Podcast
Private Equity FunCast
Hosted by ParkerGale Capital · EN
Your favorite GP's favorite podcast. Occasionally insightful, always entertaining. Deep dives into how private equity works, what happens after the deal closes, how money gets raised, and how companies get bought and sold. And everything in between with healthy doses of pop culture and humor. Straight from the team at ParkerGale Capital.
For educational and entertainment purposes only. Not investment advice. Additional disclosures at www.parkergale.com.
42episodes
Episodes
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Parker Gals: Maggie Pugel
Yesterday00:34:08Tap to summarizeIn this episode, host Cass Ziebel sits down with Frontenac VP Maggie Pugel for a candid conversation about breaking into private equity the non-traditional way. Maggie shares how she went from buy-side equity research at Ariel Investments to private equity at Frontenac — without the classic investment banking pedigree — and why she's glad she took the "career switcher" route. They dig into what makes PE uniquely demanding and rewarding, how AI is changing the deal process, the value of great mentorship, and the mindset shift that comes with learning to let go of what you can't control. Plus: favorite books, cheesy eggs, karaoke songs, and how hearing a professional opera singer changes your toddler's perception of your own voice.
Transcribe →Another False Start: PitchBook's H1 2026 Private Equity Data (w/ Steven Buibish)
6d ago01:09:16Tap to summarizeThe private equity market in 2026 was supposed to rip. So why has it fallen flat? Devin sits down with Steven Buibish, CFA, Director of US Private Equity Research at PitchBook, to break down the first half 2026 data. Deal value in Q2 dropped 38% from Q1. Software dealmaking froze. Mega deals are doing all the heavy lifting, distorting every headline number, and yet prices haven't budged. We're sitting at 2021 valuation peaks while volume collapses and leverage dries up. They dig into what's actually happening beneath the surface: the HALO rotation into hard assets and data centers, the add-on economy holding up the middle market, why 60% of software deals in market aren't closing, the zombie fund overhang, DPI falling off a cliff post-2018, and why first-time fund counts have cratered. Plus: why 2026 could still be a great vintage if you're doing the right kind of deals — and Stephen's prediction on where the next wave of growth in PE is coming from. "Another False Start" report: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2026-us-pe-breakdown Check out all of PitchBook's research at pitchbook.com.
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Introducing "Parker Gals": Meet Cass & Liz
1w ago00:48:55Tap to summarizeWelcome to Parker Gals — the podcast by and for women in private equity. Hosts Cass Ziebel and Liz Xu kick off the very first episode from ParkerGale HQ in Chicago, introducing themselves and the show. In this debut episode, you'll hear how Cass stumbled into PE after a 2.5 hour "networking lunch" that turned into an accidental interview, and how Liz almost talked herself out of the job before Cass convinced her she was more than ready. Other agenda items include butter-to-egg ratios, Gilmore Girls VHS tapes, a pair of auction-won sunglasses, and two very different answers to "what would you do if not private equity?" Plus, a peek at the show's recurring segments: Indication of Interests (rapid-fire personal questions), Shop Talk (career stories), and Closing Call (fun finishers). If you know a woman in PE who should be on the show, reach out. We're just getting started. Theme music by Jon O'Hara.
Transcribe →Private Equity's About to Get a Lot Less Private (w/ Kevin Hsu of Lumonic)
2w ago01:01:46Tap to summarize40% of PE firms and 60% of credit funds still track their portfolios on spreadsheets. That's now a way to monitor a few trillion in AUM. Private equity (and credit) are about to get way more transparent as retail investors get access to PE, and the tools you need to monitor and report your exposure must evolve. The products are way ahead of the plumbing. Devin sits down with Kevin Hsu, founder of Lumonic, a portfolio monitoring software company now part of PitchBook. We discuss Kevin's early career in private markets technology and what that taught him about the difference between the needs of VCs and PE firms. We talk about the coming convergence of public and private markets, and why the old ways of doing things (in spreadsheets) won't cut it in the new world of heightened transparency and regulation. ParkerGale is in the middle of automating much of its internal workflows with new AI-powered tools, so this conversation will help other funds think through the options. Should you roll your own (Kevin has a surprising opinion on this), stick with what you've got, or make a switch? What should you expect from your software provider and how do you handle those edge case portfolio companies? We cover all this and more with Kevin. https://www.lumonic.com/
Transcribe →PE GUY Meets an Actual PE Guy
3w ago01:18:25Tap to summarizePE GUY turned a Snapchat filter into millions of views and a seven-figure business. Host Devin Mathews (a real PE guy) conducts due diligence on Johnny Hilbrant Partridge's background, business model, and the wealthy towns he's taking on next. We sat down with Johnny in PE GUY's natural habitat -- a Winnetka, IL pool house to figure out how a goofy internet character became an oddly accurate and honest mirror of the private equity industry. Johnny grew up in Winnetka and now lives in Wellesley (two classic PE Guy towns). He went to New Trier (the affluent North Shore high school that inspired "Breakfast Club"), played water polo at the University of Denver, worked for the Ellen Degeneres Show, and the PE-backed Barry's, and Soul Cycle before creating the viral character. What started out as an Instagram reel to make his friends laugh is now generating millions of views from more than 500,000 followers. We go deep into the PE GUY universe. Catchphrases like "decent," "substantial," "due to my role," plus his three kids named Tarantino, Montauk, and EBITDA. Not to mention Wifey and Nanny's #1, #2, and #3. We also break down Johnny's revenue streams: Cameo, brand deals, appearances, and PE GUY swag. Then Johnny puts Devin under the microscope and asks, "Can private equity ever be stopped?"
Transcribe →From Sales Rep to $4B GTM Leader: The Playbook for Building Sales Teams (w/ Sam Levy of NetSuite)
4w ago01:08:58Tap to summarizeSam Levy's first sales job involved a phone book, a rotary phone, and 200 cold calls for one yes. He was still in college when he started a telemarketing gig with no playbook, no CRM, no email. Eighteen months in, the company went public, and the telemarketing kid was sipping champagne in the boardroom. This episode reveals everything that happened between that room and the one he sits in now: head of go-to-market strategy and execution at Oracle NetSuite, running a business that's grown from $250 million to $4 billion. Sam walks Devin through how to build a career in software sales, rung by rung: how to pick your first sales job and your first boss; why hustle gets you started but cadence gets you promoted; why the top rep usually makes a rough first-time manager. He tells us when to leave a job, when to let a rep go, and what to do with the lone wolf who crushes quota but poisons the room. Plus, a prediction: 90% of the next generation of software CEOs will come out of sales and marketing, not engineering. Whether you're an operating partner, an SDR in your first seat or a CRO wondering what's next, this is the insider's guide to success. Discover more at NetSuite.ai
Transcribe →How a Tough PE Market & AI are Changing Exec Search (w/ Nick Cromydas of Hunt Club)
Jul 1500:51:51Tap to summarizeThe deep Rolodex model for headhunters doesn't cut it anymore. PE's cookie-cutter hiring scorecards now miss the best candidates in a complex world. And more and more funds are hiring internal teams to source CEOs. The executive search business is under pressure and has to adapt to survive. In this episode, Devin sits down with Nick Cromydas, to answer the question: how does executive search stay relevant? Nick is the co-founder and CEO of Hunt Club, an AI-enabled search firm that pairs a GLG-style expert network with first-party data from countless executive searches. His team has conducted thousands of searches for hundreds of investor-backed companies.
Transcribe →Financial Modeling Will Never be the Same (w/ Tarun Amasa of Endex)
Jul 800:57:44Tap to summarizeIn the past year, Excel AI plugins have become increasingly powerful, raising the question: Are Analysts and Associates about to become obsolete, or are we entering the age of the 10x modeler? On this episode, Devin and Caroline Phipps, a ParkerGale VP, go deep on AI and how it's changing the game. They're joined by Tarun Amasa, Founder & CEO of Endex, an OpenAI-backed startup automating modeling for private equity and investment banks. We discuss building models from scratch, automating workflows, and auditing it all so you don't look bad in the IC. Learn about our use cases for deals and portfolio company work, and where we think the tools are headed from here. Plus, hear our predictions on how Endex and other AI-based tools will change the way private equity firms do their jobs in the future. Endex is an Excel-native AI Agent that accelerates financial modeling and data analysis.
Transcribe →Private Equity is Coming For Your 401(k) (w/ PitchBook's Nizar Tarhuni)
Jul 100:54:13Tap to summarizeYour 401(k) is about to get access to private equity, but how, in what form, and at what price are all still TBD. Which is kind of a problem for such a big change. The pitch for putting private markets in retirement accounts is all about fairness: regular people got locked out of the hottest private companies, such as SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Stripe. But the products actually getting built are something else entirely. They are semi-liquid, evergreen, with various fee wrappers, and most of what you'll be offered is actually private credit rather than private equity or venture capital. Devin is joined by return guest Nizar Tarhuni, PitchBook's EVP of Research & Market Intelligence, to get into how these structures work, what to look out for, what questions to ask, and how, in the right circumstances, privates can work well in retirement accounts. They both agree, however, it is not a matter of if, but when and how, privates are coming for your 401(k). PitchBook.com PitchBook Research
Transcribe →Will AI Kill Consulting? (w/ IGS CEO Matt Umscheid)
Jun 2400:58:57Tap to summarizeAI is reshaping the consulting industry faster than the internet or remote work ever did. Some say the industry's days are numbered. So why are Anthropic and OpenAI building PE-backed consulting firms of their own? And how will private equity firms and the companies they own feel the change? We get into what AI is actually doing to the consulting industry, why it's hitting faster than any tech shift before it, and how consulting firms are using AI to transform themselves to stay ahead of their clients. If you're an investor, an operator, a consultant, or just trying to figure out where the AI transition leaves you, this episode separates the signal from the noise. Joining Devin is Matt Umscheid, CEO of Investor Group Services, a consulting firm supporting hundreds of middle market private equity firms. Matt is a former consultant, operating partner, and three time PE-backed CEO so he's seen the consulting model from every seat that matters. For more information, visit their website (https://igsinsights.com/) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/igsinsights/)
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