Relationships are the Atomic Unit of Deal Flow (w/ Ken Fine, CEO of Affinity)

In 1982, Bill Atkinson made Apple's Lisa faster by deleting 2,000 lines of code, and the management form asked how many he wrote. Forty-four years later we're counting tokens instead. Same bug. The good news: with agentic workflows, engineering is finally measurable in terms a board understands. Jim sits down with Kirby Montgomery and Dan Bender of Code & Co. to cover what's worth tracking (speed paired with stability, and outcomes over activity), why tech diligence now starts before the LOI, why the slick data-room dashboard is sometimes running on localhost, and why you can game the capture but not the context. Measure to learn, not to punish. Website: https://www.codeandco.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeandcogroup/

What does it really take to build trust in private equity over a five-to-seven-year hold? Cass sits down with her colleague Nori Welles-Gertz, a principal at Parker Gale, to find out. They talk about why PE is more about relationships and reputation than transactions, and how she moved from consulting into operationally focused lower middle market investing. They also discuss how her college crew experience prepared her for a fast-paced career, what she's learning from AI experimentation and a few personal favorites: "Arrested Development," gluten-free pancakes, and perfect weekends built around lots of outdoor activities.

Investment diligence is all about answering two questions: Do we want to own this business? And what would we do with it if we did? But then the deal closes, and all those problems you identified and opportunities you imagined during diligence become yours to tackle. So where do you even start? In this episode, Ryan and Paul compare notes on what actually happens in the first year of owning a business: how they get the ball rolling on value creation, which early initiatives tend to make the biggest difference, and how they team up with their portfolio companies to tackle the inevitable year 1 curve balls. This episode is sponsored by NetSuite Next. Try it free at netsuite.ai/funcast.

First, she sketched a med spa roll-up on maternity leave. Then, several law firms said it couldn't be done. Now? She owns five practices. Cass sits down with her old pal from grad school, Amanda Blank, to discuss her path from finance to building Founders Beauty Group, a med spa roll-up where she leads both investing and operations. Amanda explains the MSO structure that makes owning medical practices possible, how she secret-shopped her targets, and why med spas are healthcare, not consumer (as her legal bills prove). Plus, Kodiak pancakes, a mentor with 20 identical business suits, and a karaoke dare.

He left private equity, took a 75% pay cut, and joined a 12-person startup that was still finding its footing. Now, Jon Apter helps oversee 1,600 employees as CFO of Accordion – a seat he's held for the last 11 years. Jon sits down with Devin to explain what really keeps a CFO in the room with sponsors and boards. Drawing on two PE deals and 12 acquisitions, he shares what it takes to get a company exit-ready from day one, why the CFO's real job is equity value (not the budget), and why AI spend is about to show up in your QoE. Whether you work directly with CFOs, sit on the sponsor side, or are in banking or PE wondering about a move into the CFO seat – this episode will change how you think about the role. For more about Accordion visit accordion.com.