Middle Market Musings

Middle Market Musings, a podcast dedicated to the people and ideas of the Middle Market, hosted by Andy Greenberg (GVC) and Charlie Gifford (New Heritage Capital).

Middle Market Musings is a business podcast hosted by Andy Greenberg & Charlie Gifford, with 96 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Andy Greenberg & Charlie Gifford hosts Middle Market Musings, a business show with 96 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #91

  Episode 91: The No Guest Episode // Five Years of Reflection, One Episode of Musings

  Jul 28, 202658 minS1

  For our Season Five finale, we turn the microphones on ourselves. With no guest to keep us in line, Denver-based marketing guru Kim Kelty steps in as moderator, referee, and occasional peacekeeper. We reflect on nearly 90 episodes, the lessons we've learned from exceptional founders and investors, and where we think private equity and the M&A market are headed. We also discuss the two forces reshaping the industry: technology and a more demanding investment landscape. If you're expecting a sentimental moment between the hosts, you'll have to keep waiting. Instead, expect spirited banter, an unnecessary debate over music, and the familiar competitive dynamic that has somehow kept both our relationship and the podcast alive and humming over the past five years.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #90

  Episode 90: John Connaughton, Chairman, Bain Capital - Helping Build Bain Capital into a $225 Billion Private Equity Firm

  Jul 7, 202657 minS1

  John Connaughton is chair of Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity firm with roughly $225 billion in assets under management. Discussion begins with John’s childhood in Baltimore and the pace set by his Irish emigre parents. College at UVA and business school at Harvard followed. John joined Bain in 1989, an early employee in the private equity effort that spun out of the Bain & Co. management consulting firm. He and the hosts take a fast-paced tour through early days at Bain Capital, the mindset of Mitt Romney and other leaders, his ascent in the practice, John’s own tenure in leadership, and Bain’s determination to remain private even as its peers entered the public market. One constant theme: the pursuit of extraordinary returns on every deal.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #89

  Episode 89 Morgan Witham, Ficus Advisors

  Jun 9, 202651 minS1

  Morgan Witham, a stellar product of the Harris Williams “coaching tree,” stops by Middle Market Musings – akin to starting your career with the New York Yankees and ending up in the dugout with Ricky Vaughn and Willie Mays Hayes. Morgan recently launched Ficus Advisors, a new firm that helps private equity clients guide management teams dealing with first-time institutional capital, post-deal integration issues, and PE growth imperatives. Before that, Morgan takes us on a tour of showpiece Southern cities – childhood in Lexington, college in Nashville, then a first job in Richmond at Harris Williams, the market-leading investment bank. She rose through deal execution and business development roles to become the youngest member of HW’s executive team as Director of Strategy. The episode begins and ends with Morgan reflecting on a life-changing event – the fire that destroyed her family’s home earlier this year, and what the experience has taught her about leadership, resilience and human kindness.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #88

  Episode 88 Emily Holdman, Permanent Equity

  May 26, 202654 minS1

  Emily is a Managing Director at Permanent Equity, a St. Louis-based private equity firm that his made its reputation as its name suggests – by investing out of 30-year funds that enable longer term holds and relationships with founding entrepreneurs. Emily and the hosts sail through her childhood in Indianapolis, college as a journalism major at the University of Missouri and a first job in marketing in Los Angeles. There, she connected with Permanent Equity founder Brent Beshore, returning to the Midwest and joining the firm in 2009. Much discussion ensues on how the Permanent Equity model differentiates the firm in a market largely defined by investor liquidity requirements. Emily also has the misfortune of dealing with the hosts after a spring layover. Rusty? No. Bristling with sports rivalries and other resentments ? Always.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #87

  Episode 87 John Ferrara, Capstone Partners

  May 12, 202646 minS1

  This one is as action-packed and varied in scene as a James Bond movie. John Ferrara is founder and CEO of Capstone Partners, the middle market investment bank. John’s story rolls through his upbringing in hardscrabble Brockton, MA to college at liberal arts enclave Wesleyan to an early career stop with Lehman Brothers on Wall Street, to two years of professional baseball in Australia. Then business school at UCLA, partnership at Arthur Andersen and, in 2002, the founding of Capstone. John discusses his ambitious early plans for a new investment bank, the buildup of Capstone through a series of acquisitions, and the decision to sell to Huntington Bank in 2022. John and the hosts wrap up discussing some personal challenges and life philosophy that applies to but transcends the world of finance.

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Middle Market Musings. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.