Middle Market Musings

This one combines the insight of a WWF wrestling match with the virility of an Aspen Institute panel discussion. Mark Jones is a Partner at River Associates, the Chattanooga-based private equity firm currently investing out of its eighth vehicle. For better or worse (admittedly worse for him), Mark is also a longtime friend of Andy and Charlie’s. He is a true son of the south – childhood in Savannah, boarding school in Virginia, college at Vanderbilt before remaining in Tennessee for his career. Discussion sails through Mark’s early life and work, but mainly comprises 30 years of experience at one of the most active and highly regarded middle-market private equity funds. If a measure of the hosts’ comfort is Charlie and Andy’s willingness to joust with one another, this one is off the charts.

David Michel is Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst Health, a Dallas-based innovator in virtual at-home preventive care recently acquired by Teledoc Health for $65 million. Each stop in David’s story is spellbinding. David begins with his upbringing in southern Illinois, where his entrepreneur/radio broadcaster father played a large role in his upbringing. He then charts his own entrepreneurial path culminating in the founding of Catapult Health in 2010. Discussion returns to the March 2025 sale to Teledoc, a signature event transformed by the sudden death of David’s lawyer and close friend in January. This tragedy connected David to Andy. A fast-moving episode that continues the suspiciously long, and admittedly awkward, armistice between Andy and Charlie.

Barbie Adler gives new meaning to the phrase “mystery date” with a star turn on Middle Market Musings. Barbie is Founder and President of Selective Search, the nation’s preeminent luxury matchmaker. Barbie traces her origin story from Chicagoland roots to Bradley University to early successes in public relations and executive search. Her work experience led her to found Selective Search in 2000, based on her belief that the principles of high-end executive search could be applied to romantic relationships. In 2019, Barbie brought in an equity partner – Permanent Equity. She hits on a few favorite MMM themes – how to scale a highly specialized service offering, how to evolve from entrepreneurial to institutional ownership, and what to say when a business owner or dating prospect says they’re a “9” and you know they’re a “7.”

Ron Miller’s good judgment and even temper survive an appearance on Middle Market Musings. Ron, an old friend to both Andy and Charlie, is Managing Director and Head of US Middle Market Investment Banking at CIBC. Ron talks about his youth in Chicago, including early experience in the family clothing business. The story migrates to Milwaukee, where Ron traces his early involvement in the Cleary Gull investment bank and its evolution into CIBC’s US-based M&A arm. The interview concludes with a poignant account of the loss that galvanized Ron’s family and led them into a lifetime of good works related to organ donation awareness.

Chris is a Partner at Pacific Lake Capital, one of the leading investors in the search fund industry and currently investing out of its $317 million sixth fund. The Stanford Graduate School of Business alum shares stories of his 20 plus years of experience and how the industry has evolved over time. His journey began as a searcher who found, invested in, and ran VRI, a remote patient monitoring company that grew revenue nearly 10x and grew equity value by more than 25x during his time as CEO before its sale to Pamlico Capital. An animated discussion follows about his transition from operator to investor and his current role at Pacific Lake. The conversation culminates in a lively exchange around the Hendriksen family’s cool summer habit – moving to a different city around the world for a month or two each year.

The Middle Market Musings tour bus pulls into Western Pennsylvania for a lively episode with Steve Gurgovits, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Tecum Capital. Tecum is a multi-strategy investment firm focused on the lower middle market. Steve gets into his upbringing and football exploits in Sharon, PA; the example his father set as a banker in that economically hard hit community, Steve’s own tenure at FNB Bank and his ultimate evolution into private equity/subordinated debt investing at Tecum. Charlie scores by asking about the origin of the “Tecum” name. Andy scores with his Rain Main-like knowledge of Pennsylvania’s regional economies.

Scott Estill runs out of excuses and ends up in the MMM studio. Scott is partner and head of the New York office at Lancor, a national search and advisory firm. Scott reviews his extensive early career in investment banking and how it evolved into Lancor’s distinctive private equity executive placement model. Before that, the hosts get into Scott’s origin story, including his time producing films for The Beastie Boys (not a typo) and as a college soccer goalie in the United States and England, including how he became Tony James’ go-to in the soccer goal. Scott’s banking and soccer experience provide Andy the opportunity to make an obvious pun about “pitches,” which didn’t yield the guffaws that he had hoped for or expected.

Randy is vice chairman at Churchill Asset Management. With over $50 billion of committed capital, Churchill provides customized financing solutions to U.S. middle market private equity firms and their portfolio companies across the capital structure. Randy is widely credited as one of the pioneers in providing loan syndications to private middle market companies and is founder/publisher of the Lead Left market newsletter. He and the hosts dive in to the evolution of non-bank financing and syndications for middle market companies, the emergence of single tranche and second lien products, and Churchill’s role through several incarnations in defining these trends. For those interested in the last 30 years of transaction finance, this one is a true geek fest.

Scratch golfer Pat Galleher ends up in the tangled fescue that is Middle Market Musings. Pat is Managing Partner of Boxwood Partners, the middle market investment bank based in Richmond, VA and Jupiter, FL. Pat details his youth in and around golf courses, including encounters with a young Tiger Woods, which compels Charlie to offer Pat and Andy a complicated hypothetical involving Tiger, prison and some money. After college at the University of Richmond, Pat honed his sales and operational expertise at a global financial communications firm, becoming the youngest CEO listed on the London Stock Exchange. Since co-founding Boxwood in 2008 Pat has led more than 75 engagements, including over 35 franchisor sell-side transactions. A fast paced tour of the successful mindset common to business and competitive sports.

David Walker is president and CEO of EBSCO, one of America’s largest family-owned private companies. With approximately $3 billion in revenues, EBSCO traces its origins to a magazine subscription business founded by Elton B. Stephens in 1944. David details EBSCO’s business interests today, comprising information services, diversified industrial and real estate holdings. He also shares his personal story, which includes childhood in the peach orchards of Alabama, college at Auburn and early career experience in public accounting before joining EBSCO in 2000. One highlight: David’s discussion of the particular resonance of the word “humility” at EBSCO.

Marty Mannion shows up and puts 40 years of leadership stature at risk. Summit Partners is a pioneer in the private equity industry, with more than $32 billion invested to date. Marty has been at Summit since 1985 and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Managers. His storied path begins in modest surroundings in the Bronx, before formative experiences at Regis High School, Princeton (where he was an Ivy champion basketball player) and Harvard Business School. In school and early career stops, Marty was “just lucky” – always benefitting from mentors and others who saw his potential. Extending to his private equity career, Marty and the hosts reflect on how hard work, intelligence and good nature somehow translate into good fortune.

Since January, David Santoni has been Managing Director, Business Development at Audax Private Equity, now investing out of its seventh flagship fund, a $5.25 billion vehicle. Before Audax, David was a well-known middle-market investment banker based in Minneapolis with several firms, notably Lazard Middle Market (dating back to its Goldsmith Agio Helms days), Hennepin Partners, and Prestwick Partners. David delves into his career, the vibrant Minneapolis deal community and his current experience managing sponsor coverage relationships after so many years as a coverage banker himself. Discussion winds up on David’s Philadelphia sports loyalties – a source of mild pleasure for Andy and more than mild irritation for Charlie.

Sir William Felix Browder provides a distinguished start to Season 4. As CEO and Founder of Hermitage, Bill Browder became the largest portfolio investor in Russia. He traces his family’s early connections to Russia, and then tells one of the singular tales of courage in this century. Browder went from Russian insider to mortal Putin foe. He was able to escape Russia, but his attorney and friend Sergei Magnitsky was imprisoned on phony embezzlement charges, tortured and killed. Bill responded by pushing for the enactment of the Magnitsky Act in the United States, as well as laws in 16 other nations providing for asset seizure and sanctions in response to human rights violations. Bill talks about his ongoing interests in global politics as well as his post-Russia activities as a private investor in US Middle Market private equity.

Les Alexander takes MMM on a picaresque back-and-forth between the lowlands of Louisiana and the rolling hills of Virginia. Childhood in New Orleans, college at UVA, a private equity and business career back home, then a return to Charlottesville as an endowed professor. The lively discussion covers such critical questions as the right way to say “New Orleans,” the best restaurant in Charlottesville, the lineage of the hot sauce industry, and what makes someone an effective teacher, as distinguished from all of the practiced good talkers in the deal business.

Another episode, another chat with a Navy pilot / SEAL team member / US-Senate candidate / private equity star / private company CEO….Gabriel Gomez stops by to talk about his boyhood in Washington state, his extraordinary military service, and his post-HBS success in business, including his most recent venture as CEO of O2X Human Performance, which provides science-backed training programs to hundreds of public safety departments nationwide, federal agencies, and the military. Falfurrias Capital invested in O2X in early 2024. This one does not lack in memorable moments, but Gabriel’s “you are there” account of how you stick the landing on an aircraft carrier is a particular highlight.

Jeff Giles is the latest deal professional to run out of excuses and end up in the MMM studio. He is Executive Vice President for Corporate Development at Core & Main, a St. Louis-based publicly traded specialty distributor focused on water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection. Andy and Charlie join Jeff in recounting his days as a private equity newbie. Since joining Core & Main in 2018, Jeff has completed more than 30 acquisitions, deploying approximately $1.6 billion of capital. A lively conversation charts the evolution of Jeff’s childhood in St. Louis and his love of hockey, his early career progression, the table stakes for being a successful strategic buyer, and the St. Louis Blues’ earthshaking 2019 Stanley Cup win.

This episode features: a University of Missouri starting quarterback who tackled Brian Bosworth, a hardworking youthful entrepreneur, a standout networker in the M&A industry, a pioneer podcaster and a leader in the field of insurance / due diligence. Not five guests! Just one – Jeff Henningsen, President and CEO of Lockton Companies – Texas Series. A veritable Ben Franklin. The episode contains the standard animated discussion that seasoned listeners come to expect from Andy and Charlie. In a varsity move, Jeff refuses to get drawn in to the heated debate over who was responsible for the “lost” first taping attempt of this episode. To seasoned MMM listeners, the answer is obvious…

Steve was the one “first time, long time” guest in the DealMax extravaganza. Even so, he is as cool as the other side of the pillow in recounting his activities as TM’s head of sponsor coverage and the firm’s recent acquisition by Janney Montgomery Scott. Steve and Andy trade friendly competitive observations on the Braves and Phillies while Charlie – totally not influenced by current Red Sox fortunes – declares baseball passé.

If this were a Friends episode, it would be “The One Where Gretchen Shows Up With a Glass of Wine.” Gretchen blows the doors off with insights into Avance’s deal activity, the current temperamental condition of the M&A market, and her own turn as DealMAX conference chair a few years ago. A discussion of her “walk on” music at that event leads to Charlie, Andy and Gretchen all singing at different points in the episode. “Must See TV,” for sure.

Brent returns to the big stage for his first DealMax conference since assuming the reins as ACG’s CEO. He shares some impressive numbers on this year’s event – more than 3,000 attendees and an estimated 35,000-40,000 meetings. Then interesting discussion on how ACG is keeping pace with the industry’s desire for more informed and qualified interactions. In “Gifford or Greenberg,” Brent asserts his own superiority in cooking (uncontested) and musical tastes (heavily contested).