the mid-market edge podcast
Welcome to The Mid-Market Edge, the go-to podcast for private equity CEOs, COOs, and operating partners who want to sharpen their competitive and operational edge.
We dive into focused series on key operational topics - like building global teams - to give you insights from those who've been there and done it. Each episode is packed with practical insights from leaders who've been in the trenches - no theory, just real-world experience to help you deliver results faster.
Dive in, so you can build your Mid-Market Edge.
Intelligent Integration Series: Episode 5
Execution Is the Difference: Bobby Achettu on Discipline, Cadence, and Making Integration Work
Growth through acquisition often looks decisive from the outside. The announcement is clear. The strategy sounds coherent. The thesis makes sense.
Then the work begins.
In this episode, Kevin Bonfield sits down with Bobby Achettu to talk about what actually determines whether integration creates momentum or slows it. Their focus is not on strategy language. It is on discipline. Cadence. Ownership. The habits that compound over time.
Bobby speaks from experience inside operating environments where integration must translate into results. The conversation centers on a simple truth: direction matters, but execution determines outcomes.
Intelligent Integration Series: Episode 4
Integration Is a Leadership Discipline: Eric Singer on Governance, Incentives, and Making M&A Work
In this episode of The Mid-Market Edge Podcast, Kevin Bonfield sits down with Eric Singer, a seasoned private equity operating executive and advisor, to unpack why integration success is rarely about effort and almost always about governance, incentives, and leadership clarity.
Eric has worked across numerous PE-backed platforms and add-ons, and his perspective is direct: most integrations don’t fail because teams resist change, they fail because leaders don’t define how decisions get made, who owns what, and how success is measured.
Together, Kevin and Eric explore why integration must be treated as a leadership discipline, not a post-close project; how misaligned incentives quietly undermine value; and why the absence of clear operating governance creates friction that compounds with every acquisition.
This conversation is a practical guide for leaders building repeatable M&A engines, especially in private equity-backed and mid-market environments where scale depends on execution, not just strategy.
Intelligent Integration Series: Episode 3
Integration is a People Process: Jeff Helfgott on Centralization, Trust, and Scaling Through M&A
In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Helfgott, CEO of Boardroom Salon, to talk about what it really takes to scale through acquisition — especially in multi-unit consumer businesses where the customer experience lives at the local level.
Jeff has led growth across franchising and services businesses — from Planet Fitness to med spas to men’s grooming — and he brings a grounded, operator’s view of integration: the deal is just the beginning. The real value is created in the integration work that follows.
We talk about what to centralize, what to protect locally, and why the best integration leaders don’t treat integration like a checklist — they treat it like a people process built on clarity, communication, and trust.
Intelligent Integration Series: Episode 2
Integration Starts in Diligence: Chauncey Lane on TSAs and Earn-Outs
In this episode of The Mid-Market Edge, Kevin Bonfield sits down with Chauncey Lane, an attorney at Holland & Knight, to explore the legal and structural decisions that shape integration success long before Day One.
Chauncey has advised private equity sponsors and PE-backed companies across platform acquisitions, add-ons, recapitalizations, and restructurings — and he brings a clear message: integration isn’t a phase two activity. It has to run in parallel with deal execution.
Together, Kevin and Chauncey dig into the practical mechanics that often determine whether integration moves smoothly — or turns into operational disruption and post-close conflict. They discuss the role of diligence in shaping integration strategy, why transition services agreements (TSAs) are often the bridge between intention and reality, and how earn-outs can either align incentives or create tension if operational control isn’t defined early.
If you’re a mid-market leader navigating acquisitions — especially in a PE-backed environment — this conversation is a strong reminder that the details you negotiate upfront often become the outcomes you live with later.
Intelligent Integration Series: Episode 1
40% Done Before Signing: Sagar Pandya on the Real Work of Integration
In this episode, I sit down with Sagar Pandya, serial entrepreneur, cybersecurity expert, and AI founder, to unpack what it really feels like to sell your company and what happens after the signatures are dry.
Sagar built and scaled a Chicago-based cybersecurity firm before selling it to a strategic acquirer. But his story isn’t about the transaction it’s about the transformation that comes with it: for the founder, the team, and the culture that connects them.
We talk about the emotional highs and lows of M&A, the art of integration, and what he’s learned about leadership through both acquisition and reinvention. And we close by looking forward at how Sagar’s next venture is helping mid-market organizations make AI adoption real, human, and secure.
Intelligent Integration Series: Intro Episode
The Intelligent Integration: Setting the Foundation for Value Creation
This episode marks the start of The Intelligent Integration, a new series on The Mid-Market Edge focused on one of the most critical — and misunderstood — drivers of value creation: acquisition integration.
Integration is often described as something that starts on Day One. In reality, the most important integration decisions are made well before the deal closes. Decisions about operating models, leadership autonomy, decision rights, and success metrics are already shaping outcomes during diligence — long before teams begin working together.
In this Episode 0 conversation, Kevin Bonfield sets the foundation for the series by reframing integration not as a phase, a checklist, or a post-close project, but as a repeatable leadership capability. One that can be built, strengthened, and improved over time — especially in a market where add-on acquisitions now represent the majority of deal volume.
Drawing on research from Bain, Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, and PitchBook, Kevin explains why integration has become continuous rather than episodic, why early clarity is a predictor of value realization, and why cultural misalignment most often shows up not as resistance — but as decision confusion.
This episode sets the context for the conversations ahead, introducing the themes, tensions, and practical questions leaders must answer if they want integration to accelerate — not erode — value creation.
Global Teams Series Final Episode
Kevin Bonfield on Unlocking Your Global Edge What Six Leaders Taught Us About Building Teams That Work Everywhere
In this wrap-up episode of The Mid-Market Edge, Kevin Bonfield brings together the most important lessons from six conversations with leaders who’ve spent years — sometimes decades — building and operating global teams.
These leaders didn’t speak in theory. Their insights came from lived experience:
- launching global hubs before collaboration tools existed
- building cross-border cultures in mid-market companies
- discovering new talent pools in emerging regions
- overcoming cultural differences, capability gaps, and integration challenges
- and designing global systems that scale in ways most mid-market teams never thought possible
Kevin distills the themes that came up over and over again — the patterns that shape successful global teams today.
If you’re a mid-market operator looking to build global capability fast, this episode is the practical playbook drawn directly from the real leaders who’ve done it.
Global Teams Series Episode 6
Edward Lim on Building Doxa and Redefining Offshore Work
In this episode, I sit down with Edward Lim, founder and president of Doxa 7 Solutions in the Philippines — a company that’s reimagining what global talent partnerships can look like.
Edward’s story is both entrepreneurial and deeply human. Founded in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Doxa was built on a simple but powerful idea: that offshore work should give people dignity — not just jobs. Instead of call centers and anonymous contracts, Doxa helps companies extend their own culture, purpose, and trust to team members halfway across the world.
We talk about how that philosophy has reshaped lives, why culture and connection matter as much as capability, and how building global teams the right way creates value on both sides of the world.
Global Teams Series Episode 5
Derek Sharp on Building Global Teams That Work Anywhere
In this episode, I sit down with Derek Sharp, Chief Client Officer at Denison Consulting and former COO of CWT, to talk about what he’s learned from a career spent leading global teams across continents and industries.
Derek’s journey runs through some of the world’s most complex organizations — from EDS and HP to Travelport, CWT, and now Denison Consulting. Over three decades, he’s seen global work evolve from a top-down, headquarters-driven model to a truly integrated network of teams that collaborate, innovate, and build trust across borders.
We talk about how leadership must adapt to that reality — balancing autonomy and alignment, creating cultural fluency, and understanding that success in one market doesn’t automatically translate to another.
Global Teams Series Episode 4
Charlie Alsmiller on Building Trust Across Borders
In this episode, I sit down with Charlie Alsmiller, founder of APIWORX and a self-described “recovering consultant,” to talk about what three decades of global teamwork have taught him — and, by extension, all of us who lead across borders.
Charlie’s story takes us from his early days at Deloitte, experimenting with offshore teams before it was common, to leading a distributed workforce today that spans four continents. Along the way, he’s learned that success in global collaboration isn’t just about cost or talent — it’s about trust, culture, and the thousand little things that make people work well together.
Global Teams Series Episode 3
Tim Hamilton on Building Global Teams and Cultures That Last
In this episode, I sit down with Tim Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Praxent, to talk about what it takes to build a global company that still feels connected, creative, and alive.
Tim started Praxent 24 years ago — as a 16-year-old coding websites out of his bedroom — and has since grown it into a U.S. and nearshore software engineering firm serving financial services clients. But what’s most striking isn’t the growth; it’s how he’s built a company that runs on ritual, creativity, and trust, not mandates or proximity.
We talk about how he’s learned to lead distributed teams, create culture through intention and design, and why every great company — remote or not — needs to create what he calls “a game worth playing.”
Global Teams Series Episode 2
Mark Blaskovich on Building Smarter Global Teams in the Age of AI
In this conversation, Kevin sat down with Mark Blaskovich, Managing Director of Guidemark Group, to talk about how global teams have evolved — from the early days of offshoring to the AI-driven world we’re living in now.
Mark’s career spans companies like EDS, Wipro, and Mindtree, and he’s spent decades helping organizations build and manage teams across continents. We talk about what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what leaders should think about today if they’re building a global capability for the first time.
The conversation moves between technology, trust, and culture — and even into how AI is reshaping the logic of global work. It’s a reflective look at how far they’ve come, and what it still takes to make global collaboration work in real life.
Global Teams Series Episode 1
How Chris McKee Built One Connected Global Team
In this episode of the Global Teams Podcast Series, Kevin speaks with Chris McKee, Chairman and former CEO of Venturity, about how the firm built and integrated its global team.
Chris shares Venturity’s journey from outsourcing basic accounting work to creating a unified team across countries — one that shares the same values, standards, and sense of purpose.
Their story shows how connection, trust, and a focus on people can turn global operations into a true extension of the business.
