Shows / Middle Market Growth
Middle Market Growth
The Middle Market Growth podcast features in-depth interviews with industry experts and middle-market dealmakers about trends impacting midsize companies and M&A. This podcast is a production of the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about ACG, visit acg.org. To hear more interviews with experts and thought leaders, subscribe on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episodes
Middle Market GrowthCarve-Out vs. Wind-Down: A Guide to a Complex Exit
When an otherwise healthy business has a poorly performing division, sometimes exiting that division is the right choice. Deciding to exit via a carve-out or a…
- Middle Market Growth
Rethinking the Five-Year Exit: How Sponsors and Lenders Are Responding to Longer Hold Periods
According to Bain, average hold periods for buyout funds have extended to roughly seven years, necessitating a recalibration in approach for both sponsors and…
- Middle Market Growth
The Dealmaker’s Guide to Stress Testing AI Value
If you ask private equity firms or their portfolio companies if they’re using AI, the vast majority will say yes, but many of them are still not seeing major…
- Middle Market Growth
Inside the Fastest-Growing Corner of Private Credit: Asset-Based Finance
Asset-based finance (ABF) is a rapidly growing niche of the highly scrutinized private credit space, with some analysis projecting a 10.2% compound annual…
- Middle Market Growth
Finding the Entry Point Into AI’s Hyperscale Buildout
As AI drives an unprecedented wave of data center construction, where can middle-market investors find a foothold? Brian Thom and Ryan Gillis of Brown Gibbons…
- Middle Market Growth
The Founder's Guide to Capital
For a founder or entrepreneur, choosing whether or not to opt for outside capital is an important inflection point. Joe Camberato of National Business Capital…
Middle Market GrowthRocketing Defense Spending’s Effect on Middle-Market M&A
Rising geopolitical conflict and projected record defense spending signal a potential wave of middle-market deals for companies in the aerospace and defense…
- Middle Market Growth
Carve-Out vs. Wind-Down: A Guide to a Complex Exit
When an otherwise healthy business has a poorly performing division, sometimes exiting that division is the right choice. Deciding to exit via a carve-out or a…
- Middle Market Growth
Addressing AI's Deal Sourcing Blind Spots
Grata was acquired last year, but the firm still gets emails from investors wanting to participate in its Series A funding round. It could be the result of…
- Middle Market Growth
Building HR to Scale with Portcos: Part 1
The human resources function can struggle to keep pace with a scaling business, so how can teams implement an HR strategy that enables growth rather than…
- Middle Market Growth
Beyond the Business Card: Networking to Drive Growth
Young professionals—and M&A professionals of all seasons—are told time and time again that M&A is all about who you know, but actually making meaningful…
- Middle Market Growth
Growing Into the Middle Market: How Small Businesses Size Up
As small businesses grow into the middle market, their infrastructure, people, and capital needs can change rapidly. Joe Camberato, founder and CEO of National…
Middle Market GrowthResilience and Discipline in the Lower Middle Market
In today’s private credit markets, success is defined by resilience and discipline. As a higher-for-longer rate environment reshapes the lower middle market…
- Middle Market Growth
The Subordinated Debt Strategy for Growth
Subordinated debt can play an important role in the capital stack for businesses growing into the middle market—if used under the right circumstances. Joe…
- Middle Market Growth
The Apprenticeship Returns to Fill the AI Talent Gap
Upskilling is an important component to a human capital management strategy, but isn't enough to fill today’s AI talent gap. Daniel Pianko, cofounder and…
- Middle Market Growth
Midmarket Borrowers Play Offense with Private Capital
The middle market continues to face an uncertain and challenging environment, but new data from KeyBank’s Middle Market Snapshot survey reveals something…
- Middle Market Growth
How Human Capital Drives Operational Agility
Firms that can respond swiftly to a complicated and rapidly shifting investment environment have a competitive advantage. Creating that agility requires the…
- Middle Market Growth
PE's Evolving Playbook: How Competition Changed Buyer Behavior
Since 2020, private equity has seen high highs and low lows, and in a more competitive and condensed market, firms are having to pull different levers to see…
- Middle Market Growth
Beyond Layoffs: Where AI Transitions Can Leak Value
AI has fueled white-collar layoffs at blue chip companies, but many middle-market workers and leaders are uncertain of exactly how and when AI will impact…
- Middle Market Growth
Lending to Consumer-Focused Businesses Amidst Inflationary Pressures
Geopolitical tensions have shaken the markets, spiked fuel prices, and created new financial challenges for consumers at the gas pump and beyond. Joining the…
- Middle Market Growth
The Next Generation of Law Firm Deals
In the last fifteen months, private equity investment in law firms has gone from theoretical to reality. Tom Lenfestey of the Law Practice Exchange is back…
Middle Market GrowthThe Four Types of Middle-Market Decision Makers
Recent research from the National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) found there are four distinct styles of decision making for strategic leaders in the…
Middle Market GrowthRedefining the Middle Market for a New Age of M&A
New research from RSM argues that the way we define the middle market is due for a major change. Tuan Nguyen, an economist at RSM, says the shifts in the…
- Middle Market Growth
The Anatomy of a DealMAX Deal: Inside DealMAX with Datasite and Blueflame AI
For the sixth episode of this year's Inside DealMAX series, we talk to two attendees who ended up inking a deal at last year's DealMAX. Doug Cullen, chief…
- Middle Market Growth
Browsing Retail M&A with PwC’s Mike Ross
ACG’s Q1 Market Pulse Survey found that retail was the sector least likely to see increased M&A activity in the first half of 2026. But a closer look reveals a…
- Middle Market Growth
Through the Lender’s Lens: Inside DealMAX with Christine Nowaczyk and Jalal Taby
What’s ahead for the lending world in the year ahead, and how does that play into why lenders come to DealMAX? In our fifth Inside DealMAX episode of 2026…
- Middle Market Growth
The Micro Clues That Could Win the Deal
Have you ever wished you could get a memo on what the person negotiating with you across the table is really thinking? You can, says microexpressions expert…
- Middle Market Growth
Behind the Curtain: Inside DealMAX with Kate Weaver
It's possible that no one knows more about DealMAX than Kate Weaver, vice president of events at ACG. She joins us for the fourth episode of this year's Inside…
- Middle Market Growth
Flipping the Script: Inside DealMAX with GF Data's Ruben Burke and Ryan McCann
While data providers may see M&A conferences as an opportunity to seek out dealmakers, GF Data's Ruben Burke and Ryan McCann say DealMAX flips the script and…
- Middle Market Growth
Expect the Unexpected: A 2026 Lending Outlook with WhiteHorse Capital
From geopolitical events to tariff fallout, 2025 brought plenty of surprises, and 2026 will surely hold some of its own. Pankaj Gupta, CEO of WhiteHorse…
- Middle Market Growth
AI and the Talent Pyramid Problem
Many industries, including management consulting and legal firms, have long used a talent model that requires hiring large classes of entry-level workers. Now…
- Middle Market Growth
Private Equity Meets the 401(k)
Last August, President Trump issued an executive order for the Department of Labor and Securities and Exchange Commission to lay a framework allowing private…
- Middle Market Growth
The 2026 Economic Outlook with Michael Feuz
Michael Feuz, economist with ITR Economics, is back to share what middle-market business leaders and dealmakers can expect in the year ahead. From interest…
- Middle Market Growth
Breaking Loose: Inside DealMAX with Doug Brookman and Mike Alberts
The shape that M&A takes in the first quarter of 2026 will color the mood at DealMAX and what dealmakers are looking to accomplish as they hit the deal floor…
- Middle Market Growth
Optimism and Comfy Shoes: Inside DealMAX with Brent Baxter and Suzie Doran
Roughly 16 weeks out from DealMAX 2026, we’re kicking off this year’s Inside DealMAX series, taking you behind the scenes of ACG’s flagship conference for the…
- Middle Market Growth
The Year Ahead: Dealmakers on Fundraising, Exits, and More
Forvis Mazars recently held a set of exclusive events for high-level dealmakers, in partnership with ACG and GF Data, to dissect the latest data on deal…
- Middle Market Growth
Why Manufacturing Execs Are Bullish on 2026
A recent survey of manufacturing executives conducted by Forvis Mazars found strong optimism for future growth, despite supplier price hikes, tariff shock…
- Middle Market Growth
Getting Investors Primed and Ready for Beauty Sector M&A
Past cycles have proven the beauty sector is resilient to downturns, but how will beauty M&A make out in the coming year? Fromm Beauty's Marty Okner and DC…
- Middle Market Growth
Can PE Score in the Youth Sports Sector?
Youth sports is estimated to be a $40 billion dollar industry, and one that private equity has been eyeing with interest. Christopher Russo, CEO and founder of…
- Middle Market Growth
What New Research Says About PE’s Impact on Midmarket Businesses
A special report from the National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) disproves some myths about private equity’s impact on middle-market businesses and…
- Middle Market Growth
The Rise of ESOPs: What the Midmarket Needs to Know
Employee stock ownerships plans (ESOPs) are experiencing a surge in popularity due to tax policy, cultural benefits, and their flexibility as a corporate…
- Middle Market Growth
A Look at the Soaring Aerospace and Defense Sector
The aerospace and defense (A&D) sector has seen solid growth in recent years, lifted by a new age of space exploration, Trump-era defense spending, and a…
- Middle Market Growth
The Rise of Continuation Vehicles and Other Trends in the Lower Midmarket
From continuation vehicles to tariff impacts, from lending structures to interest rates, what are the biggest trends shaping M&A in the lower middle market?…
- Middle Market Growth
Traveling the Transportation and Logistics Sector
John Yeager, managing director of WhiteHorse Capital, and Corey Mason, principal with WhiteHorse Capital, sit down with Middle Market Growth Conversations to…
- Middle Market Growth
Inside the OBBBA's Tax Provisions
Diving deeper into the implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Forvis Mazars’ Donald Rawe, partner, and Howard Wagner, managing director, join the…
- Middle Market Growth
Unlocking AI’s Potential for Portco Value Creation
AI has been making significant inroads in PE, but the most common use cases are often based in deal sourcing or due diligence. However, new uses are emerging…
- Middle Market Growth
Unpacking the Big Beautiful Bill for the Middle Market
What changes does the One Big Beautiful Bill hold for middle-market businesses and the firms that invest in them? Michael Feuz, economist with ITR Economics…
Middle Market GrowthInside Enforcement in the Trump 2.0 SEC
What will SEC enforcement look like in the Trump 2.0 era? Emilie Abate, managing director at Iron Road Partners, joins the podcast to share how policy is…
Middle Market GrowthTaking the Temperature of Healthcare Lending
Javier Casillas, managing director and global chief credit officer with WhiteHorse Capital, and Sachin Garg, principal with WhiteHorse Capital, join the Middle…
- Middle Market Growth
The Economic Impact of Trump’s Policies
Initial pro-business sentiment following the election quieted a bit after the Trump administration issued a series of tariff announcements and retractions that…
- Middle Market Growth
AI and Energy Storage: A Fresh Approach
As companies and investment firms rush to capture value via AI, more energy is needed to run the data centers that power that technology, and this rising…
- Middle Market Growth
Inside DealMAX: Connecting in Cabanas with Tony Hill and Chris Hebble
We’re back with another episode of our limited series, “Inside DealMAX,” where we’re joined by Trivest Partners’ Tony Hill, our 2025 DealMAX chair, and…
- Middle Market Growth
Finding Stability in an Uncertain Economic Environment
Finding stability is the name of the game as sponsors and lenders grapple with stubborn inflation. However, there are actions businesses can take now to spur…
- Middle Market Growth
A 2025 Lending Outlook with WhiteHorse Capital
Stuart Aronson, executive managing director and CEO of WhiteHorse U.S., and Pankaj Gupta, president of WhiteHorse U.S. and global head of originations, return…
- Middle Market Growth
Private Equity Eyes Law Firms
Regulations and ABA rules keep non-attorneys from owning law firms in most states, but that hasn’t kept private equity from noticing that the industry is ripe…
- Middle Market Growth
Inside DealMAX: Talking Investment Banking Trends with Ashton Gillespie
For the third episode of our limited series, “Inside DealMAX,” we’re joined by TM Capital’s Ashton Gillespie to discuss the investment banking space, her…
Middle Market GrowthInside DealMAX: Serendipitous Networking with Karin Kovacic and Jose Gabaldon
In our second episode of our limited series, “Inside DealMAX,” we sit down with Libertas Funding’s Karin Kovacic and Holland & Knight’s Jose Gabaldon to…
- Middle Market Growth
Keeping Capital Deployment Consistent in Challenging Markets
When the M&A market is muted or volatile, maintaining a consistent capital deployment strategy can be a challenge. Drew Guyette, senior partner and co-chief…
- Middle Market Growth
Inside DealMAX: Creating Connections with Brent Baxter and Aaron Polack
As we prepare for DealMAX 2025, the podcast is kicking off “Inside DealMAX,” a limited series exploring the M&A environment, strategies to maximize your time…
- Middle Market Growth
Five Signs Your Portco Isn’t Ready for an Exit
A poorly managed exit process can erode value, and in the worst cases, a portfolio company that isn’t prepared to start that process can kill a deal. Tony…