector - public sector partnerships with blue-chip institutions such as Saudi Aramco in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HCL Healthcare in India and Pacifico Salud in Peru.

In 2010, Dr. Kersey was elected to the boards of trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine and the iconic Johns Hopkins Hospital, U.S. News & World Report's #1 ranked hospital in the United States for 21 consecutive years.

Dr. Kersey also serves on the boards of directors of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Endowment Fund and Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) — a joint venture based in Saudi Arabia and one of the world's largest population health management initiatives. Dr. Kersey is also a member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Compensation Committee, the Johns Hopkins Medicine Patient Safety and Quality Committee and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Credentials Committee.

In 2017, Dr. Kersey was elected to the board of trustees of the GuideStone Funds, the largest Christian mutual fund in the world with more than $12 billion in assets under management, where he serves on the Investment Management Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee.

Dr. Kersey earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Stanford University, his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from the Emory University School of Medicine and his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Harvard Business School.

Scott is Co-Chief Executive Officer and a co-chair of the firm's Management committee.

Scott's current and prior directorships include Thermo Fisher Scientific Corp., Agiliti, the Madison Square Garden Company, Experian, Warner Music Group, Houghton Mifflin Co., Fisher Scientific, Univision Communications, Inc., iHeartMedia, Inc., Front Line Management, The Learning Company, PriCellular Corp., ProcureNet, ProSiebenSat.1, Wyndham Hotels, Federal Street Acquisition Corp. and several other private companies.

Prior to joining Thomas H. Lee Partners, Scott was, for more than a decade, managing partner of the affiliate of Harvard Management Company that managed all alternative asset classes for Harvard University's endowment fund. Before that he was a Senior Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.

Scott is involved with a number of charitable and non-profit organizations. He is Chairman of MassGeneralBrigham, the Parent of the Harvard teaching hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women's Hospital as well as a number of leading specialty and community hospitals and physicians practice groups. He is Chairman Emeritus of the CitiCenter for Performing Arts and Wang Theater. He is also a member of each of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean's Advisors, the Harvard University Committee on University Resources and the Harvard Business School's Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.

Marc S. Cooper is Chief Executive Officer of PJ SOLOMON, a position he has held since 2016. He was previously Vice Chairman from 2013 to 2016 and joined the firm in 1999 as a Partner and Managing Director.

Marc S. Cooper is Chief Executive Officer of PJ SOLOMON, a leading financial advisory firm with a legacy as one of the first independent investment banks.

In 2016, Mr. Cooper led the transaction in which Natixis, the international corporate and investment banking, asset management, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, made a strategic investment in PJ SOLOMON.  The partnership with Natixis provides PJ SOLOMON clients with global advisory services and proprietary access to financing capabilities throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas.

Under Mr. Cooper's leadership, PJ SOLOMON has significantly expanded and diversified sector coverage and today serves clients across a broad range of industries including Consumer Retail; Financial Sponsors; FinTech; Grocery, Pharmacy & Restaurants; Healthcare; Infrastructure, Power & Renewables; and Technology, Media & Telecommunications.

As the former head of PJ SOLOMON's Consumer Retail Group, Mr. Cooper has advised a long roster of high-profile retailers and brands. Over the past three decades, Mr. Cooper has advised on hundreds of transactions globally, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations and restructurings, financings and shareholder activism.

Mr. Cooper serves on the boards of the Partnership for New York City and Fedcap, a non-profit dedicated to creating opportunities for people with barriers to economic well-being.  He is also a Trustee of The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board.

Prior to joining PJ SOLOMON, Mr. Cooper co-founded and served as Vice Chairman of Barington Capital Group where he oversaw its investment banking operations. He began his career in investment banking at Kidder Peabody.

Mr. Cooper holds an MBA, magna cum laude, and a BS from New York University.

Mr. Lovette is the founder of Third Coast Capital Advisors and manages the daily activities of the firm with responsibility for originating, advising on, and executing merger and acquisition transactions for clients across a variety of industries. Prior to forming Third Coast Capital Advisors, Mr. Lovette was a Managing Director in the Middle Market M&A group at Banc of America Securities LLC where he led a national effort focused on M&A transactions with values under $150 million. Prior to his tenure at Bank of America, Mr. Lovette was a Managing Director in the M&A/Corporate Finance group at LaSalle Bank and ABN AMRO. In total, Mr. Lovette has over 25 years of experience working with private and public companies on merger and acquisition transactions. His diverse M&A experience includes acquisitions, private company sales, corporate divestitures, portfolio company sales of private equity groups and sales of public companies across numerous industries. Mr. Lovette holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration degree from DePaul University.

This episode features the valuable advice Private Equity & Investment Banking Professionals have given for young professionals and recent college graduates.

Episode 77 features Laird Koldyke, a founding partner of Winona Capital Management which is a Chicago based private investment firm focused on growth investments in branded consumer companies.  Winona Capital manages investments on behalf of high net worth families, institutions and individuals.  

Mr. Koldyke has served on the boards of numerous consumer companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill (Chairman) , Einstein's Bagels (Founding Investor), Wild Oats Markets,  Fat Brain Toys, Petsense, Kjus Apparel, Fusion Academy, and the Laird Norton Company, Mr. Koldyke is currently a director of CYMI, Inc., Monica Vinader, PLC; Rodd and Gunn, LLC , Indie Lee, LLC,  Ancora Beauty and the Desire Company.

Mr. Koldyke holds a bachelor's degree in history from Northwestern University (1983) and a Masters in Management (MM) from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (1989).

He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the San Miguel Schools; a Chicago based schools initiative serving crime ridden city neighborhoods; is a former trustee of Northwestern University and is a founding member of the Springboard Foundation, a venture philanthropy group based in Chicago.

He is a board member of Naturally Chicago, the Chicago Lakeshore Improvement Committee and also serves as the ranking Commissioner of the Chicago Park District.

Mr. Koldyke resides in Chicago with his wife Deirdre, they have four grown children.

After rooting each and every summer for as long as he can remember, Laird was ecstatic when the Chicago Cubs broke the curse in 2016.  He roots on.

Glenn Jacobson is a Partner of Trilantic North America. Glenn is also a member of the Investment Committee of Fund VI North America and TEP II North America. His primary focus is on investments in the energy and energy transition sectors. Glenn is a member of Trilantic North America's ESG committee which helps to develop and implement the firm's ESG policies. Glenn joined Trilantic North America in 2009 at its inception, prior to which he was a Principal at Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking (LBMB). Glenn is currently a director of Intersect Power, Powin Energy, SemaConnect, DJR Energy and TRP Energy. He was previously a director of Indigo Natural Resources, M5 Midstream and MacLean Power Systems, among several others. Prior to joining LBMB in 2005, Glenn worked in Lehman Brothers' Global Natural Resources investment banking practice in New York where he focused on M&A and capital markets transactions in the energy sector. Glenn holds a B.A., cum laude, in Economics from Dartmouth College.

Today we speak to the authors of The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street

https://tinyurl.com/caesarsbook

This is where Oceans 11 meets Chapter 11

It was the most brutal corporate restructuring in Wall Street history. The 2015 bankruptcy brawl for the storied casino giant, Caesars Entertainment, pitted brilliant and ruthless private equity legends against the world's most relentless hedge fund wizards.

In the tradition of Barbarians at the Gate and The Big Short comes the riveting, multi-dimensional poker game between private equity firms and distressed debt hedge funds that played out from the Vegas Strip to Manhattan boardrooms to Chicago courthouses and even, for a moment, the halls of the United States Congress. On one side: Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital. On the other: the likes of Elliott Management, Oaktree Capital, and Appaloosa Management.

The Caesars bankruptcy put a twist on the old-fashioned casino heist. Through a $27 billion leveraged buyout and a dizzying string of financial engineering transactions, Apollo and TPG—in the midst of the post-Great Recession slump—had seemingly snatched every prime asset of the company from creditors, with the notable exception of Caesars Palace. But Caesars' hedge fund lenders and bondholders had scooped up the company's paper for nickels and dimes. And with their own armies of lawyers and bankers, they were ready to do everything necessary to take back what they believed was theirs—if they could just stop their own infighting.

These modern financiers now dominate the scene in Corporate America as their fight-to-the-death mentality continues to shock workers, politicians, and broader society—and even each other.

In The Caesars Palace Coup, financial journalists Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap illuminate the brutal tactics of distressed debt mavens—vultures, as they are condemned—in the sale and purchase of even the biggest companies in the world with billions of dollars hanging in the balance.

Sujeet Indap is the U.S. editor of the Lex Column at the Financial Times, where he contributes stories across the paper. He has written extensively on the intersection of corporate finance and corporate law. Indap was previously an investment banker before he joined the Financial Times in 2013. He is a graduate of Pomona College and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Indap lives in Manhattan, NY, with his wife.

Max Frumes leads a news team at Fitch Solutions covering corporate debt and restructuring. He previously was the founding editor of a leading publication covering corporate bankruptcy, and before that reported for S&P's Leveraged Commentary & Data and The Deal. Frumes received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSJ from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Craige L. Stout serves as Chief Executive Officer of Stout, a 600-person global investment bank and advisory firm founded in 1991. With 23 offices around the world, Stout focuses on corporate finance, transaction advisory, valuation advisory, and dispute consulting.  Having worked on over 1,000 projects, his experience is broad and diverse in the fields of investment banking, litigation consulting, and valuation advisory.

Prior to founding the firm, Craig was with Price Waterhouse in it's Valuable Services Group.

Mr. Stout is a recipient of the Crain's 40 under 40 award and Ernst & Young's 2002 Entrepreneur for the Year Award.

Craige and his wife, Molly, have been married for20 years and have three children (Carson (19),Sim on (17),and Estelle (14)). After living in the Chicago area for 18 years (and Detroit for 10 before that), they moves to Dallas in June 2019.

Mr. Stout has served or is serving on numerous non-profit boards, including: YPO Gold-Dallas Maverick Chapter, YPO Gold-Chicago Chapter (Past Chapter Chair), YPO -Chicago Chapter (Past Chapter Chair), the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit, Inc. (Past President); Museum of Science and Industry – President's Council; the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University; Respiratory Health association of Metropolitan Chicago; Junior Achievement of Chicago; Perspective Charter Schools.

Craige has served or is serving on several for-profit boards, including Stout; Solstice Consulting, LLC; Kirco Seniors Housing Fund, LP; Flow stone Partners; and BxC Partners.

Episode 73 features Brandon Bethea, a Co-Founder and Partner of Aterian Investment Partners who serves on the Investment Committee. Mr. Bethea has been a private equity investor since 2000.  Prior to Aterian, he was a Principal with Insight Equity, an investment professional with Freeman Spogli & Co and began his career with Salomon Smith Barney's investment banking division.

Since 2015, Mr. Bethea has also served on the Endowment Committee of Christ Church in Pelham, New York. Mr. Bethea received his AB from Harvard University where he was a member of the Varsity Men's Tennis Team. Mr. Bethea also earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  Brandon originally hails from Oklahoma and in another life would aspire to be the Sooners' Offensive Coordinator.

Mike McGill is a Managing Director, Strategic Capital at Cowen and was a co-Founder of MHT Partners. 

Prior to founding MHT, he spent five years at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and CS First Boston where he managed the execution of M&A advisory and corporate finance transactions for middle-market companies. Prior to joining DLJ, he was at Lehman Brothers where he focused on M&A advisory.

He is an active member of the Maverick Gold chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and in 2019 was named Investment Banker of the Year by D CEO Magazine. 

Mike earned an MBA, with distinction, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Finance and Real Estate.

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Episode 71 features Marshall Adkins, a Managing Director and Head of Energy Investment Banking at Raymond James.

Marshall gives us great insight into what to expect in the energy markets for next few years, as well as the leading indicators that suggest the energy space will be an attractive place to focus your attention.

 Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm's Energy Investment Banking practice. Prior to this role, Mr. Adkins served as the director of Energy Research for 25 years and focused on oilfield services and products. Prior to Raymond James, he spent 10 years in the oilfield services industry as a project manager, financial analyst and engineer. He holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Paul Raphael

Paul is an established investment professional with extensive M&A and financing experience. He was Executive Vice Chairman at UBS from 2018 to 2021. He joined UBS in 2010 initially as Head of Global Emerging Markets and later served as UBS' Head of Wealth Management for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America where he managed $450 billion of client assets and over 3,000 employees across four continents.

​

Before joining UBS in 2010, he spent six years at Credit Suisse, including three years in Hong Kong as Head of Investment Banking for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to this, Paul spent 10 years with Merrill Lynch in London and Paris and eight years at Salomon Brothers in New York in various M&A and capital markets roles.

Paul is a member of the advisory board of LIFE where he was founding chairman and a member of the Special Advisory Council of International Crisis Group. He has a degree in economics from the University of Maryland and an MSC in management from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Episode 70 features Brent Humphries with Alliance Bernstein. Brent joined AB in 2014 as a founding member and President of AB Private Credit Investors, where he has primary responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the business, including chairing the investment committee, fundraising, investor relations, investment originations, structuring and underwriting, as well as ongoing portfolio management and compliance. He previously held the same position with Barclays Private Credit Partners.

Prior to joining Barclays, Humphries served as group head, generalist financial sponsor coverage for Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, and later led its structured private equity initiative. Before that, he served as a partner and managing director of the Texas Growth Fund, a middle market private equity firm. Humphries previously worked in leveraged finance with NationsBank and J.P. Morgan, and as a financial analyst with Exxon.

He holds a BBA in finance with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Location: Austin

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Kick-Off 2021 with quotes, mottos and mentorship advice from past Private Equity Fast Pitch guests.

Episode 68 of Northstar's Private Equity Fast Pitch features Jerry L. Johnson with EnPro Industries Inc.

Jerry joined the EnPro Industries as their Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations.

Jerry has held leadership roles in finance and consulting for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience in acquisitions and was a founding member and Partner of the private equity firm RLJ Equity Partners for the last thirteen years.

He is a member of the New York Economic Club, Young President's Organization, The University of Tennessee's Investment Advisory Council and the College of Engineering's Board of Advisors, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Johnson's career also includes experience as a White House Fellow, merchant banker with Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette, and as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Todd Ofenloch is a Managing Director in the Boston office of H.I.G. Capital. Since joining the firm in 2009, he has been responsible for evaluating and executing new investment opportunities, as well as working with certain existing portfolio companies.

Todd has over 15 years of experience investing in middle market private equity transactions and has worked on investments in a broad range of industries, including building products, business services, enterprise software, food and consumer products, hospitality and travel services, and media and marketing services.

He currently serves on the boards of several H.I.G. portfolio companies.

Prior to H.I.G., Todd was an investment professional at Parthenon Capital Partners, GTCR, and The Halifax Group. He began his career as an investment banker at Lazard Frères, specializing in mergers & acquisitions advisory services.

Todd graduated with Bronze Tablet honors from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Accountancy (CPA) and received an M.B.A. with honors from Columbia Business School.

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Mr. Hurlbert is a seasoned entrepreneur – with a thirty-year track record of building successful businesses with strong leadership teams. Mr. Hurlbert was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year® in 2009 in the Houston and Gulf Coast Area and inducted into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year® Hall of Fame that same year. He was also a founding member of the Young Presidents Organization – Gulf Coast Region.

Mr. Hurlbert is currently a Managing Partner and Co-Founder at BrightMark Partners, a growth equity and management firm dedicated to providing capital and resources to venture, growth phase, and middle market businesses.

Mr. Hurlbert served as the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Houston based TAS Energy from December of 2001 to April of 2020. TAS is leading provider of high efficiency and modular cooling and energy systems for the data center, commercial, industrial and power generation markets. TAS was sold to publicly traded Comfort Systems (FIX) on April 1st of 2020. Under Mr. Hurlbert's leadership, TAS grew from a "start-up" to a global leader in efficiency/capacity offerings to the industrial, power generation and HVAC industries, renewable energy – including building over 300MW of geothermal plants worldwide, and data center products and services. When TAS was sold to FIX, the company had over 750 employees worldwide and delivered over 2,000 modules to 33 countries globally.

Mr. Hurlbert is the Chairman of the Board at Clearas Water Recovery. Clearas utilizes patented, sustainable and proprietary technology to solve high nutrient wastewater challenges in the municipal and industrial water markets. In doing so, Clearas produces a valuable "bio waste" that can be sold into multiple vertical markets. Currently Clearas Water Recovery bio-waste is a sustainable substitute for hyrdro-carbon based products – i.e. it is being used to make foam for Addidas tennis shoes.

Mr. Hurlbert sits on the Board of Prostar Geocorp, a company pioneering geospatial intelligence technology in the energy infrastructure and transportation markets. Prostar utilizes a SaaS based business model and has multiple patents and is transforming the way large utilities, construction companies, and states departments of transportation track underground assets and utilities (i.e. natural gas pipelines).

Mr. Hurlbert sits on the Board of ATR SmartProcedures, a company pioneering digital transformation in the industrial industry by providing a SaaS based offering to take "paper based" operational, safety, environmental, and maintenance procedures and putting them in the cloud so they are easily accessible by plant employees. ATR has an impressive customer including Exxon, Chevron, Koch, and Commanche Peak.

Mr. Hurlbert served from 2012 to 2018 on the Board of Directors at Loenbro, Inc., a diversified energy services and construction company with more than 900 employees. At Loenbro, Mr. Hurlbert provided leadership direction and oversight for the organic and inorganic growth plan, capital partnerships, risk management, organizational development, marketing and business development, as well as general and administrative oversight. Mr. Hurlbert helped Loenbro founders monetize the business in 2018 with a large New York private equity firm.

Prior to joining TAS in 2001, Mr. Hurlbert served as the President and General Manager of a Pratt & Whitney Power Systems business unit, P2 Energy.

Prior to P2 Energy, Mr. Hurlbert served as President and CEO of the PIC Energy Group. While at PIC, Mr. Hurlbert initiated and closed a joint venture with PWPS, which lead to the formation of P2. This transaction was valued at over $150 million to PIC, which at the time had roughly $25 million in revenue. Mr. Hurlbert left PIC to lead the P2 entity.

Mr. Hurlbert is currently the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Local Bounti, a company pioneering sustainable

indoor agriculture.

Prior to joining PIC as the CEO, Mr. Hurlbert was named General Manager of Global Sales for General Electric's Contractual Services business (GECS). Mr. Hurlbert was integral in building GECS from a "start- up" to over $7 Billion in backlog in just 24 months. GECS was known for pioneering the LTSA product line (long term service agreements) for GE's gas turbine technology. LTSA's became an industry wide standard. Mr. Hurlbert lead the team that developed out the product line, and built the global sales team from the ground up, starting with approximately 15 people and ended with over 150 when he left. When Mr. Hurlbert left GECS, the business had just closed $1 Billion in backlog in the prior quarter. A trend that continued after he left. GECS would go on to become one of the biggest success stories in the history of GE, and GE Power systems. While at GE, Mr. Hurlbert completed GE's esteemed four-week MDC program at Crotonville.

Prior to GE, Mr. Hurlbert held the position of Director of International Business Development for Stewart & Stevenson (S&S), the world's largest third-party operator of Power Plants. S&S Power division was purchased by GE.

Mr. Hurlbert joined the energy industry in 1990 in a position with North American Energy Services (NAES) a leading operations and maintenance company where he led sales in Latin America.

Prior to NAES Mr. Hurlbert served as a Valuation Manager in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group for the Geneva Companies. Mr. Hurlbert successfully valued over 75 middle market businesses, company valuations ranged between $20 and $150 million.

Prior to joining Geneva, Mr. Hurlbert was hired off the San Diego State University campus to work for the Ford Motor company in their esteemed "financial management" program. Mr. Hurlbert worked in Ford's "Aerospace" division and was a financial analyst in Ford's advanced "Star Wars" program.

Mr. Hurlbert has a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from San Diego State and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the California State University – Long Beach.

Mr. Hurlbert is the past President and Chairman of the Turbine Inlet Cooling Association.

Mr. Hurlbert loves spending time with his wife and three daughters, Ellie, Kate, and Bella. He is also a competitive golfer, having won the 2010 Montana Mid–Amateur and the 2020 Montana Senior Amateur tournaments and other top regional and national golf events. Mr. Hurlbert has competed in 3 USGA events.

Episode 64 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features Nik Shah, the co-founder and managing partner of Cohere Capital.

Prior to co-founding Cohere Capital with Daniel, Nik was a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital / H.I.G. Growth Partners where he focused on private equity investments in high-growth, entrepreneur-owned companies in the business services, technology, media, and Internet sectors. In his 12 years at H.I.G., he has served on the board of over 10 past and current H.I.G. portfolio companies.
Prior to joining H.I.G., Nik was with Landmark Growth Capital Partners in Boston, Massachusetts, a private equity firm focused on buyouts and growth equity investments in business services, manufacturing, and consumer companies. At Landmark, he was responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, and assisting management as a board director and observer of several portfolio companies.
Earlier in his career, Nik was at AH Ventures and Adams, Harkness & Hill in Boston.

Nik received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry with honors from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

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Episode 63 features Brad Brenneman with Breck Partners.

Prior to founding Breck, Brad was a partner at Wingate Partners for 16 years, where he served as Co-Managing Partner and was Chairman of Nekoosa Coated Products, Dunn Paper, and Sunrise Oilfield Supply, as lead board member for Industrial Container Services, and as a board member of S&N Communications and Binswanger Glass.
​
Prior to joining Wingate, Brad was an executive with Entergy Wholesale Operations where he led project teams in acquiring and developing power generation assets. He joined Entergy from Lufkin Industries where he served as an Officer.  In addition to his leadership roles in operations and finance, Brad developed and implemented Lufkin's strategic planning process and coordinated the successful acquisition of companies in the U.S. and Europe to help implement the strategic plan.  Previously, he was a consultant with Bain & Company where he advised clients on strategy and corporate turnarounds.
​
Brad holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, summa cum laude, from Kansas State University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.  He currently serves as an Elder at Preston Trail Community Church and is a Trustee of Legacy Christian Academy.  Brad is married to Leanne and they are the grateful parents of Abigail (21), Jonathan (19) and Matt (17). 000000F4 000000F4 00004BBB 00004BBB 0006C21A 0006C21A 00007E29 00007E29 0006BFA7 0006BFA7

Today we are excited to present a montage of college graduates advice from past Fast Pitch guests. Today's college graduates find themselves in an unprecedented and challenging environment because of the COVID 19 national lock down.

To address this national challenge, we've compiled the best advice to college graduates from top private equity professionals.  we will hear how they overcame challenges in their past and tangible advice they would offer to young graduates in an unfamiliar environment.

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Julia Karol is President and COO of Watermill Group. She is responsible for overall firm operations and helping Watermill portfolio companies develop and implement their strategies. Previously, as a Watermill Principal, Julia helped guide the day-to-day operations of the firm, directed the firm's investor relations and managed fundraising initiatives for acquisitions.

Prior to joining Watermill, Julia worked at Jumpstart, a national nonprofit organization. While at Jumpstart, she managed Boston-area fundraising, coordinated communication and marketing efforts, cultivated partnerships, developed alumni relations programming, and oversaw staff recruitment efforts.

Julia currently serves as a Partner with Social Venture Partners Boston, a venture philanthropy organization which connects Boston's most promising nonprofits with the money and minds to fuel their success. Julia has served as a Mentor for Endeavor, a global high-impact entrepreneurship movement and that promotes economic growth and job creation. She also serves as a member for the Budget and Administration Committee for Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Previously, Julia founded and served as board chair for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network in Boston. Julia is a member of ACG Boston and the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and has been named as one of the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers and Acquisitions Magazine for three consecutive years. In 2019, Julia received the Women of Influence Award from ACG Boston and was named one of Boston Business Journal's 40 Under 40 honorees. In 2017, Julia was named an Emerging Leader by the M&A Advisor.

EDUCATION:

She received a M.A. in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership from Stanford University, completed the Owners, Presidents, Managers program at Harvard Business School, and the Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and earned a B.A. from Tufts University.

Neda Vakilian, Partner, Investor Solutions Group at Actis

Neda is a partner of the firm having joined Actis in January 2022 where she was responsible for the coordination and management of strategic investor initiatives, fundraising project management, and product development.

In March 2023, Neda was promoted to Global Head of Actis' Investor Solutions Group.

Neda has 20 years of industry experience, working across private capital markets, business development, and fundraising.

Before joining Actis, she was Co-Head of Capital Solutions and Investor Relations for Amber Infrastructure. In this role, she was responsible for sales, client servicing, and product development, and was an investment committee member and board director on strategies.

Prior to this, Neda worked at Macquarie Capital and the Green Investment Bank (now the Green Investment Group) where she was a leading member of the team responsible for raising what was, at the time, the largest renewables fund in Europe.

She began her career as a solicitor, working at Clifford Chance and SJ Berwin.

Disclaimer

Risk management seeks to mitigate risk but does not eliminate risk and does not protect against losses.

The statements referenced herein regarding the impact of the United States political office on decarbonisation efforts or the market are as of June 2025 and represent the views of Actis which is not research and should not be treated as research. Historic market trends are not reliable indicators of actual future market behaviour or future performance of any particular investment which may differ materially and should not be relied upon as such. Moreover, there is no assurance historical trends will continue.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

With over $10 billion in assets under management, The Riverside Company is one of the largest and oldest global private equity firms. Riverside makes control and non-control investments in companies with enterprise values under $400 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 650 transactions and currently has a portfolio that includes more than 90 companies worldwide. The firms' specializations include healthcare, education and training, manufacturing, tech-enabled business services, software, consumer, and franchising.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Robert Landis is a Founding Partner, Origination in the New York office of The Riverside Company, a private equity firm investing in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market. Robert joined Riverside in 2002 and has over 42 years of commercial and investment banking experience gained at Deutsche Banc Alex Brown (18 years) and its predecessors, and at Citibank/ Chemical Bank.. At The Riverside Company he works with a team of 17 professionals who coordinate origination and structuring opportunities for Riverside's investment portfolios across 9 diversified funds globally.

At Deutsche, he developed industry expertise in the consumer, industrial, transportation, and telecommunications sectors and in his last position (1987-2002) he created and  led the Aerospace and Defense Group in North America. Robert previously headed the firm's North American corporate finance group as it transitioned to an investment bank in the mid 1990's. At Citibank, he was Vice President of the Multi-National Group. Prior to that, Robert was a Major (ret.) in the U.S. Army, serving 6 years active duty and 14 years active reserve with the 42nd Infantry Division, NYARNG.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Association for Corporate Growth, NY Chapter Board Member

EDUCATION

Mr. Landis holds a BS from the University of Colorado and an MBA in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management.

Personal: Married with two children: Matthew and Moshe: wife Norma formerly of Colombia , language translator at NU Langonne

• Matthew :Notre Dame Lacrosse:  2x NCAA lacrosse defenseman of the year ( Schmeisser Award), Tewaarton Finalist ( similar to Heisman Trophy) and professional lacrosse player:  2 years Major League Lacrosse ( PLL) and one year Professional League Lacrosse ( PLL) , currently as of 2020, Ensign, U.S. Navy
• Moshe Landis: currently living in Israel, formerly member of the IDF Special Forces unit  Sayeret Yahalom

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Many of you listened to Episode 57 which addressed the importance of a plan, urgency and actions necessary to begin and implement a turnaround for a company facing challenging issues.  Our guest, Jeff Sands, shared his own journey in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and his work assisting companies with turnarounds.  At the time we recorded Episode 57 we had no idea just how significant the coming days would be in terms of the consequences of Covid -19. 

For those that have not listened to Episode 57 it is well worth the time as it provides a road map for dealing with the challenging times we are all facing.  

The economic circumstances associated with Covid-19 have impacted individuals, families, businesses, schools, colleges and universities, local, state and federal governments in ways never before experienced.  The impact is far beyond anything anticipated or contemplated by today's contingency or crisis plans. 

The results are something that we will all have to work to overcome in the coming days, months and years.  As optimists, we will all help our communities, businesses and people rise from the moment and return to a more normal way of life. 

Our guests today share a unique background, perspective and experience in assisting companies with the impact of crisis, restructuring and bankruptcy. While insurance may not be the first thing we think of in times of crisis, on this episode you will hear the implications and considerations apply across a spectrum of businesses. 

Insurance is more necessary than most think to position a company for recovery. We have three guests today… Devin Beresheim who is the Global Leader of Lockton Financial Services which includes Lockton's Corporate Restructuring Team.  Allison Witt, an energy expert within LFS and the co-leader of CRT and Tim Kelly who is a Senior Advisor to Lockton Financial Services and the Corporate Restructuring Team.

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Brett Hickey is the Founder & CEO of Star Mountain Capital, LLC, a $1+ billion AUM specialized U.S. lower middle-market investment firm. Star Mountain employs a data-driven approach to provide value-added debt and equity capital to established small and medium-sized companies leveraging its large market expertise, scale-driven resources, and longstanding relationships.

With approximately 30 full-time people and over 25 operating partners and advisors, Star Mountain brings proven large market expertise to help business owners maximize value. Star Mountain's team and partners include former senior executives from GSO / Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and Citigroup. Star Mountain provides flexible capital solutions including debt and equity for business owners and has a strategic primary and secondary fund business through which it invests in over 250 U.S. private businesses. This secondary business provides early liquidity to investors in U.S. lower middle-market credit and equity funds.

Star Mountain's in-house technology team has built proprietary systems to support its data-driven approach to maximize value for investors and business owners alike. Star Mountain is a trademarked brand, including "Investing in the Growth Engine of America ®" and Star Mountain's distinctive "Collaborative Ecosystem ®" includes hosting and participating in 100+ events per year. Star Mountain's Charitable Foundation supports career development form women, veterans, and athletes as well as health & wellness initiatives including cancer research.

Prior to becoming a principal investor starting in the early 2000s, Mr. Hickey was an Investment Banker at Salomon Smith Barney / Citigroup Global Markets in New York City where he covered global Asset Managers and Financial Institutions. In that role, he analyzed asset managers and asset classes, ultimately working on over $20 billion in completed strategic acquisitions and capital raises.

Mr. Hickey's board memberships include member and former Chairman of Networks for the NYC Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), Global Board of Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, and Global Board of Help for Children (HFC).

Mr. Hickey received a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from McGill University (Finance Major and Accounting Concentration) and is an alumnus from Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management executive leadership program. He is a frequent guest lecturer on industry panels and at academic institutions. Mr. Hickey is also a former Canadian national gold medalist and North American medalist in speed skating.

Mr. Hickey is married with two children and lives in New York.

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Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm's Energy Investment Banking practice.

Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm's Energy Investment Banking practice.

Prior to this role, Mr. Adkins served as the director of Energy Research and focused on oilfield services and products. Prior to Raymond James, he spent 10 years in the oilfield services industry as a project manager, corporate financial analyst, sales manager, and engineer.

He holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Joe Linnen is a Partner of The Jordan Company. He is also a member of the firm's Executive Committee.

Joe joined TJC in 1993. He focuses all of his time on sourcing, originating and evaluating transactions on behalf of TJC.
​He serves on the board of directors of Worldwide Clinical Trials and CFS Brands.

Joe is Chairman Emeritus of the La Lumiere School Board of Trustees and he was Co-Chairman of its Courageous Vision Capital Campaign. Joe was a founding Director of the Oz Park Baseball Association in Chicago.

Joe holds a BS degree in Business Administration with concentration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

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Episode 51 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features the quotes and mottos of past podcast guests that inspire them in their daily life.

As Lincoln's Chief Executive Officer and a key driver of the firm's growth from its beginnings, Rob has been instrumental in building its global footprint and a highly desirable culture that prioritizes attracting, retaining and engaging top talent at all levels. As a connected leader within the firm, Rob works closely with Lincoln's investment banking professionals to help them achieve success. He continues to focus on building long-term relationships with clients and prospects, achieving optimal results through his thoughtful, interpersonal and collaborative approach.

Rob has nearly 30 years of experience advising leading private equity groups, privately owned businesses and large public companies on divestitures, acquisitions and other strategic initiatives. Rob helped start Lincoln's industrials and consumer practices and led the firm's business services practice for more than a decade. Accordingly, Rob has a deep understanding of how to best position companies for sale, drive competitive processes and negotiate to successful closings.

As a recognized advisor and thought leader in the investment banking industry, Rob is a frequent guest on WBBM's Noon Business Hour in Chicago and a speaker and author on mergers and acquisitions-related topics. Rob sits on the board of UNICEF USA and the Dean's Business Council for the Gies School of Business at the University of Illinois. He is also President of the Board of Regents at Saint Ignatius College Prep in Chicago.

Prior to Lincoln, Rob worked at Price Waterhouse. His diverse experiences include management positions in Price Waterhouse's investment banking subsidiary and the Transaction Services group.

Rob earned a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois. Rob is a certified public accountant (inactive).

Vescovo grew up in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, a master's degree in Defense and Arms Control Studies (Political Science) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker scholar.

In December 2018, he became the first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean, piloting DSV Limiting Factor, a reported US$50 million submarine system (Triton 36000/2) - including its support ship the DSSV Pressure Drop and its three ultra-deep-sea robotic landers - 8,375 m (27,477 ft) below the ocean surface to the base of the Puerto Rico Trench. On February 3, 2019, he became the first person to reach the bottom of the Southern Ocean, in the southern portion of the South Sandwich Trench. As of March 2019, he was continuing to lead the Five Deeps Expedition, whose objective is to thoroughly map and visit the bottom of all five of the world's oceans by the end of September 2019.

In April 2019, Vescovo descended nearly 11 km (6.8 mi) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Challenger Deep in Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. On his first descent, he piloted the DSV Limiting Factor to a depth of 10,928 m (35,853 ft), a world record by 16 m (52 ft). Diving for a second time on May 1 he became the first person to dive the Challenger Deep twice, finding "at least three new species of marine animals" and "some sort of plastic waste." Among the underwater creatures Vescovo encountered was a snailfish at 26,250 feet and a spoon worm at nearly 23,000 feet, which was the deepest level that the species had ever been encountered.

On 7 May 2019, Vescovo and Alan Jamieson made the first human-occupied deep submersible dive to the bottom of the Sirena Deep, about 128 miles northeast from Challenger Deep. The time spent there was 176 minutes; among the samples they retrieved was a piece of mantle rock from the western slope of the Mariana Trench.

He completed the Five Deeps Expedition on 24 August 2019 when he reached 5,550 m at the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic ocean. He was the first human to reach this location.\

In 2019, Victor Vescovo was recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who has covered the greatest vertical distance without leaving Earth's surface. As part of achieving the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree), Vescovo climbed Mt. Everest (8,848 metres (29,029 ft)) on 24 May 2010, Earth's highest point. Almost nine years later he dove to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (−10,924 metres (−35,840 ft)), Earth's lowest point, in the deep submersible Limiting Factor on 29 April 2019, for a total vertical distance of 19,772 metres (64,869 ft).

Vescovo completed the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) by climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents, and skied the Last Degree of Latitude at both the North and South Poles. Uniquely, with the successful completion of his Five Deeps Expedition, Vescovo has also dived the deepest point in each of the five world's oceans.

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• MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management
  (MIT Sloan Leadership Fellow)
• MA, GMBA Tulane University, Latin America Studies / Finance
  (Morton Aldrich Fellow / FLAS Fellow / Cowen Scholar)
• BA, Texas Christian University / English Literature

Listen to Edwards Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/gl4n6b5Lu-8

www.enothstar.com

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Dave Carvajal is a builder of billion dollar businesses. As CEO of Dave Partners, Dave is a sought out advisor and consultant to Board of Directors, venture firms, CEO entrepreneurs and leadership teams of some of the most exciting growth companies in the technology space that are making the world better.

Dave built HotJobs to 650 employees, $125M in revenues, IPO and $1.2B market capitalization as co-founder. The HotJobs team experienced a second exit with the acquisition by Yahoo! in February of 2002. He built TheLadders to 400 employees and $85M in revenues.
​

Graduate of executive education and leadership programs at The Wharton School, Columbia Business School, and The Harvard Business School. Bachelor's degree from Clemson University. Husband to a great woman, father to identical twin boys, and master to Clover the wonder dog. He is an Ironman athlete, who speaks French and Spanish.

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