Private Equity FunCast – Details, episodes & analysis

Most B2B sales reps are professionally trained to make you like them in 30 minutes. But when you're recruiting salespeople, likability doesn't guarantee success. Make the wrong hire and you can lose two years and a chunk of your growth plan. In this episode, Devin and Paul walk through the five qualities ParkerGale tests for (customer focus, structure, accountability, problem-solving, drive), the specific questions we ask in a panel interview, and the trick question that breaks through every rapport-building defense salespeople can muster.

Raising your first private equity fund is humbling. Like Lloyd Dobler holding a boombox outside an LP's window, you need to be committed and creative.

It took us over 150 meetings and almost 2 years to get to the finish line. One LP fell asleep mid-pitch. We got stranded in a monsoon in Connecticut. Kenny the Associate torpedoed us in Manhattan. Jim got locked out, and Devin had to fly solo.

We survived. You can too.

From hiring a placement agent to practicing your pitch to getting LPs to tell you what they want, to recharging your batteries on the road so you can keep going til the end.

This is everything we wish someone had told us.

Always Be Closing. Kinda.

Principals Jimmy and Paul discuss the ParkerGale approach to hiring, why hiring is essential to get right, not just at the C-suite level, but how we work with our portfolio companies to develop the capability to hire well throughout the organization. They also cover what a certain 90's shampoo commercial can teach us about what not to do during an interview.

Guest host partner Kristina Heinze talks with Ivelisse Simon, Managing Partner of Avante Capital Partners - a women
and minority-owned private credit and structured equity fund based in Los Angeles, California. They cover everything from Ivelisse's path from investment banking to starting a successful firm, including an infamous "Wasabi" incident.

Principals Cass and Kara finish their interview with Professor Chris McGowan, from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. As an investor, advisor and teacher, Chris has been in the private equity industry for 26 years, when he began his own career in private equity as an associate at AEA Investors in New York City.  In this episode, Cass and Kara explain their own personal impact that Chris has had on their careers, and Chris gives advice for MBA students and non-students alike who are trying to navigate breaking into private equity.

Principals Cass and Kara interview Professor Chris McGowan,
from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. As an investor, advisor and teacher, Chris has been in the private equity industry for 26 years, when he began his own career in private equity as an associate at AEA Investors in New York City.  In this episode, Cass and Kara explain their own personal impact that Chris has had on their careers, and Chris gives advice for MBA students and non-students alike who are trying to navigate breaking into private equity.

Can you predict the future by throwing asparagus against the wall?  Have a listen to Devin and Jim on the Funcast's mostly-annual predictions show.

Private equity deal teams need to work together seamlessly to close a buyout successfully. However, each member of the deal team does have different responsibilities and perspectives - all of which are important. ParkerGale Associate, Nori Welles-Gertz, makes her PE Funcast debut, discussing with Principal Kevin Fitzgerald and Partner Ryan Milligan the myriad of details, thoughts, and worries she has throughout a live deal. Kevin and Ryan contribute their perspectives and provide a true top-to-bottom view of what each role focuses on and cares about.

Private equity firms get tons of inbound emails from executives looking for their next opportunity.  Paul and Jim discuss the best ways to get private equity teams to pay attention to these emails -- and how to avoid getting on the blocked list.