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.

Most private equity firms claim to use a leather-bound "value creation" bible nobody's allowed to touch. The truth? It's more of a Cheesecake Factory menu. In this episode, Paul and Jim break down what operating partners actually do once the deal closes — the three buckets that matter (revenue, cost, risk), why many software companies leave revenue on the table with their existing customers, and what "don't buy a company you can't sell" looks like in practice.

In 1995, the typical "PE operating team" was a few old-timer ex-CEOs. Today there are 20,000 of them. Cass and Paul from ParkerGale's ops team sit down with Devin to walk through how private equity operations actually evolved — from the "I got a guy" Rolodex era, to the captive consulting model, to today's proliferation of professional operators. Plus hot takes on the AI-specialist hiring boom, why a lot of operating teams will get skinnier, and how to know if you're helping or propping up a company.

Selling a company isn't just about price - it's about timing, preparation and process. In this episode, Devin sits down with Ryan Milligan to break down how to sell a company - from timing the exit to running a competitive process and getting a deal across the finish line. They walk through the full private equity playbook including when to sell, whether or not to hire a banker and how deals move from early conversations to signed LOIs and closing. If you've ever wondered how exits happen behind the scenes, this episode illustrates how it really goes down.

Everyone loves the chase but what happens when the ink dries on the deal and you actually own a company?

In this episode, Jim sits down with Paul Stansik to pull back the curtain on how the combined deal, ops, and management teams come together in the first few weeks and months post-close.

They break down what life looks like immediately after an acquisition, including setting up governance, identifying talent gaps and figuring out where the real opportunities (and risks) are hiding.

Jim and Paul also hit on the softer side of what happens during the early-hold period, and the importance of curiosity, connection, and trust-building inside ParkerGale's approach to value-creation.

Ever wonder what your investors are thinking about during the first few months of a new investment? Curious about what happens when diligence is over and things get real? This is the episode for you.

It all starts with an acquisition, but most people don't understand how private equity firms actually find and buy companies. Devin sits down with Ryan Milligan to break down the mechanics of deal sourcing, banker-led processes and direct founder relationships.

From the early days of rotary phones ringing with deals to today's hyper-competitive sourcing environment, we discuss how firms build pipelines, win founders over, and decide which companies to buy.

If you've ever wondered how private equity truly functions behind the scenes, this is your go-to guide for the entire process.

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.

In this episode, Devin and Jim rewind to 2014 — and a $12 bottle of Cabernet at the Macaroni Grill — where they hatched the plan to leave their firm and build a new private equity firm from nothing. This is the insider's guide they wish they'd had.