Matthew Nash is a Senior Associate at Silversmith Capital Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm with $2.0 billion of capital under management. During our conversation with Matt, we discuss his path from investment banking to growth equity and his transition from a largely prescriptive role to a more entrepreneurial one. We walk through a day in the life of a young professional at a growth equity firm, including sourcing and speaking with founders of transformational technology businesses. ...
Feb 28, 2022•49 min
Matt Roesch is a Vice President at HGGC, a leading middle market private equity firm. HGGC is based in the Bay Area, has $5.6 billion in cumulative capital commitments, and has completed over 300 portfolio investments. During our conversation, Matt discusses his motivation to pursue a career in private equity and perspective on his decision to forgo business school after his completing his associate stint. We also walk through the types of investments HGGC focuses on and the primary strategies t...
Feb 23, 2022•46 min
On this episode Alex and Conor chat with Ayden Syal and Brandon Wimbush, the co-founders of MOGL. MOGL is a two-sided marketplace connecting college athletes and businesses to help the athletes monetize their name, image, and likeness. Ayden and Brandon both graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Brandon was the starting quarterback at Notre Dame as well. These two amazing entrepreneurs discuss the strategy behind the creation of the business, and how they have gone about building out t...
Feb 15, 2022•44 min
Brian D’Arcy is a Partner at Sixth Street, a global investment firm managing over $60 billion in assets. He joins the show to discuss his journey in the world of finance and Sixth Street’s unique investment philosophy. We cover how Sixth Street capitalizes on the flexibility of its mandate, explore the process of sourcing deals aligned with investment themes, and dive into the firm’s investments in the San Antonio Spurs and avocado farms. Brian also provides an overview of his role in leading th...
Feb 10, 2022•47 min
Alex, Conor, and Chris, chat with Elias Dokas, a Managing Director within Midocean Partner’s private equity investing arm. Elias Dokas began his career working with Morgan Stanley in their LBO group and transitioned to work for Blackstone before moving to his current role. Elias gives insight into how Midocean Partners differs in its operations from a mega PE firm like Blackstone and his ultimate motivation behind transitioning from a mega PE fund to a middle market fund. Additionally, Elias pro...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 3 min
Jason Boehmig, CEO of Ironclad, joins the podcast to discuss his journey launching a revolutionary software company disrupting the legal industry. Jason and his team have raised capital from some of the best VCs in the world, including Accel and Sequoia, and we dive into the process of successfully fundraising in Silicon Valley. Jason also talks about the insights he learned from his time on Wall Street, how he went about early product development, and the importance of avoiding feature creep as...
Feb 02, 2022•46 min
We are joined by Mike Murray, Head of Product at Shef, which is a homemade meal delivery marketplace bringing the sharing economy to your table. Prior to Shef, Mike was an early employee and Product & Design Lead at Snapchat, where he helped grow daily active users and introduce new features to the app, including Stories, Chat, and Discover. During our conversation, we talk about some of the early design decisions made at Snap, how to make ‘what to build’ decisions as a product manager, and ...
Jan 26, 2022•41 min
Alex and Conor chat with Mike Sayles, Founder and CEO of Fresh Street. Fresh Street is seeking to create a revolutionary and innovative grocery experience by creating grocery stores that exclusively offer pick-up groceries. In our discussion about his business, Mike discusses his career path and strategies for career discernment, the importance of operating experience for CEOs and how to best build and maintain a professional network. We also discuss the importance of hiring high quality employe...
Jan 19, 2022•51 min
Alex Huang, Director of Strategy & Business Development at LiveRamp, joins the show to discuss what it means to work in corporate strategy and business development. We discuss the M&A process from the perspective of a strategic acquirer, including due diligence, the mechanics of getting a deal done, and post acquisition integration plans. We also dive into his operational role as Chief of Staff and advice for young professionals seeking a career in corporate development.
Jan 17, 2022•41 min
We are joined by Vinny Prajka, Partner in the Operational Excellence Group, at the software growth equity firm JMI Equity. In our conversation, Vinny gives his take on what makes software attractive from an investment perspective, the role of a member of a private equity operating team, and the main ways in which he helps portfolio companies. We also dive into the major challenges software companies often face and the key metrics SaaS businesses should track to measure their success.
Dec 06, 2021•46 min
On this episode: Amy Flanagan, an International Strategy and Operations Lead at Coinbase, discusses her experiences working within the crypto economy. Coming from her background in consulting at Bain & Co., Amy was not extraordinarily familiar with cryptocurrencies prior to joining Coinbase. She discusses how she found herself working in crypto, how crypto coins work, why they have value in society, and how she came to trust them. Amy also speaks to what it means to be an “International Stra...
Nov 30, 2021•51 min
TCV is one of the largest growth equity firms in the world and has invested over $16B in public and private technology companies. We had the pleasure of speaking with David Zhang, a Principal at TCV, to discuss his career in technology investing. David has over a decade of experience in the global tech industry and he focuses on investments in fintech, digital media, and e-commerce, including investments in Airbnb, Brex, and Klarna. During our conversation, we cover the rationale for TCV’s cross...
Nov 22, 2021•49 min
Conor and Alex chat with Cristina Riojas, co-founder of Sila, a tea brand focused on mindfulness and connection. We discuss starting a company as a college student, Cristina’s passion for tea, and the importance of making the most of a few key decisions in one’s life. Cristina also describes how she has learned to deal with failure during her entrepreneurial journey and her goals for Sila over the coming years.
Nov 15, 2021•37 min
In this episode, we speak with Kevin Dunwoodie, a Partner in Pantheon’s Global Secondaries Investment Team. We discuss what the private equity secondaries market is, the value proposition for buyers and sellers, and the key drivers of returns for a secondaries fund. We also dive into the way in which secondaries markets have reacted to recent financial crises and the evolution of GP-led secondary transactions.
Nov 08, 2021•49 min
In this episode, we are joined by Jason Schoettler, co-founder and managing partner of Calibrate Ventures. Jason and his investing partner have funded companies like Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever), Soft Robotics, Ring, SolarCity, and Chegg. In our conversation, we discuss his decision to start his own venture firm, synthetic data, the challenges robotics companies face over SaaS businesses, and what startups need to achieve to secure a Series A investment after seed capital.
Oct 25, 2021•35 min
In this episode we speak with Peter Bell. Peter is the Chairman at Amity Ventures, a VC and PE firm investing in "category defining" technology companies, and the CEO of Epiphany Technology Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC targeting technology companies. Peter's career began in entrepreneurship and has led him to private investing. Peter has a unique view on making private investments and his firm invests across various stages from early stage VC to late stage SPAC investments and buyouts. We dis...
Oct 13, 2021•45 min
On this episode: We chat with Jeff Moss, Founder and CEO of Parker Dewey, an education technology marketplace focused on connecting students to micro-internships with reputable companies. We discuss the value of micro-internships, how Jeff transitioned from being a director at Susquehanna Growth Equity, and how Parker Dewey overcame the challenges of building out a two-sided marketplace. Jeff has amazing wisdom on how to develop your career, don't miss this one!
Sep 23, 2021•43 min
On this episode: Conor and Alex chat with Joel Neidig, CEO and co-founder of Simba Chain, a blockchain-as-a-service platform that makes it easy to deploy this exciting new technology across multiple blockchains and data platforms. This conversation defines the blockchain, evaluates potential use cases, and breaks down where Simba Chain fits into the current ecosystem. We specifically dive into smart contracts and NFTs as well as how to selling a product and educate customers in a new industry....
Sep 20, 2021•52 min
On this episode: Jere Doyle is a Boston College professor and proven entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and angel investor across many different companies and funds over the course of his illustrious career. In our conversation, Jere gives his take on the role of innate ability and learning in becoming a successful entrepreneur and describes how entrepreneurship is “the pursuit of opportunity with total disregard for current resources." Drawing from Jere’s company-building experience, we discuss ...
Sep 15, 2021•52 min
On this episode: We are joined by Scott Malpass who served as the Chief Investment Officer for Notre Dame’s endowment, growing it from $400 million to over $12 billion. We discuss the strategies and practices that allowed Notre Dame’s investment office to achieve amazing long-term returns on its endowed capital. Specifically, Scott gave his thoughts on asset managers and how to find good ones, the University’s role in private investing, and acting as a co-investor for world-class private equity ...
Sep 10, 2021•48 min
We are joined by Brian Plamondon, a member of the Healthcare Corporate Venture Relationships team at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). With over 50% of venture-backed life sciences and tech companies in the US banking with them, SVB is engrained within the Silicon Valley ecosystem. During our conversation with Brian, we cover how SVB helped its clients during the pandemic and COVID’s impact on the venture and M&A space. Additionally, we discuss growing verticals within the healthcare industry, incr...
Sep 07, 2021•46 min
Johannes Burgard, MD and Founder at the solar energy software company Solytic, joins us for this episode discussing his path as a founder. Johannes explains Solytic’s product and go-to-market strategy that has allowed the company to raise millions in capital and operate in over 60 countries in just 4 years after its founding, and shares his advice from founding his company. As a trained engineer, Johannes is able to provide insight into what it’s like founding a company from a non-business backg...
Sep 02, 2021•30 min
Elizabeth Davis, a venture investor at Anthemis on their Female Innovators Lab team, helps us kick off the fall semester with an exciting discussion on early-stage investing and the rise of financial technology companies. In addition to diving into key sub-verticals and investment themes within fintech, we focus on how Elizabeth is working to combat inequities that women face in the venture funding space. Only about 2% of all venture funding goes towards women and Elizabeth wants to change that ...
Sep 01, 2021•37 min
Justin Schneider, CEO and co-founder of the LA-based men's fashion brand Wolf & Shepard, joins the show to discuss his journey from track star to shoe designer. Justin talks about the adaptability and willingness to face the unknown that is necessary to become a founder. We also touch on Justin’s industrial design background, his work with Reebok, Adidas, and New Balance, as well as some of his big successes, including seeing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wear his shoes.
May 11, 2021•42 min
Mike Fitzgerald, co-founder and partner at High Alpha, a venture studio in Indianapolis, comes on the show to discuss the strategy and operations of venture studios. Mike’s background in software, sales, and entrepreneurship guides our conversation on starting companies at venture studios, the attractiveness of B2B SaaS, and guiding exits and innovation through large corporations. This episode also provides insight into Mike’s experience founding a venture studio and his advice from that process...
May 04, 2021•39 min
On this episode: Tom Mendoza, former President and SVP of Sales at NetApp and benefactor of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, joins the show to discuss his philosophy behind goal setting and establishing a clear vision for an organization. Drawing on his experience at NetApp, Tom also outlines how he developed a strong corporate culture at NetApp and how others can do the same at fast-growing tech companies.
Apr 28, 2021•53 min
On this episode: Conor McCarter is the co-founder of Prequel, which helps companies set up and manage their data stacks so they can focus on what matters: getting insights to drive their businesses. We talk about with Conor about pursuing a dual engineering masters degree and MBA at Harvard and subsequently deciding to jump in full time to work on his startup. We also focus on Conor’s experience with Y Combinator, which is the premier American seed money startup accelerator. Topics include apply...
Apr 28, 2021•30 min
On this episode: Conor and Alex chat with Mike Anello, co-founder and managing director at M33 Growth, a growth equity firm in Boston MA. On this episode we discuss key aspects of providing value to Growth Equity portfolio companies. Mike touches on his experience in his role as a managing director, creating operations teams, and pitching a company's value to its potential customers.
Apr 22, 2021•41 min
On this episode: Conor and Alex chat with Michael Bechtel, Chief Futurist at Deloitte. Michael discusses what it means to be a futurist, how to analyze trends defining future operating systems and opportunities, and how companies can prepare workforces for changing technological environments. Get a glimpse into his thought process and learn about how you can prepare yourself for careers in large corporations.
Apr 15, 2021•46 min
On this episode: With over 20 years of experience in venture capital and degrees from MIT and Harvard, Dr. Jeff Himawan, Managing Director at EW Healthcare Partners, joins the show to discuss the role of venture capital in research-intensive pharmaceutical startups. Jeff outlines the impact that longer holding periods have on healthcare venture firms’ relationships with LPs as well as the characteristics needed to raise new financing rounds for pharma startups. Other topics include the impact of...
Apr 14, 2021•54 min
