Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Host: Scott Becker
Episode: Startups, AI + Moderated Business Growth Call
Date: October 7, 2025
Overview
This episode brings together leading voices from private equity, business, startups, and artificial intelligence to discuss current trends and actionable insights. The podcast is structured into three main panels:
- Private Equity Panel – Lower middle-market investment, healthcare PE, and deal environments
- Startup & Founder Panel – Lessons from founders and investors across CPG, healthcare, and tech
- Artificial Intelligence Panel – Practical use cases, the VC landscape, and real-world AI applications
Each panel delves deeply into challenges, opportunities, and key learnings in their respective domains, aiming to provide listeners with concrete, up-to-the-minute perspectives.
Panel 1: Private Equity Trends & Insights
Guests:
- David Greer (Keystone Capital)
- Jeff Cockrell (McGuire Woods)
- Holly Buckley (McGuire Woods)
- Matt Wolf (Elliot Davis)
Key Discussion Points
Sector Focus and Evolution (00:02–10:00)
- David Greer: Keystone Capital has evolved from manufacturing-focused deals to 80% services (engineering, infrastructure, tech-enabled services, commercial industrial, and food).
- Quote: “20 years ago we probably, every business that we had made something, and I would say today, 80% of what we do is in services sectors.” – David Greer (00:05)
- Services sectors seen as more sustainable, recurring revenue in high demand
Specialization and Value (10:01–14:50)
- Jeff Cockrell: Strongly emphasizes the need for both technical and specialized (sectoral) expertise for competitive advantage.
- Quote: “If you can combine good core technical skills with some very specialized knowledge, it really helps you cut through a lot of the competitive noise.” – Jeff Cockrell (00:12)
Current PE Deal Environment (14:51–26:00)
- Holly Buckley:
- Noted uptick in deal volume recently, but market remains stressed.
- Strong platforms with good operations and tech-enabled efficiencies still command high valuations.
- New state regulations create delays but rarely kill deals; states like Oregon/California are particularly scrutinized (cpom laws—corporate practice of medicine).
- Quote: “Platforms that are well scaled with good infrastructure... are still pulling in robust valuations.” – Holly Buckley (00:19)
- Valuations: “Quality businesses are still going to be in demand... those with recurring revenues command mid-teen multiples. B assets are discounted a turn or two.” – David Greer (00:24)
- Transaction structures now include less upfront cash, higher rollovers, more earn-outs—making valuation comparisons difficult (Matt Wolf).
Drivers for Private Equity Exits & Recaps (26:01–33:00)
- A assets can still do debt recaps and continue, B and C assets face balance sheet pressures.
- Quote: “Ultimately, that huge backlog of port codes that have been held for a long time is just going to have to clear.” – Jeff Cockrell (00:28)
- GPs face pressure from LPs for distributions; some extend holds with continuation vehicles for strong assets.
- Quote: “You have a fantastic asset that has a great future... why get rid of it?” – David Greer (00:32)
Valuation Mark-to-Market Challenges (33:01–36:55)
- More noise due to ‘creative’ deal structures, making apples-to-apples valuations tough.
- “It’s a robust process—almost price discovery by argument—because nobody really knows until there’s an exit.” – Matt Wolf (00:36)
Sector Outlooks (37:00–53:00)
- Holly Buckley:
- Excitement in women’s health/fertility, tech-enabled/AI behavioral health, hospice, home/infusion.
- Jeff Cockrell:
- Shift away from retail/multi-site/doctor-led models. Big interest in employer-based cost-containment ventures.
- Matt Wolf:
- Sees opportunity in corporate divestitures, particularly as companies shed non-core assets.
- Quote: “More opportunity for value creation as corporations divest themselves of business units.” – Matt Wolf (00:48)
- David Greer:
- Peripheral infrastructure services in transportation/water (e.g., executive project management firms).
- Data centers—opportunities in retrofitting/engineering, not new construction.
Panel 2: Startups & Founder Insights
Guests:
- Andy Friedman (Founder, Skinny Pop)
- Krista Bragg (Author, "Startups Guide to US Healthcare")
- Dr. Bo Gu (Founder, Ulify; former cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Bart Walker (McGuire Woods)
- Manav Sivak (Founder, Memora Health)
Key Discussion Points
Founder Journeys & Hiring Lessons (54:00–1:08:00)
- Andy Friedman:
- Skinny Pop was built for survival, not an exit. Waited over two years before hiring the first employee.
- Quote: “You would be shocked how much one person or two people could get done... You don’t need a head of marketing and a head of operations and a head of procurement.” (00:56)
- Outsourced non-core; focused founders = efficiency.
- Grassroots sales—knocking on doors, building out through distributors.
- Dr. Bo Gu:
- Entrepreneurship is harder than surgery: “Despite having done open heart surgery... this is definitely the hardest job.”
- The importance of early customer engagement and persistence.
Product-Market Fit and Customer Centricity (1:08:01–1:20:00)
- Manav Sivak:
- Spend 2+ years iterating with a tiny team.
- Don’t hire until you know what you’re doing; founders must be close to customers for real product-market fit.
- Quote: “Everything we do is built off feedback from customers... building trust with them. That’s the DNA.” (01:13)
- Krista Bragg:
- Tailor the pitch to real problems observed in the client environment.
- Bring the right stakeholders in (siloed buying decisions can sabotage implementation).
- Bart Walker:
- Most startup success comes from adjacent expansion rather than total greenfield leaps.
- Quote: “People expanding into areas they know well... that's often overlooked, but critical.” (01:19)
Investing and Building for Success (1:20:01–1:27:00)
- Product-market fit must come first, but team/founder is critical for early investment.
- “Take outside capital as late as possible. Everything changes after that—suddenly you have a boss.” – Andy Friedman (01:23)
- Passion for problem is a necessity—invest in obsessed founders, not opportunists.
- Venture investing: “Most returns come in the final innings, 10-15 years out.”
What’s Most Exciting Right Now? (1:27:01–1:33:00)
- Dr. Bo Gu: Passion for solving billing pain drives day-to-day.
- Krista Bragg: Difficulty in healthcare drives innovation and creative disruption.
- Bart Walker: Opportunity in pharma, contract research, and outsourced clinical services.
- Andy Friedman: Cleaner, better-for-you CPG products—“product has to taste great, period.”
- Manav Sivak:
- Democratization of agency; easier than ever to start and build quickly, allowing more people to find/build for their passions.
Panel 3: Artificial Intelligence — Use Cases & the AI Company Model
Guests:
- Venkat Mukurla (Midstream Health, ex-Andreessen Horowitz)
- Bobby Becker (Engineer, Teachir)
Key Discussion Points
Backgrounds and Early AI Adoption (1:34:00–1:39:00)
- Venkat Mukurla:
- Journey from DaVita to value-based care, to international strategy, to AI in healthcare ops.
- “What you see now is young entrepreneurs with only a couple years’ experience running circles around the ‘experts’.”
- Modern AI entrepreneurs are technical, customer-centric, and triple-threats.
Quote: “They're able to iterate faster. They're a triple threat.”
- Bobby Becker:
- Young team in EdTech, providing AI tools to teachers for resource creation.
- “Making it easy for teachers to create material for any subject, any grade, share it, and align with learning objectives.”
Product-Market Fit & Customer Centricity (1:39:01–1:43:30)
- Both guests emphasize the necessity for anyone building AI application layers to be just as customer-observant as they are technical.
- AI engineers increasingly involved in customer product fit and sales.
Selling to Enterprises & Value Proposition (1:43:31–1:49:00)
- Must be 10x better than the incumbent/legacy system for adoption.
- Speed to value is critical — must deliver ROI within 12 months.
- Quote: “If I don’t deliver value to you in the next 12 months... I’ll walk away.” – Venkat Mukurla (1:46)
- “Painkiller, not vitamin” — must be essential, not just nice-to-have.
- The ‘super users’ in client orgs matter most; their feedback and adoption are key to stickiness.
Rapid Iteration is the New Moat (1:49:01–1:54:00)
- In AI, the best companies push new features weekly (“neuroplasticity for companies”).
- Quote: “The speed at which people iterate is the competition.”
– Venkat (1:51) - Because major LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) keep evolving, app-layer companies innovate on top, focused on quick wins and user need.
User Experience, Privacy & Adoption (1:54:01–2:02:00)
- Relentless focus on interface ease-of-use, balanced with optional customizability for power users.
- Enterprise (healthcare, education, etc.): “Most people don’t want to use your app; best UX is often no UX.”
- Privacy is non-negotiable, especially in healthcare: “It’s the ballgame. It can end your company.”
- For bottom-up sales (e.g., teachers, not admins), privacy matters more at higher levels (school system, district).
Audience Q&A:
- Vibe Coding: Use of AI tools to write/iterate code quickly, enabling non-engineers to automate workflows (e.g., “everyone should Vibe code”).
- Quote: “It's a very fancy way of saying making things with the new tools.” – Venkat (2:05)
- AI in Pet Services: Massive efficiency potential in onboarding, registration, marketing, billing, etc. “Just observe the workflows and layer on AI to automate or augment.”
Parting Practical Advice for AI End Users (2:06:00–End)
- Bobby Becker: Don’t overuse AI—sometimes, step back for deeper, non-assisted work.
- Venkat Mukurla: Just start—open the apps and try them. User-friendliness is accelerating; comfort and exposure are now the limiting factors.
- Quote: “There's so many of these tools—exposure and comfort is all that’s needed.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “You would be shocked how much one or two people can get done.” – Andy Friedman (00:56)
- “If I don’t deliver value to you in the next 12 months... I’ll walk away.” – Venkat Mukurla (1:46)
- “Everything we do is built off feedback from customers... that’s the DNA.” – Manav Sivak (01:13)
- “The product needs to taste great, period, end of story, full stop.” – Andy Friedman (01:31)
- “You have to be 10x better than the status quo just to get a chance.” – Venkat Mukurla (1:46)
- “Take outside capital as late as possible... it changes everything.” – Andy Friedman (01:23)
- “Most returns come in the final innings, 10-15 years out.” – Manav Sivak (01:25)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- Private Equity Panel Start & Introductions: 00:00
- Deal Environment & Valuations: 00:14:51–00:36:55
- Sector Opportunities PE: 00:37–00:53:00
- Startups & Founder Panel Start: 00:54:00
- Early Team Building & Commercialization: 00:54:00–01:08:00
- Product-market Fit & Customer Centricity: 01:08:01–01:20:00
- Investing & Founder Traits: 01:20:01–01:27:00
- What’s Exciting?: 01:27:01–01:33:00
- AI Panel Start: 01:34:00
- Building for Product-Market Fit with AI: 01:39:01–01:49:00
- Iterative Advantage as Moat: 01:49:01–01:54:00
- User Experience & Privacy: 01:54:01–02:02:00
- Audience Q&A & Best Advice: 02:05:00–End
Tone and Language
The panelists are candid, insightful, and practical, peppering deep experience with humor, humility, and actionable advice. The discussion flows naturally among peers, punctuated with revealing stories and critical reminders for founders and investors alike.
For First-Time Listeners
This episode is densely packed with practical insight for anyone in private capital, startups, or applying AI in business. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or operator, listen for real-world examples of what drives success and growth in 2025—plus plenty of lessons learned along the way.