Altitude by Talon Podcast

Welcome to the Altitude by Talon podcast, where we explore energy, AI, entrepreneurship, and investing with the experts building the future. Each episode brings candid conversations with founders, investors, and industry leaders reshaping how we power our world, leverage artificial intelligence, build companies, and allocate capital. We cut through the noise to deliver actionable insights from people who have done the work and achieved real results. Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking your next breakthrough, an investor looking for emerging opportunities, or simply curious about the forces transforming our economy, Talon Talks provides the knowledge you need to stay ahead. Topics: Energy innovation • Applied AI • Startup strategy • Investment trends • Leadership lessons from successful exits

Altitude by Talon Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Talon Capital, with 13 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Talon Capital hosts Altitude by Talon Podcast, a business show with 13 episodes published.

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  Episode #13

  Episode 13: How Energy and Power are Key Bottlenecks for the AI Boom with James West

  Sep 24, 202648 minS1

  In this episode of Altitude by Talon, host Charlie Leykum sits down with James West, Managing Director and Head of Energy and Power Research at Melius, and the top Institutional Investor–ranked energy analyst for a decade. James traces his path from DLJ to Lehman Brothers — where he was mentored by legendary analyst Jim Crandall — through Barclays, Evercore ISI, and now Melius, where he's built a research practice around what he calls the "Energy AI Nexus." The conversation covers why natural gas, not nuclear or renewables, is the near-term answer to the AI boom's power constraints, some of the biggest stock calls of his career (NOV, Hornbeck Offshore, Baker Hughes), the industry-reshaping "Pledge" call for capital discipline, and why James believes reshoring U.S. manufacturing is the next big theme investors should watch beyond AI. Episode Highlights [01:36] James's background growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, studying economics at UNC, and landing his first job at DLJ covering online travel companies just before the dot-com bust. [02:16] DLJ's acquisition by Credit Suisse forces a job search, and a chance meeting with legendary analyst Jim Crandall leads James to Lehman Brothers and, eventually, energy research. [06:44] Building the Lehman energy team and the CEO Energy Conference that became the biggest event of its kind on Wall Street, plus early career-defining calls on NOV, Hydril, and Hornbeck Offshore. [13:07] The move to Barclays after Lehman's bankruptcy, inheriting the full research franchise, and climbing to the #1 Institutional Investor ranking. [18:34] "The Pledge" — colleague Doug Terresen's 2016 call for the industry to abandon production growth and tie CEO pay to returns on invested capital instead. [27:00] Moving to Melius in 2025 and building coverage around the "Energy AI Nexus." Why natural gas turbines, not nuclear or renewables, are positioned to meet AI's power demand in the near term. [33:36] Where the equipment opportunity sits today: Baker Hughes' rapid buildout in gas turbines and compression, and the broader wave of IPP acquisitions. [40:30] Reshoring and re-industrialization of U.S. manufacturing is one of the biggest, most underappreciated investment themes right now. Key Takeaways: Takeaway 1: AI's real bottleneck is power. In the near term, natural gas is the only power source positioned to scale fast enough to meet data center demand, and James believes the industry will hit a hard wall on available power sometime around 2026–2027. Takeaway 2: A long research career is shaped as much by external shocks as by strategy. James's path — DLJ to Lehman to Barclays to Evercore ISI to Melius — was driven repeatedly by acquisitions, bankruptcies, and mentors moving on, not a straight line of planned moves. Takeaway 3: AI is reshaping the research profession itself, not eliminating it. James's team has fully adopted AI tools in their workflow, and his view is blunt: anyone who doesn't learn to use AI, in any industry, is going to fall behind. Guest Spotlight: James West, Managing Director & Head of Energy and Power Research, Melius James West is the Managing Director and Head of Energy and Power Research at Melius, and was the top Institutional Investor–ranked energy analyst for ten consecutive years across his career at Lehman Brothers, Barclays, and Evercore ISI. A UNC Chapel Hill graduate, he built his career under the mentorship of legendary analyst Jim Crandall before taking over Lehman and later Barclays' full energy research franchise. At Melius, James has built a research lens around what he calls the "Energy AI Nexus" — covering the super majors, large-cap E&Ps, major oilfield service companies, and independent power producers through the perspective of AI-driven power demand. He also serves as a senior advisor to Turbine Hub and has served on the board of Boston University's Institute for Global Sustainability. In this episode, he shares two and a half decades of career-defining calls and his outlook on where energy and power investing goes next. Stay Connected: Website: https://www.talon-cap.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talon-capital-corp/ Contact: contact@talon-cap.com

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  Episode #12

  Episode 12: David Darst's Asset Allocation Playbook

  Sep 18, 202655 minS1

  In this episode of Altitude by Talon, host Charlie Leykum sits down with David Darst — widely regarded as one of the fathers of asset allocation, and, as it turns out, Charlie's father-in-law. David spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs, including six years launching and running the firm's private bank in Zurich, followed by more than two decades at Morgan Stanley as chief investment strategist of wealth management and founding chairman of its asset allocation committee. The author of more than 15 books, including The Art of Asset Allocation and the New York Times bestseller The Little Book That Saves Your Assets, David now serves as chief investment officer of Americana Partners in Houston. The conversation traces his path from Nashville and Phillips Exeter Academy through Yale and Harvard Business School, into the heart of asset allocation theory — diversification, rebalancing, and risk management — and out into his current views on gold, energy, healthcare, and private assets. Episode Highlights [02:00] Growing up in Nashville and the path to Phillips Exeter Academy at age 15 — including the upperclassman who told him to "hit the books or hit the bricks." [06:00] Studying economics at Yale under Nobel laureate James Tobin and the origins of his fascination with language and etymology. [13:00] Joining Goldman Sachs, becoming its youngest manager at 27, and opening the firm's private bank in Zurich. [21:48] The move to Morgan Stanley and summarizing 12 essential investing books to elevate financial advisors' knowledge. [26:20] "Recognizing Turning Points" — the 1999 essay, written at mentor Barton Biggs's urging, that called the market top just ahead of the dot-com crash. [33:55] Where David sees opportunity today: healthcare, energy, and a closer look at how the "Mag Seven" stocks are performing this year. [43:16] The 15 lessons of wisdom a translator compiled after shadowing David for 24 hours at a central bank conference in Georgia and Armenia. [48:35] Lightning round: the phone-scanning habit that changed how David writes, and the story behind meeting WhatsApp founder Jan Koum. [53:00] Closing thoughts: the family story behind his new children's book, Lulu Loves Christmas. Key Takeaways: ●Takeaway 1: Real risk isn't variance, it's covariance. True diversification means holding assets that don't move together, so a shock to one doesn't sink the whole portfolio. ●Takeaway 2: Every asset is driven by fundamentals, valuation, and psychology. Psychology is the most important of the three. The discipline to buy a good asset when it's unloved, or trim one that's grown too large is what separates successful long-term investors from everyone else. ●Takeaway 3: Private and alternative assets deserve a place in a portfolio, but most individual investors lack the resources to do proper due diligence. The real skill is picking the right manager, quote: "if you don't know diamonds, know your jeweler." Guest Spotlight: David Darst, Chief Investment Officer, Americana Partners David Darst is widely known as one of the fathers of asset allocation. He spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs, including six years launching and running the firm's private bank in Zurich, followed by more than two decades at Morgan Stanley, where he served as chief investment strategist of wealth management and founding chairman of its asset allocation committee. He is the author of more than 15 books, including The Art of Asset Allocation and the New York Times bestseller The Little Book That Saves Your Assets, and has also published four creative works, including his forthcoming children's book, Lulu Loves Christmas. A longtime contributor to CNBC and Bloomberg, he has taught at both Yale and Harvard Business School. He now serves as chief investment officer of Americana Partners in Houston, where he is entering his eighth year with the firm. Stay Connected: https://www.talon-cap.com Website: https://www.talon-cap.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talon-capital-corp/ Contact: contact@talon-cap.com

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  Episode #11

  Episode 11: Charles Ellis on 50 Years of Investment Management and the Yale Endowment Model

  Sep 4, 20261h 7mS1

  In this episode of Altitude by Talon, host Charlie Leykum sits down with Charley Ellis — founder of Greenwich Associates, former Chairman of Yale's endowment investment committee, longtime Vanguard board member, and author of 24 books, including the landmark Winning the Loser's Game and his newest, Great American Investments . Charley traces his path from a childhood spent moving across America, to a discovery of art history at Yale, to Harvard Business School, and eventually to the index fund research that reshaped how the investment industry thinks about active management. The conversation covers why 85–90% of actively managed funds fail to keep up with the index over a 20-year period, the outsized power of starting early and letting compounding do the work, the journey to chairing Yale's endowment committee, and what 14 great American investments — from the Erie Canal to the NIH — reveal about the entrepreneurial spirit behind the country's biggest wins. Episode Highlights ● [00:02:00] Growing up all over America in the 1940s and what moving constantly taught Charley about regional change and dynamics. ● [00:05:13] The Exeter teaching method that shaped how Charley learned to listen and think for the rest of his life. ● [00:08:00] A chance conversation with a faculty advisor at Yale leads Charley to art history, and a lesson about why only the best of the best of the best really matters, in art and in investing. ● [00:12:00] Why Charley's father talked him out of law school and toward business, and the girlfriend who told him to apply to "the B school." ● [00:28:37] How a supervisor's blunt feedback ("you don't know anything about investing") sent Charley to night school at NYU — and turned into an accidental PhD. ● [00:38:41] The core thesis of Winning the Loser's Game : why 85–90% of actively managed funds fail to beat the index over 20 years, even after all the talent and technology the industry has thrown at the problem. ● [00:44:00] The path back to Yale: from a talk on endowment management to chairing the university's investment committee. ● [00:58:00] What elite professional firms — Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Cravath, the Mayo Clinic — all have in common, from What It Takes . ● [01:00:00] Inside Great American Investments — 14 entrepreneurial stories, from the Erie Canal to land-grant colleges to the NIH, that built the country's spirit of innovation. Key Takeaways: ● Takeaway 1: Very few people ever ask themselves the one investing question that matters most — how much time do I have before I'll actually need this money? Knowing your real timeframe should shape every allocation decision you make. ● Takeaway 2: Over a 20-year period, 85–90% of actively managed funds fail to keep pace with a simple index fund — even with lower fees, lower taxes, and protection from common behavioral mistakes, indexing remains one of the most reliable paths to long-term returns. ● Takeaway 3: Time and compounding are gifts that reward starting early far more than they reward trying to optimize later. The leap from 64 to 128 takes exactly as long as the leap from 1 to 2 — the advantage comes from starting the clock sooner, not from timing the market. Guest Spotlight: Charley Ellis , Founder, Greenwich Associates Charley Ellis is one of the most influential investment thinkers and writers of the past 50 years. His landmark 1975 article, "The Loser's Game," grew into the book Winning the Loser's Game , now in its final edition with over a million copies sold worldwide. He founded Greenwich Associates, chaired Yale University's endowment investment committee, served on Yale's board and on the board of Vanguard, and has taught at both Harvard Business School and Yale. He is the author of 24 books, including The Partnership (a history of Goldman Sachs), What It Takes (a study of elite professional firms), and his newest release, Great American Investments . In this episode, he reflects on a career spent studying what separates truly great organizations and investors from everyone else. Stay Connected: https://www.talon-cap.com Website: https://www.talon-cap.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talon-capital-corp/ Contact: contact@talon-cap.com

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  Episode #10

  Episode 10: From Finance to Mining: Graham Brown’s Trajectory to Arena CEO

  Aug 19, 202632 minS1

  In this episode of Talon X, host Charlie Leykum sits down with Graham Brown, CEO of Arena Industrial, to trace his path from studying finance at UT Austin to commercial banking, investment banking, and private equity and credit investing — and ultimately to running a sand and gravel mining company. Graham shares what it was like to step into a CEO role at 29 during the depths of COVID and a down frac sand market, how Arena diversified into filter media and specialty construction materials, and why water purification and wastewater treatment have become the company's biggest growth focus. The conversation also covers the ripple effects of the data center and AI buildout on water, aggregate, and behind-the-meter power demand, plus a personal look at Graham's family, faith, and leadership influences. Episode Highlights [01:00] Graham's background: growing up in Amarillo as the son of a petroleum geologist, and studying finance at UT Austin. [01:53] From commercial banking at Amegy to investment banking at Duff & Phelps — advising oilfield service and industrial companies through the 2014–2016 downturn. [04:19] The shift from sell-side advisory to the buy side, and what drew him to want to run a business rather than just advise on one. [6:00] The pivotal investment: a private credit loan to a sand mining company in Louisiana that didn't go as planned — and led to Graham taking over as CEO at 29. [12:45] Regional trends: the Haynesville Shale, damp vs. dry frac sand, and why Louisiana has leaned into damp sand faster than other basins. [20:46] Biggest lessons and challenges as a CEO. [23:17] How data centers are reshaping demand for construction materials, water cooling/filtration, and behind-the-meter gas power. [25:10] Family life and personal passions. Key Takeaways: Takeaway 1: Being handed the keys to an industrial mining company at 29 taught Graham that real operating experience is where you actually learn a business. His advice for the first 90 days in a new leadership role: absorb and learn, don't overhaul. Takeaway 2: Growth in a commodity business often comes from diversification and trust, not just volume. Arena expanded from frac sand into filter media and specialty construction materials by building long-term relationships. Takeaway 3: The data center and AI buildout isn't just about power, it's also about materials, water filtration/cooling systems, and behind-the-meter natural gas. Guest Spotlight: Graham Brown, CEO, Arena Industrial Graham is the CEO of Arena Industrial, a sand mining, aggregate, and filter media company serving the frac sand, water purification, wastewater treatment, and specialty construction markets. A UT Austin finance and accounting graduate, he began his career in commercial banking at Amegy Bank before moving into investment banking at Duff & Phelps, advising middle-market energy service and industrial companies. He later moved to the buy side with a private credit fund in Austin, where a loan to a sand mining company in Louisiana led him to step in as CEO at age 29, right as COVID hit. Since then, he's helped grow and diversify the business into a profitable, multi-market platform. Graham lives in the Austin area with his wife, Kat, and their three children. Stay Connected: Website: https://www.talon-cap.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talon-capital-corp/ Contact: contact@talon-cap.com

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  Episode #9

  From Welder to CEO: Danny Watkins on Building Petro Mechanical Services

  Aug 6, 202644 minS1

  We sit down with Danny Watkins, Founder and CEO of Petro Mechanical Services (PMS), to trace his path from a childhood in the shadow of Lone Star Steel in rural Northeast Texas, through a football scholarship at the University of Tulsa, and into a career that started as a welder's helper on offshore platforms in Houston. Watkins shares how mentors like fabricator “Mike” and later Mark Fisher in Pennsylvania shaped his understanding of the oilfield services business, and how the 2014-15 downturn became the unlikely launchpad for Petro Mechanical Services, founded in November 2015 on the idea of professionalizing contract welding labor. He walks through PMS's growth from a single well-head welding contract into a full-service mechanical, roustabout, rental, and supply business now in its 11th year with over 150 employees across Texas and neighboring states, and reflects on the credo that has anchored the company since day one: “We Do What We Say We're Going to Do.” Episode Highlights [01:36]: Growing up in rural Northeast Texas in the shadow of Lone Star Steel [02:23]: A football scholarship to the University of Tulsa and the path to Houston [07:19]: Becoming a welder's helper and learning the trade from mentor “Mike” [12:12]: Starting a first welding business in 1996 and the road to Pennsylvania [14:05]: 2014 downturn and the idea behind Petro Mechanical Services [20:07]: Snapshot of PMS today — West Odessa headquarters and over 150 employees [22:05]: Longer laterals, faster wells, and the rise of U-turn drilling [30:32]: Digitization, GPS-tagged jobs, and exploring AI in the field [32:02]: Origin of the “We Do What We Say We're Going to Do” credo [37:49]: Family life, meeting Nancy, and balancing family and work Key Takeaways: • Downturns can be the best time to build. Watkins launched Petro Mechanical Services in November 2015, in the teeth of the 2014-16 oil downturn, on the belief that drilling rigs and wells run on steel and someone needed to professionalize the welding labor force. The company won its first contract, then a second, and growth followed as clients began asking, “What else can you do for us?” — a pattern that has repeated as PMS expanded from welding into roustabouts, rentals, and supply. • Listening to clients and doing what you say builds a lasting business. Watkins traces PMS's growth directly to two simple rules: listen to what the client needs, and follow through on every commitment. That discipline — formalized in the company credo “We Do What We Say We're Going to Do” — has let PMS earn repeat business from majors and large independents and expand service lines organically as clients asked for more. • Disciplined, relationship-led expansion beats chasing every opportunity. From a single shop north of Midland to a West Odessa facility PMS now owns, and more recently a new facility near Marshall, Texas to expand into neighboring markets, Watkins has been deliberate about entering only markets adjacent to existing relationships and crews — passing on ventures like solar where PMS lacked an established network — while investing early in technology like GPS-tagged job documentation, digitized job boards, and AI to keep the growing workforce of over 150 employees efficient and safe. Guest Spotlight: Danny Watkins Danny Watkins is the Founder and President of Petro Mechanical Services, LLC (PMS), a full-service mechanical services firm serving upstream, midstream, and downstream energy operators and contractors. Raised in rural Northeast Texas, where his father worked at Lone Star Steel, Watkins played defensive line at the University of Tulsa on a football scholarship before moving to Houston in the late 1980s to work as a welder's helper on offshore platforms. He spent the following decades building a career across welding, fabrication, and oilfield services — including running his own welding business, working as a rig consultant, and helping scale a Pennsylvania-based supply company through the Macondo response — before founding Petro Mechanical Services in November 2015. Under his leadership, PMS has grown into a company of over 150 employees headquartered in West Odessa, Texas, with an expanding presence across neighboring states, offering contract welding, roustabout labor, rig-up and rig-down services, well-head installation, rental equipment, project management, engineering and design-build, and supply. With more than 25 years in the oilfield, Watkins has built the company around a simple credo: “We Do What We Say We're Going to Do.” He and his wife Nancy, whom he met in 1991, have three sons and one grandson. Stay Connected: https://www.talon-cap.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/talon-capital-corp https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-leykum-1622ba http://www.PetroMS.com Website: https://www.talon-cap.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talon-capital-corp/ Contact: contact@talon-cap.com

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