Private Equity FunCast

Corporate AI spend in 2026 looked like a teenager loose at the mall with their parents' credit card. No policy, no budget, no discipline about what was purchased and why.
That will change in the 2027 budget season, just kicking off. Devin goes deep with Accordion's Justin D'Onofrio using an 8-step framework to get it right. They cover why 91% of PE-backed CFOs can't size their AI spend, and why 83% of portfolio companies have AI pilots running with almost none tied to measurable value. That won't fly anymore.
Justin is a Managing Director on Accordion's Performance Management team and spends his days at the intersection of finance, technology, and FP&A. He's deep in conversation with PE-backed CFOs every day about this big cost looming over 2027 budgets so he's the perfect guest to help you out.
https://www.accordion.com/how-to-build-ai-budget-2027/

What does it look like to go "all in" at every stage of your career, even when you're not on the traditional track?
This week on Parker Gals, Liz and Cass sit down with Hannah Song, a former senior associate at Promus Equity Partners who's heading to UChicago Booth this fall. Hannah shares her non-traditional journey from KPMG audit to investment banking at Mesirow to private equity — and opens up about the difficult decision of choosing between a surprise promotion and business school.
Plus, why Hannah chose culture over prestige when picking firms, her obsession with Ratatouille (the movie AND the dish), and why she believes that everything's "figure-out-able."

Paul and Ryan break down what PE-backed executives should know about their management equity: how the economics work, what's worth negotiating, and how you can use it to start things off the right way with your PE sponsor.

What if the future of private equity looks exactly like its past? The days of cheap debt and multiple expansion are over, so the only way to win going forward is to operate your way out. Buy well, execute, and exit well. In this episode, Devin and Paul sit down with Lee McCabe — recovering operating partner, Facebook and Alibaba alum, and Founder of Claymore Partners — to unpack what the new playbook for PE actually looks like.
Paul and Lee share stories about Operating Partner roles inside private equity funds, how to bond with management teams so you can get stuff done, and how to share bad news with the deal team when they don't want to hear it. We detail the operating plays that continue to work post-close and why, in the end, there are no shortcuts, only execution. Lee calls it common sense.
You can connect with Lee at https://www.claymorepartners.com/ and follow his prolific LinkedIn account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leemccabe/

Cass sits down with Angela McCoy, Managing Director at May River, a private equity firm investing in lower middle market industrial businesses. Angela shares her journey from leveraged finance at Bank of America through the 2008 financial crisis, to a family office, and ultimately to May River, where she started remotely during the pandemic while pregnant. 
They dig into why Angela believes sector-focused strategies are winning in today's PE landscape, how May River approaches portfolio management, and why the "private equity = cost cutters" stereotype couldn't be further from her reality. She also opens up about the power of peer networks, building a "personal board of advisors," and why 10-year-old Angela wanted to be a marine biologist.