John Polis is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Star Mountain Capital.  John’s career path has led him to play a pivotal role in transforming Star Mountain in private credit in the lower middle market.

I spent time with John unpacking how data and technology can meaningfully shape investment management operations. We discuss his dual role, the build over buy approach of Star Mountain’s tech stack, and how AI is transforming their investment and portfolio management processes. John shares lessons learned on team enablement, upskilling with AI, and designing platforms to scale.

We also talk about Star Mountain’s approach to training, talent development, and maintaining that edge. For emerging managers and seasoned professionals alike, John offers practical advice on technical strategy, data readiness, and staying true to your business plan in a competitive landscape.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Chester Dawes is the COO and CFO at Palistar Capital, an alternative asset manager focused on investing in the future of mission critical digital infrastructure.

Launching and growing a private equity firm is not easy. I enjoyed sitting down with Chester to discuss how his experience going from ‘big four’ accounting to industrial to private equity gave him a sense on how to navigate large and small firms from an operational perspective.  

We discuss a wide range of topics from using Six Sigma for operational improvement, when to bring in the HR function, standing up affiliates to provide operational leverage, and how the cadence and requirements of portfolio company data has changed over time.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Melissa Stolfi is the Executive Vice President and Global COO of TCW, a leading global investment management firm with over $200 billion in assets.
Being competitive in the global asset management space is an ongoing effort. I really enjoyed sitting down with Melissa to talk about her career evolution to TCW and how they've built their platform for resilience and expanding credit alternatives under the current market environment.
We discussed their product expansion using innovative vehicles, key business partners, and how they're approaching the wealth channel with training and education from ETFs to interval funds and BDCs. There's a lot to cover!

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Brian Douglas is the CEO of Graham Capital, one of the longest running macro investors.
Going from CFO to the CEO seat is not a common route in our business so I was excited to talk to Brian. Brian’s career path started public accounting and he has spent the last 20 years at Graham moving from the CFO role to becoming CEO in 2019.
Brian discusses how Graham has built and sustained its culture over its 25-year history. We discuss Graham’s evolution from a hedge fund to its expansion of product into sub advised funds, UCITs strategies while adding discretionary trading capabilities. We then cover key elements of founder level succession planning and how to develop emerging leadership.
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Running and scaling a global fund group has its challenges. So when I was asking who I should talk to, Lisa's name came to the forefront.
Her lens on the industry from the sell side to the buy side is quite unique. Lisa's recognized not only for driving operational excellence and revenue growth, but also for her ability to guide teams through transformation. Whether it's optimizing operations, enhancing cross team synergy, or future-proofing with tech innovation, Lisa shares firsthand insights from leading at the front of a global investment firm.
We discuss how to scale complex investment strategies through product innovation and how selecting great outsourcing partners can be a key lever to overcome common cross-border operating challenges.

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Ryan Ripp is the co-president and COO at Flat Rock Global, an alternative credit manager specializing in the junior tranches of CLOs.
If you read anything about the industry, the headlines are often about how alternatives are making their way to the wealth channel. The thing I always turn to is how is this going to work operationally. There are so many aspects to explore like access, education, investment process, legal, onboarding, distribution, and tax reporting. To dig into the details, I turn to Ryan for some answers.
Ryan shares his insight on how Flat Rock sees interval funds as an innovative structure for retail alternatives. We discussed some of the operational mechanics for a daily NAV, ongoing liquidity management, and service provider coordination that is different than the traditional private fund practices.
With retail alternatives experiencing rapid growth across the industry and many players entering the space, it's an area to pay attention to.
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Ryan Teal is a Partner and Head of Operational Due Diligence at Albourne, a global investment consulting firm.
Ryan and I talk about the role of AI within the ODD lens.  Whether you’re an ODD practitioner or a manager trying to understand current trends you will want to take a listen.
Ryan shares their approach on using AI as well as some recent survey data about adoption rates, common hurdles, and where the low hanging fruit is.
We also discuss the growing trends and benefits of meeting transcription, report automation, and the power of data.
One of the interesting things that we’re seeing is AI adoption is going to be a core competency for everyone in the industry - at all positions.
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Ashley Sweren is the COO and CCO at Standard Crypto, a venture capital firm focused on crypto, Web3, blockchain, and DeFi.
With institutional investing, we are all keenly focused on finding uncorrelated assets. But here’s the catch: when you go beyond the fundamentals, things get interesting with diligence, operations and finding best in class service providers. To learn more about running a crypto fund, I sat down with Ashley to get her perspective. There are nuances with building, running and investing in an institutional quality product.
Whether you are in operations, compliance, ODD or just curious - be sure to take a listen.  

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David Brenner is the COO of TIFF Investment Management, an OCIO for nonprofit organizations.

Stepping into the COO role of an established manager takes a unique set of skills so I turned to David for his insight. We discuss the common challenges of assessing culture, talent, and legacy; and the importance of timing of when to listen and when to take action.

We then turn to David’s perspective on his four pillars framework as TIFF shifts from what he calls going from TIFF 1.0 to TIFF 2.0.

We talk about the role of AI and automation and why data transformation plays a critical role in everything that they do.

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Heather Kennedy Miner is the COO at Advent International, one of the largest private equity firms in the US. 

I enjoyed sitting down with Heather to talk about her career path beginning with investment banking and then her 20 years at Goldman Sachs evolving into a variety of positions giving her a unique combination of technical and soft skills well suited for the COO role.

We discuss Advent’s 40-year evolution and why its doubling down on its commitment to being a pure play private equity firm when many others are diversifying asset classes. 

Heather shares how the firm is thinking about strategy, growth, where they are with AI adoption and why developing top investors to also be great leaders is a priority to the organization.

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